Ras Laffan Coral & Halul Island, Qatar (2013-2014)

Securing material on top of the rocky surface and inserting

In partnership with Creocean, our MRU team designed and conducted a coral relocation project in Qatar as part of a nearshore trenching project for cable deployment conducted by LS Cable. In order to minimize potential impacts from the cable deployment, the team extracted 1,138 corals approximately 800 m from the shore of Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar’s main site for liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid production. The relocated corals included Cyphastrea sp., Platygyra sp., Porites harrisoni, and Favites sp. Because no reef structure was present at the relocation site, the team constructed a hybrid structure composed of reef rubble, cement, and rod to develop a tridimensional framework and provide relocated corals with a stable reef structure.

Porites harrisoni coral colonies

Near Halul Island, 80 km northeast of Doha off the Qatar coast, the team extracted 4,273 corals and relocated them to the east coast of the island where they were attached to the reef framework. The surface was scraped and cleaned using a metallic brush to expose the rocky surface and remove filamentous algae and sediments. Cement was deployed on top of the clean surface where coral colonies could be secured and attached to the surface. After the cement hardened, the coral colonies were permanently affixed to the rocky surface.

Completed Porites harrisoni colonies securely covering previously rocky surface