REACT Curaçao

REACT Curaçao “Reef enhancement and community training” - Community powered reef recovery in Curaçao

Coral spawning season is in full swing! Coral spawning is one of the most important reproductive events on a coral reef....
27/08/2026

Coral spawning season is in full swing!

Coral spawning is one of the most important reproductive events on a coral reef. Each year during spawning season, corals release bundles containing eggs and s***m into the water column, which float toward the surface where fertilization can take place.

Swipe through the photos to follow the process. In the first photo, the elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) is setting: its gamete bundles are visible at the mouths of the polyps, a sign that the colony is preparing to spawn.

Next, the coral releases those bundles into the water column.

Specialized collection nets placed over spawning colonies then guide the floating bundles upward and into a collection tube, allowing us to capture the spawn without removing or damaging the coral.

We bring eggs and s***m from different colonies together under controlled conditions to achieve high fertilization rates, before the resulting embryos and larvae begin the next stage of their development.

For elkhorn coral, it has already been a busy season. After 11 days of spawning dives at the end of July and beginning of August, we’re back in the water again this week for the next spawning window.

Collaboration highlight! We’re excited to highlight our partnership with Dive Center Scuba Do CuracaoTheir generous supp...
25/08/2026

Collaboration highlight!

We’re excited to highlight our partnership with Dive Center Scuba Do Curacao

Their generous support by providing free scuba tanks for our fieldwork, combined with their enthusiasm to actively participate in our BESTLIFE2030 activities at Director’s Bay, is an important step toward expanding reef enhancement efforts beyond individual organizations.

As we develop and refine our methods, the Scuba Do team is also one of the first local dive center teams working alongside us in the field. This gives us the opportunity to test how our protocols work in practice, learn what works well, and fine-tune our training before involving a wider network of dive professionals and volunteers.

We’re incredibly grateful to have a partner that not only supports the work, but is willing to actively get involved and help us build toward something bigger.

Thank you, Scuba Do! 💙

That’s a wrap! 🪸🎓Last week marked the final day of our REACT Summer Internship!We ended the program by having our partic...
24/08/2026

That’s a wrap! 🪸🎓

Last week marked the final day of our REACT Summer Internship!

We ended the program by having our participants set up their very own reef enhancement research plots, plots they can now continue to visit, monitor and maintain as official REACT volunteers. A fitting way to move from learning about reef enhancement to becoming part of the team carrying it forward.

After several weeks of diving, learning, fieldwork and plenty of new experiences, all participants received their official certificates of completion. We’re incredibly proud of how much this group has learned and accomplished, and even more excited that their involvement with REACT doesn’t have to end here.

And while the internship may officially be over, our posting is running a little behind, so there are still plenty of summer program adventures to share over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

We’re super grateful for the support of Mundo Mio Rozendaels Restaurant Dive Center Scuba Do Curacao Reef Renewal Curaçao Curaçao Rif Mangrove Park and our individual sponsors to help us make this program happen!

Intern highlight: Lorenzo!He may have already left the island, but we still owe Lorenzo Romani a very well deserved inte...
12/08/2026

Intern highlight: Lorenzo!

He may have already left the island, but we still owe Lorenzo Romani a very well deserved intern highlight.

Lorenzo was our first-ever intern shared between REACT Curaçao and Reef Renewal Curaçao, an exciting step in our growing collaboration as we work together on the BESTLIFE project. Rather than working with just one organization, Lorenzo became part of both teams and helped us develop a shared approach to monitoring our reef enhancement work.

For his thesis, he explored how photogrammetry can be made more accessible for citizen science, while helping both organizations develop the tools and methods needed for large-scale reef monitoring.

He also established permanent monitoring plots that can be followed over time by dive centers and trained volunteers. To wrap up his internship, Lorenzo trained local youth and dive professionals, giving them the tools to monitor their own plot and track
changes at our BESTLIFE project site.

And his contribution went well beyond his thesis: Lorenzo played an important role in getting the BESTLIFE project at Director’s Bay off the ground, from baseline monitoring to many hours of fieldwork.

A fantastic first shared intern and hopefully the first of many! Thank you for all your hard work, Lorenzo. You’ll be missed, and we wish you all the best on your next
adventure!

Snail hunting! 🐌Last week, our Summer Internship participants dove into the surprisingly fascinating world of reef snail...
11/08/2026

Snail hunting! 🐌

Last week, our Summer Internship participants dove into the surprisingly fascinating world of reef snails.

