Coral Reef Awareness Week Starts July 12 2020

Hope for Endangered Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are the foundation of ocean life.  According to Wikipedia: "A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups."  Although reefs are not "living", they provide a home and protection for thousands of invertebrate species.  Coral reefs support more species per square yard than any other ocean environment.

Coral reefs have been around for 50 million years and are in danger of disappearing if we don't act soon.  According to the Coral Restoration Foundation (www.coralrestoration.org), "Since the 1970's, the Florida Reef Tract has lost almost 97% of its once-dominant staghorn and elkhorn coral.  These species are now critically endangered."

The Coral Reef Foundation grows corals in offshore coral reef nurseries and then reintroduces these corals back into the ocean environment.

The reason that coral reefs are important is the same reason that a solid concrete foundation is important to the structure of a house.  If the reefs disappear, the marine life that are protected by the reefs will disappear and the rest of the ocean based food chain will begin disappearing.

You can help protect the reefs by learning about their critical importance in our marine food chain.

Check out www.coralrestoration.org; www.globalcoral.org; www.coralreef.noaa.org; and www.coral.org.

I especially recommend www.coral.org for an excellent education on the origin and importance of coral reefs in our marine ecosystem.