Mats of algae and seaweed have shrouded the once-thick coral in shallow reefs off Jamaica’s north coast. Warm ocean waters have bleached out the coral, and in a cascade of ecological decline, the sea urchins and plant-eating reef fish have mostly vanished, replaced by snails and worms that bore through coral skeletons. Now, off the shores of Jamaica, as well as in Caribbean islands from Bonaire to St. Croix, conservationists are planting fast-growing coral species to try to turn things around by “seeding” reefs.

Coral reef 'seeding' in Caribbean. (2013, February 28). Manila Bulletin, p. B-8.