A solitary block of pale-yellow branching corals rises from the white-sand ocean bottom just off the coast of Punta Cana, a tourism center at the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic. Schools of small fish weave in and out of the crevices. They’re staking out a rare hiding spot—a critically endangered coral that has been painstakingly cultivated by the Puntacana Ecological Foundation, an environmental organization here.
This staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) the fish are swimming through is among a group of corals that in the last 30 years has seen drastic population declines in the reefs of the Dominican Republic and much of the Caribbean. But while their numbers remain alarmingly low in the wild, the corals thrive on the ropes and A-frame metal structures in manmade underwater coral gardens created by the foundation.
This staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) the fish are swimming through is among a group of corals that in the last 30 years has seen drastic population declines in the reefs of the Dominican Republic and much of the Caribbean. But while their numbers remain alarmingly low in the wild, the corals thrive on the ropes and A-frame metal structures in manmade underwater coral gardens created by the foundation.
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