Stanford Study Finds Coral Contact Reverses Bleaching

Stanford researchers found that placing bleached coral in direct contact with a healthy, genetically identical coral can restore its beneficial algae and nutrients, allowing the bleached coral to recover. In laboratory experiments, touching coral fragments recovered within about seven weeks, while fragments separated by only a few millimeters failed to recover and died. The transfer occurs as the corals’ tissues fuse, forming channels between them; contact between genetically different corals does not produce the same rapid recovery. Researchers say the approach could help restore reefs, but field trials are needed to determine whether it can work at the scale of natural reefs.