Restoring Reef Ecosystems with Scott Sensenbrenner
Scott Sensenbrenner is the Founder & CEO of Enzymedica, which has partnered MOTE Marine Laboratory & Aquarium to restore Florida's coral reefs. While 1% of the world\u2019s oceans are coral reefs, they support 25% of all marine life and feed more than 500 million people. In some areas of Florida and the Caribbean, coral cover has declined by 50% to 80% in the last 30 years. Ocean plants are responsible for producing 85% of the oxygen we breathe \u2013 and coral reefs are on track to die off by 2050 if more restoration is not completed.\n\nMote has developed a \u201cmicrofragmentation and fusion\u201d method to grow corals 50 times faster in their nurseries than they grow naturally. These born-in-a-lab baby \u201creefs\u201d, which are implanted in the dying reef, look a bit like Reese\u2019s peanut butter cups. They have a 95% survival rate when placed onto the reef. Mote has outplanted more than 70,000+ new corals to-date with the help of financial support from Enzymedica.