Volunteer divers take on invasive corals near Rio de Janeiro

Bright orange sun corals have been present in Brazilian waters for roughly four decades. Now, marine biologists and volunteer divers are fighting back by manually removing and destroying them.

The reason? These vibrant corals are invaders: Tubastraea coccinea and Tubastraea tagusensis.

These invasive species compete with native corals for space, damage neighbouring colonies and threaten the marine life that depends on healthy native reefs.In a video shared by Mongabay, volunteer divers can be seen carefully removing the bright orange colonies by hand from the waters around the Cagarras Islands, a protected marine area off Rio de Janeiro's famous Ipanema Beach. The effort is led by marine biologist Adriana Gomes, whose team is working to contain the invasion and protect the area's native marine biodiversity.How sun corals are threatening Brazilian watersSun corals (Tubastraea coccinea and Tubastraea tagusensis) were first detected in Brazilian waters in the late 1980s.