Vol. 1, No. 10

August 2005

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Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau

Penny Bailey observes coral spawning in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo.

Once-A-Year Coral ‘Sex’ to Attract Divers, Snorkelers To Keys Reefs

By Bob Serata
Florida Keys News Bureau

FLORIDA KEYS — The hard corals of the Florida Keys reefs have spent eons working out a simple system to perpetuate the species. A few days after the full moon in August, they throw caution to the wind for one evening of unabashed sex.

Best of all, divers and snorkelers get to watch all the action.

Corals of the same species throughout the entire Caribbean release their gametes — sperm and egg cells — at the same time. Called broadcast spawning, it’s one of the mysteries of nature that works without human intervention or understanding.

Different species are on different schedules, and the exact hour of release is based on local time, but synchronous release is still the rule.

“The way I sleuthed it was by making repeated observations year-to-year,” said Dr. Alina M. Szmant of the Center for Marine Science Research at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. “I knew from work done by others and my own observations from histology in the corals that there was some kind of lunar cycle in the spawning.”

She found the August full moon, whether it occurs early or late in the month, to be the triggering event from which coral spawning predictions could be made.

Over the years Szmant’s predictions have proven consistently accurate. “They’re reliable within any type of certainty we have with things in mother nature,” she said.

“Timing of spawning varies from species to species,” said Szmant. “But usually for a given species the spawning is at a certain time after sunset.”

Branching corals (e.g., finger, staghorn and elkhorn corals) in the Florida Keys spawn three to five days after the full moon, about two hours after sunset.

The boulder star corals — Montastraea, in particular — spawn six to eight days after the August full moon, about three hours after sunset.

Full moon is on Aug. 19. Sunset that evening is around 7:48 p.m. Therefore, branching corals are expected to spawn between Aug. 22 and 24 at around 9:48 p.m.

Montastraea, the predominant boulder coral in the Keys, are expected to spawn between Aug. 25 and 27, at about 10:48 p.m.

Szmant predicts Aug. 25 has the highest probability for Montastraea spawning.

For divers the sight is something to behold — millions and millions of gametes floating to the surface, the future of coral life rising smoke-like through the water.

Predators — the local reef fish population — come out to feed. But they can’t get all of the gametes. Coral babies will be made and the species will have a new generation.

To see a list of Florida Keys professional dive operators planning to offer evening coral reef spawning trips in August and September, click here. For accommodations information, visit the Florida Keys Web site at www.fla-keys.com.

Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Pigeon Key, with both modern, left, and historic Seven Mile bridges, are notable icons of the Florida Keys.

A prestigious organization, composed of travel communicators from around North America, has named the Florida Keys to its list of the 10 best travel destinations in the United States.

The Keys tied with Alaska for the number eight spot on the Society of American Travel Writers’ top 10 roster.

SATW is composed of more than 1,200 professional North American travel journalists, photographers, editors and media relations specialists. The society surveyed its members to compile the list of destinations.

“It’s very gratifying to see the Florida Keys’ uniqueness, natural beauty and variety of attractions recognized by some of the foremost travel experts,” said Matt Babich, chairman of the Florida Keys tourism council. “Whether visitors are looking for fishing, diving, environmental attractions, historic sites or simply blue water and sunshine, the Keys have something to offer them.”

Other U.S. destinations recognized by SATW included the big island of Hawaii, San Francisco, Orlando, New Orleans, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon (tie), Santa Fe, N.M.; Miami and the California wine country (tie), and the Colorado mountains.

For more travel information on the Florida Keys:
www.fla-keys.com