Coral reefs need your help!
(Lou, Juliette & Anouk)
The first thing that comes
to our mind, at the mention of coral reef, is a colourful shell and
beautiful landscape. People don’t realize how corals are needy for
the survival of the marine world. In this article, we’ll give you,
readers and internet users, answers to these questions : how
useful corals are and how can we guard them? First, we will explain
you what corals are, then how man’s passage destroys corals and
what are the solutions to protect them.
The corals are small animals, which
live in hot oceans. Their skeletons are often used in order to create
jewellery, which make them a highly coveted specie. The skeletons of
their bodies furnish their only protection. They are sessile animals,
which means they don’t have the ability to move, they are fixed in
one place all their life.
Thanks to that, corals give form to
coral reefs, as the Great Barrier Reefs in the Pacific Ocean. They
live in colonies. Their environment such as the fishes, the algae,
the plankton, the anemone etc. is called the polyp. They all
constitute a community. The corals build structures of various sizes
and shapes creating an amazing diversity of coral reefs.
That’s why they belong to one of the largest ecosystem in the world
and provide house for many species.
Moreover, the
polyp counts on corals to supply food, particularly with the help of
algae named zooxanthellae. While corals
cohabit with zooxanthellaes the algae creates food for both of them.
Corals are able to feed thanks to tentacles
that also catch prey such as small fish and planktonic animals.
To develop, corals need the light of the sun that is why most of the
coral reefs are founded in clear water.
For the past few years coral reefs have been suffering more and more
of pollution and of the impact that the human have on this ecosystem.
Today, around 20% of the coral population has been lost worldwide and
60% of Caribbean reefs have been affected, certainly a lot of
endangered species will have disappeared within twenty years.
Overfishing is probably the biggest issue coral reefs are facing
today. Because of the new technologies, fishing has been a lot easier
which means that fishermen have embraced that opportunity to fish a
lot more. Unfortunately this has made a whole food chain fall into
pieces and now damages coral reefs all around the world.
Also, global warming is harming the reefs through three different
mechanisms; the first one is bleaching, which means corals lose their
original colour. Coral reefs are especially well known for their
beautiful shapes and all their bright colours, but climate changes
have caused the rise carbon dioxide in seawater so the colours are
losing their brightness and the corals are slowly dying.
This situation
has caused the acidification of water as well, the pH of the ocean is
lowering and it is getting harder for the corals to secrete their
calcium that makes their skeleton weaker with time.
Global warming has also caused a rise of the diseases that affect the
corals. In fact the rise of the temperature of sea water hasn't
created new diseases but it has amplified the effects of the ones
that already existed.
In is now clear
that coral reefs are in a great danger but can anything be done to
alter the future that the ecosystem is facing ?
Coral
Reefs are today an endangered species and if
nothing is done, they are likely to disappear before the end of the
century. Since the 90's they have become a real preoccupation of
human beings. They are many different ways to avoid the coral reefs
destruction. The first thing to do would definitely be changing our
daily habits and start being concerned about our future and the one
of our following generations. There are many small gestures that have
influence on coral's lives, such as saving up water, recycling our
trash, travel without polluting, and use organic fertilizers. Many of
the dirty water, trash and pollution end up in the ocean, destroying
coral reefs. All these little attention are simple and if everyone
contributes it can really help.
However, even if we
manage to reduce our ecological footprint, it wouldn't be enough to
repair all the damaged caused. This is why many charity organizations
have been founded, in order to find more efficient solutions. Some
organizations are rather well known, such as "Coral Reef
alliance"; "Reef Relief"; “NOAA
(National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration)” or "Planetary Coral Reef
foundation". Thanks to today's technologies it has been easier
to find a way to help these careless creatures. Firstly, to be able
to find real solutions, charity organizations collect
donation-allowing scientist to examine the corals and their
environment. It is today possible to restore damaged coral reefs,
even though it requires specific knowledge and expensive tools. Some
organizations use solar panel, to project the sun on the sea, which
accelerates the growth of the coral, and also reduce their
sensitivity to bleaching.
Those remain really
modern methods, which cost a lot and are far from being the best. The
creation of Marine protected area (MPA) remains one of the most
efficient ways to keep corals from being destroyed. Organizations
also try and increase the reef resiliency, which means to help the
reef adapt to the changes and make it more resistant. Organizations
cannot save the coral reefs without the help of ever citizens. This
is why they share a maximum of information into tourist sites,
villages, and communities etc. to spread the awareness of corals
issues. More and more prevention is token in scuba diving or
snorkeling sites. The instructors warn the people to be very careful
where you go to avoid smashing up corals. One thing is sure the
protection of coral reefs depends of everyone on this earth, if you
feel interested you can easily join charity organizations. Fell free
to check the links at the end of the article, you will find the
addresses of these organizations.
Campaign
in favor of coral reef (NOAA)
To conclude coral
reefs represent a vital element for the sea’s inhabitants, the
provide food, shelter, and protection. As the human race depends on
the food chain, the destruction of this specie can have direct impact
oh human’s lives. However they did not seem to see this subject as
seriously as we do. Mankind continue to destroy the coral by fishing
too much, polluting water, and by intensifying global warming.
Hopefully today more and more people feel concerned. Many charity
organizations have been created. Hope grows for that one day we will
erase all the damages caused.
Here are the links
of some charity organizations, feel free to check them:
Here are the links
who helped use to learn more about coral reefs, which eventually
turned into this article :
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