One man's quest to save the coral reef

Ken Nedimyer has spent more than 30 years swimming among acres of beautiful coral off the Florida Keys in the US. However, over the years he has noticed the coral dwindling and in some cases disappearing all together.

Scientists around the world have also been observing the same thing. They estimate that about 25% of the world's coral has been lost, primarily due to the rising sea temperatures and higher carbon dioxide levels caused by global warming. If something is not done soon, they believe we may lose more than half of the world's coral in the coming 50 years.

Ken was upset at seeing the coral disappear but had no idea how to reverse it. Then about five years ago, he noticed tiny staghorn corals starting to grow under his underwater rock collection. That's when he and his 14-year old daughter Kelly decided to try to grow the coral and see if they could replenish what has been lost. The father-daughter team experimented with different glues and finally figured out how to attach tiny staghorn tips to rock platforms stretched across the ocean floor.

Because staghorn coral grows really fast and can double or even triple within a year, this experiment has been very successful. The first five small colonies have now grown to hundreds of much larger staghorn groups.

Ken Nedimyer believes that coral can be re-planted anywhere in the world and hopes that others will follow his lead. Watch the video below to hear Ken talk about his passion for re-planting the coral reef and see how he does it: