How Iowa's Blank Park Zoo is helping Florida's coral reefs

Experts at the Blank Park Zoo are playing a key role in trying to save coral reefs from catastrophic damage.

Driving the news: Ocean temperatures have reached historic highs this summer, causing a massive coral bleaching event in Florida, Axios' Rebecca Falconer reports.

• Researchers have transported thousands of coral to tanks on land for protection, including the Blank Park Zoo.

Flashback: Twenty zoos and aquariums involved with the Florida Reef Tract Rescue Project, including Des Moines, have cared for and reproduced Caribbean corals in captivity for years. When conditions are safe, they've also reintroduced some back into the ocean.

State of play: The coral is currently being held behind the scenes, where local keepers are feeding and tending to them daily, spokesperson Ryan Bickel tells Axios.

What's next: Blank Park Zoo will likely keep the coral for five years or until problems with Florida's reefs are resolved.