Coral Reefs

Healthy/Unhealthy Coral Reefs

Healthy Coral Reefs

These healthy reefs are filled with color and have marine animals living in them.

Unhealthy Coral Reefs

These reefs could be stressed by sediment, covered with algae, or even bleached!

-Sammy

What are coral reefs?

What are coral reefs?

Coral reefs are like mini cities underwater. They are sometimes called rain forests under the sea. Many animals live in coral reefs.  They are made of calcium carbonate. Coral reefs play an important role in the ocean for marine animals.  If the oceans keep getting polluted, these beautiful coral reefs will turn brown and many animals will lose their homes.

-Sammy and Areti

Why Should We Save Coral Reefs?

Why should we save coral reefs?


We should save coral reefs because they provide us medicine in some cases.  For example, some corals are used for medicine for diseases like, cancer, AIDS, etc.  They also protect about 25% of marine life!  You can find coral reefs in shallow, clear, and warm water.  Without coral reefs, we would have less animals in the sea and not enough medicine to cure people.


How can coral reefs die?


If coral reefs are in very warm water, they can become bleached because of the algae inside.  Some greenhouse gases can also harm coral reefs.


-Sammy

Healthy Coral Reefs

A healthy coral reef is colorful and full of life. Coral reefs contain polyps* because they are made of stony corals (stony corals contain polyps).

-Areti

*A polyp is a small growth, typically benign and with a stalk, protruding from a mucous membrane.

 

More About Coral Reefs

The animals that live in coral reefs are cnidaria.  Cnidaria are tiny fish like hydras, jellyfish, and etc. Coral reefs are sessile animals.  That means that they can only stay in one place.  Coral reefs catch their food by sticking out their tentacles to catch very small prey.  Corals also 'live' together in a big 'group' but they are all separate individuals.

-Sammy

Definitions of Types of Reefs:

There are three main types of coral reefs.  They are the fringing reef, barrier reef, and atoll reef.

Fringing reef - A fringing reef is directly attached to shore.

Barrier reef - A reef separated from the mainland.

Atoll reef - A reef is a circular barrier reef extends all the way around a lagoon without a central island.

-Areti & Sammy & Isaac

Coral Reefs:

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals.

- Isaac

Ways a Coral Reef Can Die:

Coral reefs are dying in many ways. First, they can die when trash floating in the water block sunlight from reaching coral reefs. Coral reefs  cannot survive without sunlight. Second, when nutrients that algae eat enter the ocean as pollutants, the algae finds its way to the coral reefs and starts to grow.

-Areti

Fact: The Future of Coral Reefs

Did you know that by 2030, more than 90% of coral reefs will be threatened?  Also, some people say that by 2050, most coral reefs will be permanently gone.

-Sammy

 

 Different Types of Coral Reefs

 
 Brain Coral



 
 Table  Coral





Staghorn Coral


 
 Spiral Wire Coral




 
 Pillar Coral




 
 Mushroom Coral




 
 Open Brain Coral




Leather Coral





Branching Coral





 Red Tree Coral





 
Elkhorn Coral




 
 Cabbage Coral




 
 Pink Frogspawn Coral


 
 Rugose Coral



 
 Deep Sea Coral





 
 Chalice Coral


-Areti

Photos from google images