Rare good news for Florida's bleaching reefs: rescued coral from Miami spawn

Scientists racing to save coral from bleaching reefs across the Florida Keys got some rare good news: a handful of coral rescued off Miami spawned in the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel hatchery lab this week.

While it’s too soon to know whether they’ll become viable, making babies could definitely be a good sign for coral that have endured weeks of punishing heat.

“The fact that some of them spawned is good. We're sort of optimistic that tonight we may get even more of them spawning,” said marine biologist Andrew Baker, whose Reef Futures Lab is managing the spawning coral, on Thursday.

But he’s not quite ready to hand out cigars.