Researchers are testing whether cross-breeding elkhorn corals from Florida and Honduras can help restore lost genetic diversity and improve the threatened species’ ability to withstand warmer waters.

“We have to incorporate as much of the genetic diversity in the species as possible to try to find the corals that will live through climate change,” she said.

But to do that, the Flondurans need to be put to the test in a natural environment.

Last year, 35 Flonduran babies were outplanted off the coast of Miami near Key Biscayne, where many of them still seem to be doing well, Baker said.