31 October: Spawning preparation underway in SeaSim

The SeaSim team at the Australian Institute of Marine Science is gearing up for the annual coral spawning event on the Great Barrier Reef.

This year, due to the full moon falling in early November, it is expected to be a split spawning with corals spawning in both November and December. Researchers from AIMS, James Cook University, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, The Smithsonian Institute, University of Western Australia, Taronga Zoo, New York University of Abu Ahabi and University of Texas amongst others will undertake a number of significant research projects during these spawning events.

Over 100 individual colonies from more than 10 different species of coral will spawn in the SeaSim this year producing more than 5 million larvae for use in experiments. In preparation for this, the SeaSim team have busily been building holding tanks, a larval rearing facility and a number of new experimental systems.

For more information on what research activites are happening in SeaSim this year, visit our spawning activities page.