Funding Agency: Environmental Foundation of Jamaica

In the tropical marine environment, corals constitute obvious key species in the important coral reef habitat and are symbolic of natural, clean waters. It is therefore the case that when economically important development projects threaten coral reefs, relocation should be considered as a potential means of mitigating or avoiding excessive damage.

The present investigation followed a large-scale attempt to rescue corals from total destruction by a major dredging operation. The underlying reef on which the live corals were growing was dredged away to widen a narrow shipping lane. Thus the emphasis was on preserving life and as such 60,000 "pieces" of coral reef biota (including corals, gorgonians and sea urchins) were moved and relocated some 200m away, safe from the dredge.

This project looks at the re-colonisation of the cut face for biological recovery.