Denver Zoo protecting corals from threatened Florida reefs [Video]

DENVER — Two weeks ago, a Southwest flight landed in Denver with special cargo. In it, 30 colonies of coral from 10 different species rescued off the coast of Florida where a disease is threatening to wipe out entire reefs. 

The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance was the final destination for those corals. Jessica Newell, the zoo’s assistant curator of ectotherms, stayed up all night making sure they made it in safe and sound. 

“The Florida reef is being decimated by something called stony coral tissue loss disease,” she said. 

Since the disease is transmitted through water, the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission reached out to landlocked zoos across the country to take in corals for safeguarding while researchers search for a cure to the disease. 

“Most everybody I know loves to go to the beach …