Groundbreaking approach could help protect coral reefs and prevent bleaching from above
A team of University of Miami engineering Ph.D. students developed an innovative solution to protect coral reefs.
FILE: NOAA researchers working to understand and protect Florida coral reefs
Dr. Ian Enochs is a NOAA Research Ecologist studying ocean acidification and its impacts on coral reefs. New NOAA buoys are monitoring vital coral reef deterioration in Florida Keys to help understand how to protect the reefs moving forward.
FLORIDA - Coral reefs are home to over one million species, earning them the nickname "the rainforests of the sea."
However, coral reefs are struggling to survive. Many factors are contributing to coral bleaching, including intense UV radiation, pollution and rising water temperatures.
A team of University of Miami engineering Ph.D. students developed an innovative solution to protect coral reefs.
In the wake of many devastating global coral reef bleaching events, four University of Miami engineering students created an innovative device to shield corals from strong ultraviolet rays during the summer.
The project is called Kanopi, and is basically a honeycomb shading network for the coral. The goal is to reduce the coral's exposure to UV rays. But, it doesn't remove all the UV exposure.
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The interior portion is a shading cloth made of mesh fabric that filters out the ultraviolet rays that would be hitting the corals. The exterior acts as a flotation device and helps the cloth sit on top of the water surface.
The shape allows for easy expansion and connection, allowing the Kanopi to shade entire reefs.
Citizen scientists taking part in the Great Reef Census, run by Citizens of the Reef, have identified the largest known coral ever documented on the Great Barrier Reef. (Richard Fitzpatrick / FOX Weather)
"The main point is that we don't remove all the UV exposure," Joshua Prabahar, member of the Kanopi research team and an engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Miami, said. "There needs to be some UV rays so that the corals still get the essential light that they need for the photosynthetic processes."
The shading device does not incubate the coral, symbiotic algae or the animals. It just removes the excess exposure that leads to a stressed environment and causes bleaching.
In the wake of many devastating global coral reef bleaching events, four University of Miami engineering students created an innovative device to shield corals from strong ultraviolet rays during the summer. (Kylie Rux / FOX Weather)
"We try to ensure that most of the interaction is very minimal," Kylie Rux, member of the Kanopi research team and an engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Miami, said.
This innovative device is friendly to all other animals as well. It floats above the water so the fabric itself does not rest on the surface, and the fabric is breathable.
Schools of fish in the pristine water of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park off of Key Largo in the Florida Keys, USA (Bkamprath)
The mesh sits a couple inches above the water, which allows for that gaseous exchange if there is a surfacing marine animal.
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In addition, the team has minimized the lines that are actually in the water itself. Instead, they clip on to existing mooring balls, which allows for expansion and minimizes interaction with the water itself. This cancels out the issue of marine entanglement.
The UM team won the Coral Thermal Stress Design Thinking Challenge put on by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in 2024. With the win, they earned a grant to manufacture their shading solution.
A wide angle aerial view of Key Biscayne near Miami and the Biscayne Bay. (Art Wager)
Since then, they have created six manufactured prototypes and conducted two ocean deployments.
In the tests, they found that at a depth of 10 feet underwater, 60% of the sun's UV radiation was blocked or reduced. They also found that reducing UV light intensity lowered the temperature of the water beneath the Kanopi by about 0.5°C.
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The team is looking to do more extensive testing. They have meetings planned with coral conservation groups to get additional feedback, and will make those refinements.
The next steps include producing 80 to 100 more prototypes and testing the project at a greater scale.
The team plans to distribute the Kanopi product to restoration groups around Florida so they can use them on their nursery sites out on the water.
"So not just us testing it and our experiences with our own product," Prabahar said. "It’s actually having practitioners in their day-to-day operations using it and seeing how it plays into their work."
The hope is that Kanopi can help reduce the stress that coral reefs are put under.
While they help save the coral reefs, they are also helping save the millions of species that call coral reefs their home.