Shayle Matsuda

Some of the stuff that we're working on in the lab is

Looking at, can we expose corals to non-lethal stressors to condition them to then be put out in the reef?

And if they experience these higher temperatures downstream, will that initial exposure help them survive?

And with coral bleaching, what's really hard about that is it's this whole balance of how hot and for how long.

So if there's like a really short high temperature spike, how does that affect these organisms versus if this is more of a prolonged spike?

only a degree or two above that thermal maximum that they have, how does that affect if they're going to bleach, the severity of that bleaching, and then also their ability to recover afterwards?

So we haven't really talked about what coral bleaching is.

Yeah, I know.

That was the next question.

So I was like, okay, that probably doesn't make any sense yet.

So corals have these symbiotic algae that are obligate.

That means they're required for the corals to live.

They provide up to 95% of their daily nutritional needs.

And

Everything, when the temperatures are good, everything is happy.

The corals get what they need.

The symbionts get what they need.

But when the water temperature rises, like I said, just even slightly above that thermal maximum that the corals can handle, the corals are starting to stress out.

I'm freaking out!

And one of their stress responses is to expel these algae.