Coral City Camera – World Record Underwater Coral Growth Timelapse *569 Days* (5.1.23-11.20.24)
We are excited to share the world’s longest running underwater timelapse, starting May 1st 2023 and running 569 days through November 20th, 2024. This period covers summer 2023’s unprecedented coral bleaching event, and indeed multiple corals can be seen bleaching, but then recovering and growing through 2024.
Of greatest interest to us is the success and proliferation of the urban strain of staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis aka ACER ‘ventura’) that not only did not bleach, but has grown swiftly. We look forward to continuing our scientific investigation into the mechanisms of their resilience, and hope to amplify this strain for the purpose of restoring Miami’s nearshore reefs.
Our ability to timelapse the growth of PortMiami’s urban corals highlights the scientific value of the Coral City Camera and its ability to document what was previously undocumented. After 5 years of near-continuous recording, and more than 210 species of fish cataloged, there is no underwater coral reef site anywhere in the world that has been as thoroughly recorded and archived.