Coral IVF trial offers hope of renewal for Australia's Great Barrier Reef

A school of fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Coral populations from Australia's first "Coral IVF" trial on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 have not only survived recent bleaching events, but are on track to reproduce and spawn next year, researchers say.

"I'm really excited," said Peter Harrison, director of Southern Cross University's Marine Ecology Research Centre, who led the development of the larvae restoration technique which involves collecting coral sperm and eggs during the annual mass spawning on the reef.