Cozumel, Quintana Roo — A team of 44 specialists and volunteers has documented the spawning of two priority coral species in the Cozumel Reefs National Park, including the first-ever recorded spawning of Orbicella faveolata in the protected area’s history.
Over 25 nights of monitoring between July and September, participants logged spawning in 15 elkhorn coral colonies and confirmed the reproductive event for Orbicella faveolata, a step forward in understanding the reef’s natural processes.
Officials said the findings raise new expectations for the survival of more than 400 coral colonies in the area and will allow researchers to develop ecological restoration strategies informed by the corals’ reproductive cycles.
The work is part of the project “Comprehensive Ecological Restoration of Coral Reefs on Cozumel Island,” carried out through an alliance between environmental authorities with financing from the Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR Fund).
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