With studies indicating that ocean acidification may be damaging the coral reef ecosystems, future 3D printed objects intended to be applied to oceanography could incorporate materials with basic pH, especially in the case of artificial coral replicas used for coral restoration. Furthermore, nanotechnologies could be exploited to incorporate slow-release materials that could maintain a basic pH in the micro-environment surrounding the 3D printed artificial coral replicas; contributing towards faster coral reef restoration (Norzagaray-López et al., 2015). Another avenue where nanotechnologies could be exploited is in making 3D printed artificial coral replicas using slow dissolving materials that could eventually create nano-/micro-pores in the artificial coral replicas mimicking the natural porous corals. In calm waters, porous corals have the advantage of possessing fast growth rates. Therefore, porous artificial coral replicas could potentially contribute towards faster coral restoration by allowing living coral to penetrate the porous structures.