Coral Knowledge / Our Goals

Why is coral important?

  1. Home to many marine species

    • Biodiversity of our world – everything within an ecosystem is connected

    • Many people live off of fish/marine resources

  2. Oxygen

    • 70% to 80% of all the oxygen we breathe comes from marine algae! Coral harbors algae in a symbiotic relationship. Add on the algae oxygen in freshwater and you get a total of about 90% OF ALL THE WORLD’S OXYGEN IS MADE BY ALGAE!

  3. Medicine

    • Research is being done to potentially hone the medicinal properties of coral and use them to the benefit of people’s health

  4. Protect shores

    • Barrier reefs protect shorelines from tropical storms

  5. Regulate amount of CO2

    • Coral polyp turns carbon dioxide in the water into a limestone shell, without enough coral (which is a colony of polyps working together), there would be excess CO2 in the oceans, which would impact many other marine species

What’s causing coral to die off?

  1. Carbon Dioxide emissions/ climate change

    • CO2 from atmosphere + water vapor → carbonic acid

      • With ocean acidification, corals cannot absorb the calcium carbonate they need to maintain their skeletons and the stony skeletons that support corals and reefs will dissolve

    • Oceans have absorbed ⅓ of CO2 in atmosphere and ½ of that CO2 is from fossil fuels

    • Temperature change – corals are sensitive to temperature! Our tanks shows the effects of dramatic temperature change, with some of our frags bleached due to the havoc of temperature change

  2. Unsafe diving

    • Accidentally hitting coral can kill it – they are animals! “Hands and Fins Off the Reef” is the motto of many diving operations and it is in our t-shirts for a reason!

  3. Coral poaching/ Black market trade of coral

  4. Pollution from urban or agricultural run-off

  5. Poor fishing methods

    • Dredging/ trawling

      • Bottom trawls constitute one of the most invasive methods of fishing. Wide nets equipped with rollers, chains, and doors weighing thousands of pounds are dragged across the ocean floor

What are we doing to mitigate the causes of coral demise?

  1. Try to propagate our own coral in the hopes that it will grow enough to be taken into the oceans and support ecological communities in the future

  2. Reach out to professionals to get their advice and also spread the word of our cause and get tips on propagating our own coral

  3. Spread awareness about the importance of coral through public events, social media, and other factors integrated within our community and abroad

  4. Inform the public on artificial reef initiatives,

  5. Inform public about consuming coral-friendly goods/services.

  6. Reduce Carbon Footprint through our practices and encourage that others do the same

  7. Educate the youth through interactive activities and STEM techniques

  8. Create a Network devoted to the cause of protecting coral

  9. Have people take our Coral Pledge to devote to the cause and recognize the present issue

  10. Get in touch with legislators to try getting the voice out about the importance of mitigating climate change in the context of coral
  11. Make a safe diving brochure filled with tips to dive in a way that doesn’t harm coral/marine species and distribute them to diving operations/ professionals beyond borders
  12. Support/ inform people about AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, which ensure that the zoos/aquariums that others support have safe and commendable practices instilled within their systems.
  13. Promote MSC-certified fisheries, which do not perform corrosive fishing practices, such as dredging and trawling.

Sources:

http://www.teachoceanscience.net/teaching_resources/education_modules/coral_reefs_and_climate_change/how_does_climate_change_affect_coral_reefs/

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/coasts/coral_reefs/