Over the last few days, the coral larva have developed in their safety net, and now they're ready to be released onto the damaged reef, where they will hopefully settle and grow.

Each tiny larva is precious, so the team have a special remotely operated vehicle to deliver them to exactly the right spot.

“This is Floaty Boat.

” “She has been designed to help automate ” “the larval restoration work that we've been working on.

” “Once we reared the coral spawn into their larval stage ” “and they're ready to settle, we pour it into this ” “bladder here, it holds 100 liters ” “and then we have a larval friendly pump here ” “that draws in the concentrated larvae, ” “and then it pushes the ” “larvae out, without damaging the larvae.

” “There's a camera that classifies ” “the substrate in real time, ” “whether or not it's suitable for larvae to land and ” “grow on.

” But first, Peter and the team must carefully retrieve the larva from their nursery.

“Thats looking good folks.

” “Really good.

Lifting.

” “Look at that.

See, this is how it works.

” “Perfect.

” “Oh, what a team!

” “Okay.

” “You watching this guys?

” “Okay.

” “You have one bucket.

” “Rinse this out please, ” “and we'll wash the last of the larvae down.

” “That's brilliant.

” “So what we're going to do now is distribute ” “the larvae.

” “Steve will put down ” “these underwater speakers in the center of each plot, ” “and then what we're going to do is distribute ” “16 tiles around the five by five meter plot.

” These tiles will help the team track the progress of the experiment.

Over time, the researchers can monitor them to assess the numbers, survival and growth rate of the newly settled coral larva.

“It's just staight up there Steve.

” Floaty Boat delivers the last of her cargo.

“That looks all right.

” “I reckon you could keep going that way.

” “All right.

” “Yeah.

” After months of planning and a huge amount of work, the success of this experiment and the future of this reef now lies with these tiny microscopic larva.

“Well, that was great.

” “Amazing.

” “So weve got a waiting game first, ” “and then we've got a counting game.

” “Yeah, we've got some hours of work to look at ” “under the microscope.

” “Peter and Steve have spent their lives ” “trying to come up with ways of saving coral reefs.

” Probably the most threatened habitat when it comes to climate change.

“This is a habitat ” “that I'm not confident that my daughter ” “will get to see when she's my age.

” “But what blows me away, is there ” “is hope right there.

” “There is hope in that lab.

” “What do you expect your kids will be ” “able to see when they're your age?

” “I think there's a whole range of possibilities.

” “I think they could see ” “really the very last coral reefs ” “hanging on for survival.

” “They might even watch the last coral reef ” “in their lifetime disappear.

” “But I don't believe that ” “it has to be the way that it happens.

” “We must be optimistic.

” “We all feel ecological grief every time we read about, ” “you know, another bleaching event or ” “more loss of these fantastic natural ecosystems.

” “Yeah.

But the point is, we can't give up.

” “You've got to become more determined ” “and you've got to channel what was grief ” “and then frustration about the inaction ” “on these issues, into something positive.

” “Yeah, great.

”