The world’s third largest coral reef, off the coast of Florida in the US, is now endangered.

– This is a truly extraordinary event that is happening, this disease is burning coral like fire in dry grass, said Andrew Stamper, head of natural sciences at Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment.

Before CBS News who first mentioned this issue.

Coral reefs, which lie just off the Florida Keys, were once a colorful and vibrant habitat for millions of plants and animals. But disease outbreaks that damage coral tissue threaten to wipe out 20 of the 45 species of coral found in the area.

– Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly what causes it, says Stamper.

A tiring job

To save the coral reefs, local scientists are using a new solution: laboratory-grown coral.

Selected species have been transferred hundreds of kilometers away, to a laboratory in Orlando, Florida. There, efforts will be made to recreate the coral’s natural habitat, which the researchers describe as complex and painstaking work.

To simulate natural breeding conditions, LED lights were used to recreate solar and lunar cycles, while volunteers fed coral in specially treated water, which was supposed to mimic Florida Keys ocean water.

– It’s a kind of gene bank. “We are trying to protect the genetics of these corals so that their offspring can eventually be returned to Florida reefs,” Jim Kinsler, aquarium curator at SeaWorld Orlando, told CBS.

Big challenge

Transferring the lab-grown coral to the ocean will mean another challenge for scientists, who describe the coral as extremely fragile.

“We think the biggest challenge is growing them to a testable size in Florida waters, testing their disease resistance and then propagating the successful corals by the hundreds of thousands — literally,” said Andrew Walker, president of the Florida Fish and Game Foundation.