‘Super Coral Play’: NFL initiative wants to help save coral reefs around Florida

With the next Super Bowl heading to Miami, Florida’s environment is on the minds of athletes.

A new campaign is working to bring attention to saving coral reefs. It’s supported by Miami Super Bowl Host Committee, more than 50 NFL players, influencers and the MSC Foundation, which focuses on “nurturing” the planet, including marine life. The campaign is called “Super Coral Play.”

“Each year, the Super Bowl, they partner with an organization and they have a philanthropic focus,” Mark Sanchez, ESPN announcer and former quarterback, explained to FOX 13. “This year, it’s the environment.”

According to The Nature Conservancy, the planet can lose up to 70 percent of coral reefs by 2050. 

“Warming waters, pollution and overfishing have badly damaged our coral reefs and marine ecosystems, with roughly 50 percent of the world’s corals lost in just the last 30 years. While easily damaged, corals are difficult to regrow. Coral grow at a very slow clip at just a ¼-inch to 1-inch per year,” according to the campaign website.

Florida has the largest coral reef ecosystem in the continental U.S. The term “super coral” comes from the species that have remained resilient to warming waters. MSC says researchers are trying to identify the specific coral to create Super Coral nurseries.

About 60 miles off the coast of Miami, MSC helped revive a coral reef ecosystem “where it was once dead,” Sanchez explained.

“I got to go down there with a couple of other divers and we made this epoxy,” he said. “We basically glued super coral to the reef to help it replant itself and grow much faster than it normally would which was incredible. Just the amount of marine life that you see there beginning to thrive once again was really inspiring.”

Matthew McKinnon, chairman of the MSC Foundation, said about 50 percent of the coral reef system in that area previously died off.

“Generally speaking, in Florida – which is the coral state of America – the whole reef system here is at a critical point where it’s disappearing before our eyes,” he told FOX 13. “We need to do something about it, we can do something about it and that’s what this campaign is all about.”

Some of those “little” changes people can do could be eliminating single-use plastics and switching to LEDs, Sanchez suggested.

“One person can do one little thing,” he said, “and if we all do it we’re making a huge impact.” 

LINK: To participate in the Super Coral Play campaign, head over to the campaign website.