Coral Morphologic

Thank You, Miami! Our first Miami Coral Club meeting is in the books and it was an amazing night Gramps Getaway with old and new friends! Thank you and a warm welcome to all our new members 🪸

Our kickoff Miami Coral Club meeting is tomorrow night at Gramps Getaway, 6-10pm on Virginia Key! 🪸🌇🪸 See below for membership details ⤵️

Membership + Swag Bag:

Our kickoff Miami Coral Club meeting is tomorrow night at Gramps Getaway, 6-10pm on Virginia Key! 🪸🌇🪸 See below for membership details ⤵️

Membership:

A lil sneak peek at the premier membership swag bag, available at our kickoff meeting. We’re wrassling up some aquatic bespoke items & offers for you Miami Coralheads! We’ll share more info soon, as we’re 13 days away from our first meeting @ Gramps Getaway on Thursday, Oct. 22nd from 6-10pm 🪸🌇🪸

In addition to the official sticker 🪸

A lil sneak peek at the premier membership swag bag, available at our kickoff meeting. We’re wrassling up some aquatic bespoke items & offers for you Miami Coralheads! We’ll share more info soon, as we’re 13 days away from our first meeting @ Gramps Getaway on Thursday, Oct. 22nd from 6-10pm 🪸🌇🪸

‘Urban Corals’ is the topic of discussion at the kickoff Miami Coral Club meeting, where we’ll spotlight the resilient population of corals actively recruiting onto Miami’s man-made seawalls and artificial reefs 🪸🌇🪸

The coral that started it all… this daytime / nighttime video of an endangered elkhorn (Acropora palmata), aka the OG ‘Super Coral,’ shows off the hyper-fluorescence that caught our attention! 🪸🔦🪸

As seen in this video, an abundantly coral-populated tidal zone lies just feet from a major highway 🪸🛣️🪸

The coral that started it all… this daytime / nighttime video of an endangered elkhorn (Acropora palmata), aka the OG ‘Super Coral,’ shows off the hyper-fluorescence that caught our attention! 🪸🔦🪸

It began an ongoing odyssey to understand how thousands of reef building corals had successfully colonized Miami’s manmade shorelines despite serious anthropogenic stressors 🪸🌇🪸

The brain coral emerging at low tide from the water in this photo is what we termed an ‘urban coral.’ That is a coral that has naturally recruited onto human-made shorelines, seawalls, and artificial reefs 🪸

We believe that Miami’s urban corals may hold the secrets to understanding coral adaptation in the Anthropocene and aim to unlock their secrets with our scientific partners 🪸

The brain coral emerging at low tide from the water in this photo is what we termed an ‘urban coral.’ That is a coral that has naturally recruited onto human-made shorelines, seawalls, and artificial reefs 🪸

In 2011, Colin discovered what looked to be a hybrid staghorn / elkhorn coral while snorkeling off Fisher Island 🪸

The brain coral emerging at low tide from the water in this photo is what we termed an ‘urban coral.’ That is a coral that has naturally recruited onto human-made shorelines, seawalls, and artificial reefs 🪸

This October marks Coral Morphologic’s 19th year, and we are excited to launch the Miami Coral Club, a new coral-focused monthly event series at Gramps Getaway! Join us Thursday, October 22nd, 6-10 PM for our kickoff meeting, where you can sign up for membership & learn more about Miami’s reefs 🪸

Enjoy Coral Morphologic & Coral City Camera visual activations throughout the space, DJ sets from Miami’s own Jacuzzi Boys, & a happy hour all night long! Premier membership swag bags & pre-orders for the Coral City Camera 2027 calendar will be available on a first-come, first-served basis 🪸

🚨Coral City Bleaching Report🚨 The Summer of 2026 is on track to have the warmest local sea surface temperatures since the bleaching event of 2023. However, the impacts on coral health appear to be considerably less severe compared to the devastating impact 2023 had on our reefs.

We are hopeful that the condition of the corals will begin to improve as water temperatures have declined due to increased rain and overcast skies. Thankfully we are not seeing significant bleaching in the urban staghorn (ACER ‘Ventura’) or elkhorn (APAL) that are growing robustly around the CCC.

🚨Coral City Bleaching Report🚨 The Summer of 2026 is on track to have the warmest local sea surface temperatures since the bleaching event of 2023. However, the impacts on coral health appear to be considerably less severe compared to the devastating impact 2023 had on our reefs.

At the Coral City Camera site we are observing partial bleaching on some of the brain corals, particularly those receiving direct sunlight and UV exposure in shallow water.

🚨Coral City Bleaching Report🚨 The Summer of 2026 is on track to have the warmest local sea surface temperatures since the bleaching event of 2023. However, the impacts on coral health appear to be considerably less severe compared to the devastating impact 2023 had on our reefs.

According to NOAA we are now at 7.5 DHW (degree heating weeks) this summer. Last year saw 6.85 DHW, 2024 saw 2.6 DHW, while 2023 saw a whopping 10.9 DHW as of September 7th.

Happy Birthday to Her Deepness Dr. Sylvia Earle! 🪸🐠🙌🐠🪸 Looking forward to more underwater adventures 😎