Main content

Superb spawning

For just one week every year, a mass spawning of epic proportions occurs on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Triggered a few days after a full moon in late spring, the hard corals the length of the reef spawn at the same time on the same night. Eggs and sperm unite to produce free swimming larvae known as polyps. Some drift only a few metres, others thousands of kilometres, before choosing to anchor by the sounds of reef life. The polyps then set about growing like sea anemones and it is this process that can help repopulate ailing coral reefs.

Release date:

Duration:

3 minutes

Featured in...

More clips from Reef and Beyond