Growing coral in the heart of Darwin
Welcome to one of the Northern Territory’s first visible coral restoration projects — located right here at the Darwin Waterfront.
You’re looking at the beginnings of a coral table built by Pandora Expeditions, in partnership with the Darwin Waterfront Corporation. This table holds small coral fragments that will grow and help showcase the incredible biodiversity hidden beneath our waters.
We’re using a technique called micro-fragmentation, where coral is divided into tiny pieces to trigger its natural survival response. This method dramatically accelerates coral growth, helping us restore and understand these important reef-building species faster than ever before.
Monitoring of coral fragment under UV light
Why here?
Despite being so close to the Coral Triangle, the NT’s marine life is still largely unknown. We believe our local reefs hold powerful clues to coral resilience — and this small project is a step toward bringing that story to light.