An all-out assault on coral predators, giant fans to combat rising sea temperaturesand recycling dead corals are all proposals being put on the table. The latest to emerge involves robots playing the role of "the stork" and distributing coral larvae across the Reef to promote new growth.

The Great Barrier Reef has been devastated by a string of major bleaching events, most recently in 2016 and 2017 that left the middle and northern sections of the Reef severely damaged. These bleaching events occur when abnormal sea conditions, such as warmer waters, cause stress on the algae living inside the coral and leave them withered, whitened and in danger of dying. Coral can bounce back on its own from these kinds of severe bleaching events, but with sea temperatures expected to continue rising, conservationists are looking at ways to give them a fighting chance.