Coral Reefs: The Underwater Oasis
What are coral reefs?
Where can you find coral reefs?
What is causing damage to coral reefs?
How can we stop this damage?
Answer:
Coral reefs are actually built by living creatures-the corals themselves! These tiny creatures create calcium carbonate, which hardens and becomes a platform for the many different types of corals to live on, as well as sea anemones and seaweed. They are extremely diverse environments, which means they're home to thousands of different species of fish, worms, crustaceans, sponges, and other creatures, all of which can't live anywhere else. All these different creatures live in balance with one another, sometimes helping each other to survive by offering protection or food. if one of these species were to become sick or unhealthy. It can affect many other species as well. Compared to the size of the ocean, coral reefs are quite small and scattered throughout the globe, so it's important for us to protect these unique sanctuaries.
Coral reefs prefer shallow, warm water close to the surface. (However, there are some deeper, cold water corals as well) This means they usually live in tropical waters, mostly around the equator. Here the water is just the right temperature for them to thrive. Most of the coral reefs in the world are found in the Indo-pacific region, which includes the Indian ocean, the Pacific ocean and the seas in between. The Largest and most famous coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef, which lies off the coast of Australia. You'll also find large reefs off the coast of Mexico and Florida, as well as around many pacific and southeast Asian islands.
For a long time, humans either didn't know or didn't care whether the ways we treat the ocean might harm coral reefs. Thankfully, we can now test and keep track of coral health, and see how our human activities have affected the reef. Now that we know, it's our responsibility to protect them in anyway we can. The issues that hurt coral reefs most are by-products of much larger problems, such as the ocean warming through climate change, large-scale pollution, and overfishing. Fishing gear can damage the reef directly by crashing into it, breaking the coral and damaging it beyond its ability to recover. Pollution from the land, caused by either natural run-off (liquids naturally moving towards the sea), or through dumping, puts chemicals into the water that can hurt and eventually kill the delicate coral. Rising temperatures of the sea cause "coral bleaching", which kills an essential algae that lives in the coral, and in turn the coral may die too.
As individuals, it can feel difficult to stand up to huge, global problems such as overfishing, climate change, and pollution. This is why it's important to form communities, and to gather as many voices as we can to make ourselves heard. We can tell politicians and businesses that any methods that harm the sea need to change. Raising awareness and telling other people why we need to protect our oceans is the way to build a tide that can eventually turn things around. For problems on this scale, public knowledge is the key. On a personal level, consider what plastic or chemicals you might be putting into the environment in your day-to-day life. Consider supporting brands and businesses that are aware of climate issues, and avoid those that choose to ignore the problem. Let local politicians know that the environment is important to you and will affect who you support. Thankfully, there are group throughout the globe that are monitoring, researching, and trying to find ways to protect our reefs. Many of these are charitable organization, so offering a donation is a great way to support direct action towards marine preservation. It's also important to makes sure that local communities are still able to make a living with these changes. Finding new ways to create income, such as tourism or alternative methods of fishing, is vital.
It is possible to grow and "farm" corals, which can then be reattached to the reef. It is also possible to create the ocean layer on which the corals grow, and growing in captivity increases the success and growth rates of the coral. This is hopeful, but we need to make sure that these corals have a safe and healthy sea to live in once they are transplanted back into the ocean. Now is the time for us to be guardians of the sea, in return for the life it has given our planet.