Swiss start-up installs 3D structures to make coral feel at home

In this undated but recent photo released by the WWF, fish swim in an area of a newly discovered reef off the coast of Thailand. Keystone/AP Photo/WWF

An innovation from Zurich could well help halt the disappearance of coral reefs in the Philippines. The start-up has specifically created structures that attract polyps and encourage them to form colonies.

It’s a technological and environmental challenge that should enable these tiny marine animals – the corals – to continue to exist.

To accommodate them, the young Zurich-based organisation Rrreefs has placed 100m2 of 3D-printed bricks made with terracotta clay off the coast of the Philippines. This coral “mini-hotel”, which required the printing of 820 modules, is designed to attract larvae.

Coral larvae have appeared in the artificial reef in the Philippines RTS

“The clay used is a very good substrate,” stresses the start-up’s co-founder, Hanna Kuhfuss. Coral larvae also detect colour and “first settle on structures like this”, she explains.

Almost three months after the installation, the scientists made a pleasant discovery: larvae have already appeared in the artificial reef. “It’s fantastic,” enthuses Kuhfuss, who explains that the organisms probably “settled in within a week”.

‘Desperate situation’

This is a source of hope for the researchers, who are aiming to restore 700 kilometres of coastline by 2034, or 1% of the world’s coral reefs.

“Given the desperate situation in which our reefs find themselves, we need ideas, and this is a good one,” says Christian Wild, professor of marine ecology at Bremen University.

According to the WWF, the coral reefs could disappear by the end of the century. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is estimated to have lost half its surface area in the past 30 years.