Stabilisation by removal
Functional objective:
Stabilisation to facilitate reef recovery
Delivery method:
Suction removal
Deployment scale:
Small (a few hectares, a single reef) to medium (20 or more reefs)
Subprogram:
When reefs are damaged (for example by storms, ship groundings or coral bleaching) the dead or degraded coral can become loose and unconsolidated rubble, making it difficult for coral to regrow.
This potential intervention would help increase the rate of reef recovery by removing rubble using a suction device, operated from the surface.
This approach has been successfully used on reefs affected by ship and boat strikes.
It requires a large barge/floating platform and is most effective where rubble beds are relatively thin, on top of consolidated coral reef substrate.
