On a reef flat that bleached pale two years ago, small fragments of coral lashed to frames are once again flushing with colour.
The nursery is one of several dotted across the atoll, part of a patient effort to help reefs rebuild after repeated heat stress.
Researchers are careful with their optimism. Growth in a calm year, they note, is not the same as resilience through the next marine heatwave.
Still, for the communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy reefs, even modest progress is a reason to keep the frames in the water.