They learned all about reef snails: some feed on corals, while others graze on algae, and some even eat other snails! After a crash course in who's who, it was time to head underwater and put their identification skills to the test.

A huge thank you to Lars for sharing his expertise with us, and to Goby Divers for letting us use their facilities for the dive!

Beauty Between the Polyps 🪸Corals don't just build reefs, they provide homes. Tucked between the coral polyps, tiny juve...
05/08/2026

Beauty Between the Polyps 🪸

Corals don't just build reefs, they provide homes. Tucked between the coral polyps, tiny juvenile reef fish find shelter as they begin life on the reef. It's a hidden world that's easy to miss, but full of life.

CRIB on tour! If you're visiting Jan Thiel Bay, you might notice a large blue floating structure in the water. That's ou...
04/08/2026

CRIB on tour!

If you're visiting Jan Thiel Bay, you might notice a large blue floating structure in the water. That's our Coral Rearing In Situ Basin (CRIB), a floating coral nursery designed by SECORE International to rear hundreds of thousands of coral babies.

Our CRIB recently broke loose from its original mooring at Director's Bay and drifted toward Jan Thiel. Thanks to the quick response of many observant people and the help of the Curaçao Marine Park, we were able to recover it safely. Since returning it to Director's Bay wasn't possible due to wave action, the CRIB has now found a new home in Jan Thiel Bay for a few more days until the corals are ready to be returned to the reef.

A huge thank you to Dive Center Scuba Do Curacao and Jan Thiel Beach for their support and for allowing us to safely moor the nursery in their bay.

If you spot the big blue floating structure, now you know what it is! 😊 Please don't climb on it or touch it, but feel free to snorkel by and admire it from a safe distance. And if you notice anything unusual or have any questions, we'd love to hear from you.

Night shifts🌙🪸For the past eight nights, we’ve been in the water after dark, searching for the annual spawning of Acropo...
04/08/2026

Night shifts🌙🪸

For the past eight nights, we’ve been in the water after dark, searching for the annual spawning of Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral) and Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral).

These species spawn only once a year, releasing eggs and s***m into the water during a spectacular, synchronized event. By collecting a portion of this spawn, we can rear coral babies that will eventually be planted on Curaçao’s reefs.

Coral spawning doesn’t follow our schedule. So far, we’ve had a series of quiet nights. That’s the reality of working with natural processes, and why coral breeding takes patience.

A huge thank you to our partners at Reef Renewal Curaçao and SECORE International, and to all of the volunteers who have spent long evenings in the water with us. Your dedication makes this work possible.

Eight nights down. A few more to go.

Building a floating coral nursery! 🪸This week, our Summer Internship participants helped set up something very special: ...
29/07/2026

Building a floating coral nursery! 🪸

This week, our Summer Internship participants helped set up something very special: a Coral Rearing In-Situ Basin, better known as a CRIB.

If you’ve ever visited Piscaderabaai, you may have spotted one of these large floating structures before. Now, we’re excited to deploy this technology at our project site at Director’s Bay.

Originally developed by SECORE International, the CRIB is a floating coral nursery that allows hundreds of thousands of coral larvae to develop and settle onto specially designed settlement substrates; in the ocean. By eliminating the need for land-based facilities, this technology makes coral breeding more accessible and helps make large-scale restoration efforts possible.

We’re especially excited that our Summer Internship participants got to help assemble and deploy the CRIB. It gave them a unique opportunity to be involved in every step of the process, from setting up the nursery to (hopefully) watching the first elkhorn coral larvae settle inside it later this season.

If you’re visiting Director’s Bay and spot the CRIB floating, please admire it from a safe distance and avoid touching or climbing on it. If you ever notice that something doesn’t seem right, we’d greatly appreciate you letting us know so we can check on it.

SECORE International designed this technology to make coral breeding more accessible around the world. We’re incredibly grateful to continue using this technology as part of our reef enhancement work and look forward to welcoming the first generation of elkhorn coral larvae into their new floating nursery.

Looking beyond the usual suspects 🦐🔬Our Summer program participants took a closer look at reef life by retrieving our bi...
27/07/2026

Looking beyond the usual suspects 🦐🔬

Our Summer program participants took a closer look at reef life by retrieving our bioballs, which we normally use to attract settling long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum).

While we unfortunately didn't find any Diadema this time, we discovered a fascinating collection of tiny reef creatures instead. From miniature crustaceans to other hidden reef life, our Summer Internship participants got a glimpse into a world that's easy to miss underwater. A great reminder that coral reefs are home to far more than just corals and fish, and that there's always something new to discover. 🪸🔍

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