French Polynesia mobilises the world to confirm the synchronised global spawning of the coral Porites rus

The Polynesian association Tama no te Tairoto (Children of the Lagoon) is launching its unprecedented global initiative, ‘Connected by the Reef – Te firi a’au,’ with the goal of confirming the worldwide synchronization of the spawning of Porites rus corals, one of the reef-building species. The association is mobilizing more than 150 observers in 33 countries around the world to simultaneously observe this major synchronous spawning event, which will take place, depending on time zones, during the weekend of January 18-19th, 2025.

Porites rus spawning - Photo Credit: Daytime spawning of Porites rus on the coral reefs of Chumbe Island in Zanzibar, Western Indian Ocean (WIO) — Porites rus spawning – Photo Credit: Daytime spawning of Porites rus on the coral reefs of Chumbe Island in Zanzibar, Western Indian Ocean (WIO)

More than 150 observers from 33 countries around the world have already registered and are preparing to participate in this world-first event, a coral spawning observation that will begin in French Polynesia on Saturday, January 18, at 7:00 a.m. The spawning “wave” of the coral Porites rus will then propagate, following the sunrise, to other Pacific islands, then to Asia, before ending in the Indian Ocean and along the East African coast.

Labeled as an event “ United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development”, the ‘Connected by the Reef – Te firi a’au’ initiative, led by French Polynesia and winner of the Grand Prize at the 2024 TO’A Reef Awards by IFRECOR Polynesia, is endorsed by the National Committee of the French Initiative for Coral Reefs (Ifrecor) and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).

An exceptional global citizen initiative to launch the Year of the ‘Common Ocean’

In the lead-up to the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), to be held in Nice in June 2025, French Polynesia is strongly committed to highlighting the strength of its model for ocean preservation and enhancement through a series of events and actions throughout the year, as part of the ‘Year of the Common Ocean.’

This global citizen science initiative, organized by the Tama no te Tairoto association, showcases the remarkable capabilities of our coral reefs and the urgent need to preserve them. This comes at a time when the UN and the scientific community are warning of the potential complete disappearance of corals worldwide within the next 10 to 50 years if no action is taken to slow the pace of climate change. Coral reefs are among the most vital ecosystems on the planet. While they cover less than 1% of the oceans, they are home to nearly a fourth of known marine biodiversity. More than 500 million people around the world depend directly on reefs for their livelihoods, food, and protection from extreme weather events.

Participate from your island, your country, your territory !

If you live near a coral reef in the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean, there is still time to participate—every contribution counts!

The spawning will take place on Saturday, January 18th, 2025, for countries located between Central America (UTC -5) and American Samoa (UTC -11), and on Sunday, January 19th, 2025, for countries located between Kiribati (UTC +14) and Kenya (UTC +3), starting 1.5 hours after sunrise.Find all the information on the Tama no te Tairoto website: https://tamanotetairoto.org/project/connected-by-the-reef-te-firi-aau/To document this unique citizen mobilization, observers are invited to:

Record a short video of the group before entering the water. In the video, say “Connected by the reef at [name of your island], [country].”
Share photos and videos of the spawning on social media, with the hashtags #ConnectedbytheReef and #TamaNoTeTairoto, tagging @Tama no te Tairoto. Results will be shared in real time on the association’s Facebook page.
Register the observation in the “Tama no te Tairoto” mobile app as soon as possible. Download the app for free from Google Play or the App Store and follow the guide to easily record your observation.

If no spawning is observed, this is also crucial information to report. One of the goals of this project is to determine the geographic limit of this synchronous spawning phenomenon. Therefore, it is essential to record the observation in the mobile app by selecting “No spawning observed” and indicating the time of exit from the water.

Join the movement! To participate or get more information, visit the Tama no te Tairoto website to help uncover the secrets of this fascinating natural event and promote coral reef conservation.

To contact the association: [email protected]

Email : [email protected]

Social networks : @Tama no te tairoto (Facebook, Instagram)