It is often believed and thought and Coral reefs are very hard and cannot be broken

easily. Although they they are made up of calcium carbonate, corals have a very
thin and fragile membrane as their outer part which can be easily punctured by
touching.
When the outer layer of their body is pierced it becomes exposed to any kind of
infection or disease Not only that, when coral is touched the chances of it
breaking off is high as the outer layer of their body is punctured and the
supporting membrane is damaged and this result in weakening of their body.

The divers also harm corals by touching and standing on them. Even if a coral is
not visibly harmed, human touch can touch them unknowingly and harm them, there are
times humans can also make them more vulnerable to death and disease.The more
traffic on a reef the greater the risk of this type of direct damage. This means
that it is very important to monitor and limit the number of divers on any given
reef.