Coral Spawn Turns Palau Seas Pink
The annual mass spawning of corals on the Palau archipelago in the western Pacific has occurred right on cue.
With Sunday night's full moon, coral polyps let forth a huge swathe of sperm and egg, to seed the next generation.
The event was short-lived - only about 30 minutes - but so vast in its scale that it turned the sea water pink.
Scientists from Palau, Australia and the UK are studying the practicality of collecting coral larvae to help restore damaged reefs elsewhere.
The little egg and sperm bundles were visible in the open mouths of most of the individual coral polyps of each colony.
Depending on the size of the colony, the number of tiny sea anemone-like polyps ranges from hundreds to thousands.
At 8.29pm the mass spawning began. Across the reef, polyps contracted into their stony skeletons. Spawn particles popped out of their mouths.
Because the egg and sperm bundles contain waxy yolk, they are buoyant and rise in the water column...
