Deep Sea Coral Propagation Without Stress: In-Situ Fixing Using UV Cured Photopolymers

Although many techniques have been developed for propagating shallow-water corals, they are difficult to apply to corals in the deep sea. While some forms of diving are able to approach depths associated with mesophotic reefs they entail considerable risk and cost. Even saturation diving is so far unable to match the depths reached during the testing described herein. Current efforts to propagate corals at depths too great for divers involve using an ROV to take a large specimen from depth to the surface where it can then be manually fragmented. This increases the total dive time necesary for each fragment and subjects the corals to considerable stress. The Coral Carousel acts as a tool station for performing propagation in-situ using a work class ROV. The propagation of corals at depth requires a method of anchoring coral fragments to a robust base. The results of this paper describe testing that was performed in the Gulf of Mexico to validate ultraviolet cured resin in custom manufactured concrete bases.