Coral Reefs

Saving our Oceans

Coral may look like a rock, but it is a colony of

tiny, living animals. These animals (called
polyps) form a symbiotic relationship with algae
that grows inside their hard, limestone shell. The
algae use the coral’s waste to help
photosynthesize, and the corals benefit from the
oxygen that the algae produce. This relationship
allows coral reels to grow to an enormous size
and age.

Changes in the environment can cause corals to

expel symbiotic algae. This process is known as
‘bleaching’ because it turns the corals white.
Bleached corals are not dead, but they are under
enormous biological stress, and more susceptible
to fatal disease. A single year of abnormally
warm water killed half of the Caribbean coral
reels in 2005, and climate change has placed
more under threat.

Coral deaths are ecologically dire – an estimated

25% of all ocean life relies on coral reefs. Marine
ecologists are studying methods to heal coral
reefs bleached by climate change. Reef managers
can currently cool small sections of the reefs if
given warning of a bleaching event. However,
scaling these methods has proven challenging. To
preserve coral reefs, we must take action to limit