After sanctuary staff assessed the damage to the reef, restoration biologists used special cement that hardens under water to reattach 473 corals and coral fragments that had been toppled or dislodged during the grounding.

The majority of affected corals were boulder star coral, a primary reef building coral in the Florida Keys.

To determine the progress of their restoration efforts, the sanctuary and the National Coral Reef Institute of Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center, used digital photographs and highly specialized computer software to count the types and amounts of coral in the damaged area as well as an adjacent unaffected reference site. Sanctuary biologists could then compare the restoration area with the reference area and note changes over time.

Indistinguishable
The sanctuary tracked coral condition at the restoration site over an eight-year period, beginning in 2002. By 2009, the reattached coral fragments were undistinguishable from the adjacent uninjured coral colonies.

A year later, the amount of coral at the restoration site was higher than at the reference site.

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