An underwater camera documents daily life on a Miami coral reef
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
For five years, a continuous livestream on YouTube has captured daily life in a Florida community that few people get the chance to visit - a coral reef in Miami's Biscayne Bay. NPR's Greg Allen reports the Coral City Camera has documented endangered coral in the heart of Miami's busy port, coral that are thriving and remarkably resilient.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Colin Foord spends a lot of time on this bit of land overlooking Miami's port channel. Just offshore in 8 or 9 feet of water is where he mounted a video camera.
COLIN FOORD: As you can see, the water is really gorgeous. It's turquoise blue. And we're standing on this limestone riprap.
ALLEN: Riprap are large pieces of rock - in this case, limestone - that armor a shoreline, protecting it from erosion, storm surge and sea level rise.
FOORD: These boulders provide great habitat for fish and for corals to recruit onto the limestone. It's the - geologically, basically the same as coral skeleton, so corals are happy to grow on it.
ALLEN: It's a beautiful spot on a busy channel. Huge cruise ships and recreational boaters pass by just 150 feet away. Since Foord installed the video camera five years ago, the live feed on YouTube of corals and fish has been viewed more than 3.7 million times. Fans from around the world see that just below the surface in Miami's Biscayne Bay, there's a healthy marine community.
FOORD: We've got close to 20 different species of stony corals living in one of the busiest ports in the entire world.
ALLEN: In his warehouse and lab several miles inland from the bay, Foord uses a computer to control the camera, changing its angle several times a day. He calls it a free-range aquarium.
FOORD: Being able to see the regulars - you know, we have Lisa the lemon shark, who has this Mona Lisa smile - you begin to recognize that they really do live here. It's their neighborhood.
ALLEN: Nearly 20 years ago, Foord helped start Coral Morphologic, a company that blends his interest in corals with art. He's been involved in a number of projects, including one during Miami's Art Basel fair a few years ago that projected images of coral onto the city's performing arts center.
FOORD: We approach corals from a slightly different perspective than, you know, the academic or scientific community might. You know, our goal really is to try and reach the public and get them to really fall in love with these organisms that are just so alien that how can you not be captivated by them?
ALLEN: The Coral City Camera shows not just the beauty but also the resilience of these urban corals, corals that persist and sometimes thrive in port cities like Miami, Singapore and Sydney. Foord says that was demonstrated dramatically two years ago, when record-high ocean temperatures caused corals to bleach and, in many cases, die.
FOORD: You know, 2023 was an absolutely dreadful year. We watched corals all up and down the Florida Reef Tract bleaching and dying. And yet, for the most part, the corals living at the port of Miami around the Coral City Camera didn't even bleach.
ALLEN: In part because of Foord's work, NOAA research ecologist Ian Enochs has begun studying Miami's urban corals.
IAN ENOCHS: They may be genetically stronger, more capable of dealing with environmental conditions that are otherwise killing corals.
ALLEN: Climate change, ocean acidification and pollution are degrading coral reefs worldwide. In Florida, NOAA and a host of research groups are working to restore the ailing reefs. Enochs says these urban corals may play a key role in that effort.
ENOCHS: If we can find individuals that are able to deal with these environmental stressors, if we can grow them, if we can outplant them, then we can create reefs that are more resilient.
ALLEN: To help make that happen, Coral Morphologic is building a lab to cultivate and breed urban coral species. It's one of a number of projects Foord has in the works. This summer, working with other artists and scientists, he'll begin planting corals on an artificial reef that's planned to be seven miles long and within swimming distance of Miami Beach.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.
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