Members of Black in Marine Science (BIMS) fastened the straps of their scuba gear before plunging beneath the surface of the ocean. Their mission wasn’t to explore coral reefs — but to help restore them.
The divers with BIMS, a global nonprofit network of Black ocean scientists and marine enthusiasts, joined the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef program to plant nursery-grown corals along the Florida Reef Tract.
Within the last several years, due to climate change, marine life has been experiencing a prolonged heat wave with no end in sight. Rising ocean temperatures have led to the functional extinction of staghorn and elkhorn corals throughout South Florida…