Rescue
Collecting corals that would otherwise be lost, and keeping their genetics safe on land.
Our work
Rescue. Research. Restore.
Three kinds of work, one goal — more living coral on the reefs of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Coral restoration
Repopulating degraded reefs
Coral restoration is an important component of ecological restoration, focused on repopulating reefs that have degraded over time with more resilient corals.
Reef Response researches best practices for restoration, incorporating citizen scientists, to mitigate and offset coral loss at the local level, replanting coral around St. Thomas and St. John, USVI.
Three kinds of work
Rescue. Research. Restore.
Our motto is also how the work divides up — and how this site does.
Lovango Cay
Rescue to Reef
Our flagship restoration site divides a single stretch of reef into three working zones — rescue, research, and restore.
Rescue
Home to the in-water nursery, where corals collected as fragments of opportunity, or rescued from reefs under threat, are grown and cared for until they are ready to be returned to the reef.
Research
Where we test restoration methods and monitor how outplanted corals perform. What we learn here informs how we work everywhere else.
Approx. 5,500 m²Restore
The reef itself — replanted at scale with nursery-grown corals, and monitored for growth, survival, and the return of the fish communities that depend on the structure.
Approx. 6,000 m²The restored zone at a glance
1,500+
corals outplanted
15+
coral species
4
species listed under the Endangered Species Act
These corals come from three sources: fragments of opportunity collected from the seafloor, microfragments grown in our land-based nursery, and corals rehabilitated after disease. Educational signage installed on Lovango Cay explains the work to divers and snorkelers visiting the site.
The Coral Compass, Volume 1
Published as The Coral Chronicles with Lovango Resort and Beach Club, the first volume of our magazine covers the partnership behind Rescue to Reef and how the site came about. Volume 2 is here.
PDF · 15 pages · 8 MB · read online
See it on the reef
Our nurseries and outplanting sites run from Flat Cay to St. John.