National Parks Traveler Podcast · Kurt Repanshek

National Parks Traveler Podcast | Florida Coral Reef Rescue

·44 min·3 clips

Florida asked AZA to rescue corals ahead of stony coral tissue loss disease.

1. National Parks Traveler’s episode centers on the Florida Reef Track Rescue Project and the pressure facing the Florida Reef from Biscayne National Park to Dry Tortugas National Park. 2. Kurt Repincheck hosts Beth Fershaw, who works for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and coordinates the Safe Coral Program and the Florida Reef Track Rescue Program. 3. The episode asks how AZA and Florida state partners built a coral rescue network fast enough to move reef corals into land-based care. 4. Beth says the state of Florida, NOAA, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection invited AZA into a multi-pronged response to stony coral tissue loss disease. 5. She describes the project as a national effort because corals were moved from temporary holding at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University to facilities across the country. 6. Beth names the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa, as the first facility to take rescue corals. 7. She says the project now involves nearly 3,000 corals in 14 states and over 20 facilities. 8. Beth explains that the Florida Reef is the third largest coral reef in the world and the only coral reef in the continental United States. 9. She says the reef supports tourism, commercial fisheries, medical research, and cultural value tied to the Florida Keys. 10. Beth describes how AZA used the Aquatic Invertebrate Taxon Advisory Group and personal calls to find aquariums with coral-care expertise. 11. She says the state created holder documents and a vetting rubric because coral care is still “more an art than truly a science.” 12. Beth notes that many aquarists had worked mainly with Indo-Pacific corals and had to learn the quirks of Atlantic species. 13. She recounts a weekly holder call where an aquarist saw unusually long sweeper tentacles on a meandrina and shared video with researchers. 14. That exchange showed Beth that researchers in the field and aquarists in human care can learn from each other in real time. 15. Beth says some facilities hold only five corals, while larger centers such as the Florida Aquarium, Mote Marine Laboratory, and the Florida Coral Rescue Center hold hundreds. 16. She says the program is shifting from rescue holding toward breeding and transfer plans so that coral offspring can be used in future restoration. 17. The interview moves in a practical, explanatory style, with Kurt asking direct questions about size, collection, transport, and facility selection. 18. Beth answers with concrete examples, including air cargo shipments, temperature and chemistry matching, and the ongoing recruitment of new facilities like Sea Life Charlotte. 19. People interested in coral conservation, zoos and aquariums, and Florida Keys ecology would likely want this episode. 20. People looking for a short, purely scenic park story without technical conservation detail might skip it.

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