10,000 square meters of coral restored with Samsung help

A diver participating in the Coral in Focus project uses Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone to capture images of a coral reef in this undated handout photo released Monday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics said Monday that its coral restoration project, conducted in partnership with ocean environmental organizations, has helped restore more than 10,000 square meters of coral in the past year.

Marking the first anniversary of the “Coral in Focus” project, Samsung said a total of 17 3D models of coral reefs were completed, laying the groundwork for the regeneration of coral reef habitats across the world.

Based on the models, 11,046 new corals were planted, leading to the restoration of 10,705 square meters of coral reef area, which is equivalent to about 25 basketball courts.

Since last year, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, the U.S. nonprofit organization Seatrees and Samsung have been conducting the project together.

It focuses on restoring damaged major coral reef habitats, including those in the waters near Florida, Bali in Indonesia and Viti Levu in Fiji. Instead of heavy and bulky underwater cameras, divers used the Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones to capture underwater images of coral reefs to monitor their current condition and support restoration efforts.

For the project, Samsung developed an “Ocean Mode” optimized for underwater photography with Galaxy smartphone cameras. This feature was specially developed and exclusively provided to organizations involved in coral reef monitoring and restoration efforts.

Samsung said the Ocean Mode reduces excessive blue tones that typically occur underwater, allowing for the corals’ natural colors to be captured more accurately. The mode also minimizes motion blur through optimized shutter speed and multi-frame image processing. Additionally, its interval shooting feature enables the capture of thousands of high-resolution coral images in a single session.

A 3D model of coral reefs built through photos taken by Galaxy smartphones / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

The photos captured through the Galaxy S24 Ultra were sent to the Scripps Institution to develop a 3D model for coral reef restoration and supporting other research. The models then served as the blueprint for actual coral planting.

Coral reefs serve as key habitats for marine life, standing essential in protecting the ocean environment, supporting carbon cycling and ensuring the long-term sustainability of marine ecosystems.

Samsung said it has been making efforts to preserve ocean ecosystems. It first recycled wasted fishing nets to manufacture parts for the Galaxy S22 smartphone series and has since expanded the use of recycled materials for its tablet computers, PCs and wearable devices.