August 26, 2019 — Koty Sharp emerges from the ocean off the coast of Fort Wetherill, Rhode Island, and walks onto the rocky beach. She’s wearing scuba gear and carrying a red mesh bag. Sharp is an ecologist at Roger Williams University in nearby Bristol, and the red bag holds a treasure.
She opens it for inspection. “This what a coral colony looks like, here in Rhode Island,” says Sharp, gazing fondly into the bag. Inside there are about 30 small gray rocks, each about the size of a quarter. The rocks appear to be covered with snot.
“It’s not as charismatic as tropical corals, we will definitely accept that,” says Sharp. “But these stand to tell us a lot of basics about corals.”