Science Friday The High-Tech Lab Unlocking Secrets Of Coral Reproduction
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Sep 24, 2025 Rebecca Albright, a coral reef biologist and associate curator at the California Academy of Sciences, shares her fascinating journey from Ohio to coral science. She discusses the challenges of coral bleaching due to rising ocean temperatures and introduces her lab's techniques for enhancing coral reproduction. Albright explains the intricacies of how corals spawn, the importance of captive breeding, and the process of making corals more resilient. With 25% of marine life relying on reefs, her work highlights both the urgency and beauty of coral conservation.
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From Ohio To The Great Barrier Reef
- Rebecca Albright described her path from Midwest swim lessons to diving the Great Barrier Reef, which set her on a coral career.
- She credits early dives in Australia around 2000–2001 as the turning point that made her never look back.
Corals Are Complex Colonial Animals
- Corals are animals, not rocks, with a thin tissue layer over a calcium skeleton and many communicating polyps.
- A colony starts from a single larva that settles, calcifies, and asexually buds to become a shared organism.
Why Bleaching Kills Corals
- Bleaching is a stress response where corals expel symbiotic algae that provide up to 90% of their food.
- When algae are lost from warming waters, corals can effectively starve and turn white.