US veterans with injuries accept new mission to restore coral reefs

Before diving into the water, Billy Costello crosses the deck of a ship while wearing his scuba gear, fins, and a prosthetic right leg. He is a member of a team of injured US Army veterans who are establishing coral at a reef off the southernmost point of Florida. The goal of the mission is to assist veterans heal their mental and physical scars while also saving coral that is under danger from illness and increasing water temperatures.

On a recent morning in July, 31 veterans worked with six divers from the Mote Marine Laboratory in Key West to plant coral at the Higgs Head reef.

Since 2011, the lab has partnered with the charity Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge (CWVC) for a week each year to aid in the restoration of coral reefs, a vital environment for marine life.

As a former diver with the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group, Costello, 41, feels at home.

He lost his right leg in an explosion that occurred in Afghanistan in 2011 while he was traveling along a road. He discovered CWVC in the months that followed and participated in its activities.

He is now swimming to a location selected by Mote scientists, around 800 meters (half a mile) offshore, on this Florida morning.

In order to better treat disorders like brain trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, the Wounded Warrior soldiers Center (CWVC) places injured soldiers in demanding circumstances. In this endeavor, CWVC collaborates with researchers who watch and record their behavior.

Costello told AFP, “I have scaled mountains with them and dove to the bottom of the sea.”

They were crucial to my recuperation and helped me understand what I would be able to achieve after losing my limb.

Michael Crosby, president of Mote, is pleased with the collaboration.

Every year, he added, “I make sure I’m here with these people who have given so much for the country.”

They are now working with our laboratory to rehabilitate these coral reefs, which are like the ocean’s rain forests.

original coral

The veterans are given instructions by a Mote lab staffer who dives ahead of them to a depth of roughly 14 feet (four meters) while holding a map.

Each square-compartmented box the scientists deposit on the ocean floor contains a piece of coral.

Using wire brushes, the divers clean the reef of detritus and algae before coating it with epoxy resin. The coral pieces are then gently taken and adhered.

The veterans and institute personnel plant 1,040 stony corals from six distinct kinds in little more than an hour.

After taking part in the dive, Crosby stated that the specimens had been produced in a lab and had been selected because they had shown increased tolerance to risks including rising water temperatures, ocean acidification, and illness.

Coral microfragments of the same genotype are placed in a restricted area as part of the repopulation strategy for the reef. As they develop, their tissues combine to form a colony that may multiply 40 times more quickly than typical coral.

“In two, three years, we will have created (the equivalent of) a 50-year-old coral that will then be able to spawn on its own,” said Crosby, who is optimistic that the specimens will last for a very long time.

Costello is happy he took part in the dive when he gets back to the port.

We get to assist these men in restoring the reefs, which is really a privilege, he remarked.

He finds the dive enjoyable despite the fact that his prosthesis, which he compares to an anchor, makes it difficult for him to maneuver underwater.

He added, “It’s great for the heart and the soul.”

“Especially when you’re around a group of veterans who have overcome adversity and recovered in such a positive way,” the author says.