Scientists collected samples from Thailand's vast reefs to prevent ocean warming and human activities like tourism from degrading them for breeding purposes.

Four Thai marine researchers were taking in the rare sight of billions of pink specks floating up from the ocean floor while scuba diving through shallow seas off the coast of an island in the country's south, an event that only occurs once a year. The pink particles were coral-released eggs and sperm. In an effort to prevent ocean warming and human activities like tourism from degrading Thailand's vast reefs, scientists gathered as many samples as they could for breeding purposes.

Because the coral only spawns once a year and it can take up to five years to raise the juveniles in a lab before they are ready to be returned to the seabed, their research is extremely labor-intensive. The researchers continued by saying that the disappearance of Thailand's reefs threatens not only the health of the ocean ecosystem but also the nation's fishing industry and tourism, both of which rely on healthy coral habitats to support fish populations.

Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources initiated a coral breeding and restoration project on Man Nai Island in 2016, following a 2010 mass bleaching event. Over 4,000 coral colonies have been rebuilt since its inception. The world is about to see a fourth global coral bleaching event, which could result in the death of large areas of tropical reefs, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.