🌅 How to Heal Bleached Coral

SOURCE

Collins et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new study by researchers at Stanford University found bleached corals can fully recover within seven weeks through continuous physical contact with healthy clones. The team found a single week of contact was enough to start the healing process, with some tests kickstarting the process in only a matter of days. The authors say their strategy won’t work at scale in the wild, since it requires a healthy, genetically identical clone of every bleached coral. However, the approach unlocks new possibilities in treating bleached corals that could lead to an effective, ocean-wide strategy in the future.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Corals are colonies of tiny, genetically identical animals called polyps, which multiply by producing clones that grow together to form vast reefs. Bleaching occurs when the waters around corals warm, leading corals to expel the colorful, beneficial algae that lives in their tissue and provides them with energy. The loss of beneficial algae starves corals and leaves them vulnerable to the invasion of harmful algae, which can allow their white limestone skeletons to show through. The authors of the present study found physical contact between two coral clones aligned channels in their tissue, allowing algae and nutrients to flow from the healthy coral into the bleached one.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Last week, the International Union for Conservation of Nature released its first global assessment of shallow coral reefs, finding 96% are classified as critically endangered. The classification means the reefs face an “extremely high” risk of collapse within the next 50 years, imperiling hundreds of millions of people worldwide who rely on shallow reefs for fish and coastal protection. Encouragingly, the report also found the window for action remains open, though saving reefs will require robust, ambitious government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb the effects of climate change.