200 Years of Cuban Coral Arrives in Santa Cruz

Daria Siciliano, of TOF project Cuba Marine Research and Conservation, is featured in KQED Science talking about the recent shipment of 200 years of coral cores from Cuba to California for research.  Read the full story here.

“A rare and valuable shipment arrived from Cuba today. But it’s not hand-rolled cigars or fine rum. It’s a coral core: A 48 inch column of pure coral, about as long and wide as a baseball bat. The core was collected off the coast of southern Cuba and it’s the first intact, long core ever drilled from a Cuban reef. It contains historical information that could help solve a mystery: Why are Cuban coral reefs so healthy and will they be able to stay that way as the climate changes?”

“Cuba remains remarkably unspoiled compared to other Caribbean tropical coastal areas,” says Daria Siciliano, a coral reef ecologist at UC Santa Cruz and a lead scientist on the project. “Our hypothesis is that the unique socio-political history of Cuba, together with the country’s progressive stance in marine conservation, are responsible.”