The MSC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the MSC Group, has strengthened its partnership with the Bahamas’ Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS), aimed at restoring marine biodiversity.

The two are working together to protect and restore some of the Caribbean’s most threatened reef-building corals, the cruise line said in a press release.

As part of this effort, senior marine scientists and coral specialists from PIMS travelled to Ocean Cay last month to exchange coral.

“This work is about building long-term resilience for Bahamian reefs,” said Dr. Aaron Hartmann, senior scientist at the helm of PIMS’ coral program in The Bahamas.

“By growing the diversity of corals across our nursery network, we are strengthening the foundation for reef recovery throughout The Bahamas and we are contributing to a national effort to safeguard these critically endangered species for future generations.”

100 fragments of staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and 150 fragments of fused staghorn coral (Acropora prolifera) were transported to Ocean Cay.

There, they were installed on the MSC Foundation’s offshore nursery coral trees, growing the size of the nursery to 637 fragments.

These controlled marine environments allow corals to grow faster and more safely than on degraded reefs, according to the press release.

Once nursery corals reach sufficient size, they are “outplanted” onto selected reef sites.

PIMS also incorporated fragments of the critically endangered elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) into the nurseries they manage under the Reef Rescue Network, PIMS’ coral restoration program, to increase their genetic diversity.

Maintaining genetic diversity within nurseries is said to be essential as this helps improve resilience to warming seas, disease and extreme weather, thus increasing the restored reefs’ chances of survival in a changing climate.