The Nursery

Docks

Our seven 20' x 20' square docks comprise the backbone of the HIMB Coral Nursery. They help support our coral rack system and their 5' width provides ample deck space for you to conduct your research and collect data.

Coral nursery docks aerial view

FRP Racks

Fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) racks are 4' x 12' platforms used for experiment deployments that require a stable, rigid platform to hold your equipment. These support heavy loads to meet nearly any needs, just ask!

FRP racks with coral

Flexible Racks

Geotextile racks can be built to nearly any size or shape and work well when FRP is too large or replicate racks spread across the nursery space are desired. This design is useful in experiments involving caging, shading, or higher levels of control.

Flexible geotextile racks

Tank System

Our 28 land-based, flow-through seawater tanks are available to compliment your in-situ work. They are ideal for:

  • Field quarantine & pest control
  • Temperature/bleaching manipulation
  • Feeding trials
  • Shade/light manipulation
Flow-through seawater tanks

The Corals

Nursery Colonies

The coral nursery houses hundreds of colonies from corals of opportunity, natural recruitment, and past permitted collections. These colonies are available for use in your research and can be referenced in our photogrammetry time-series going back as far as 2019 for some colonies.

Nursery coral colonies

Field Collections

If you are interested in sampling wild coral colonies from the surrounding reefs of Kāne'ohe Bay, we are happy to help you navigate everything from permitting with the state, HIMB boat usage, down to the physical collections in the field. Leverage our familiarity with our home reef to your advantage.

Kāne'ohe Bay field collections
### Species Availability | Coral species | Nursery abundance | Field abundance | | :--- | :---: | :---: | | *Montipora capitata* | High | High | | *Porites compressa* | Medium, low | High | | *Pocillopora acuta* | High | Medium | | *Porites evermanni* | Low | Medium | | *Porites lobata* | Low | Medium | | *Pavona varians* | Medium, low | Medium | | *Pocillopora meandrina* | None | Low |

Equipment

SfM photogrammetry

3D models built with Structure from Motion photogrammetry allow you to measure surface area, benthic cover, volume and more with sub-millimeter accuracy. We offer equipment for use or a full SfM service with data delivered.

Structure from Motion photogrammetry

PAM fluorometry

Our Waltz mini-PAM fluorometer can assess photosynthetic activity, a common proxy for coral and symbiont health. We are happy to share our equipment, help you use it, and also process the data you receive.

PAM fluorometry equipment

Environmental Monitoring

We are equipped with multiple methods of measuring light, temperature, and flow in the nursery:

  • LiCor 3 channel PAR meter
  • Apogee handheld PAR meter
  • Odyssey PAR sensors w/ automated wiper
  • HOBO irradiance/temperature loggers
  • SoFar SmartBuoy (captures live temperature data at 1 and 3 meters)
Environmental monitoring equipment

Field Lab

With 110V electricity, water tables, and workbench space right at the coral nursery we can accommodate whatever equipment you might want to bring.

Additional Resources

Field lab at coral nursery
Sofar Ocean Spotter Buoy

Nursery Temperature Data

View Live Buoy Data →

Powered by Sofar Ocean · SPOT-1025

Services

We offer a range of research support services at the HIMB Coral Nursery. We can supply nursery or tank space for you to conduct your own research. If you require more assistance or won't be in Hawai'i for the duration of your experiment we have staff members to help you meet your goals. Reach out to discuss collaborations in further detail.