Habitat Awareness Coral Reefs

Inch in a Pinch
Inch in a Pinch Caterpillar

Hello! This is Inch in a Pinch at the Coral Reefs habitat area. This habitat is one of the most fragile and beautiful in existence. I've been friends with this character for a long time. His name is Lamenting Lobbie. I'm sure he will do an excellent job of introducing you to this wonderful place, if he'll slow down long enough. My friend, Lamenting Lobbie...

Lamenting Lobbie
Slow down?! Hey, I'm running for my life Lamenting Lobbie Lobster

here!! Inch is right. This place is very fragile and it's in danger of vanishing. Does anyone out there know what "lamenting" means? Well, let me tell you why my name is Lamenting Lobbie. Lamenting means showing sadness over the loss of something very special. That's what I am. I am very sad about the loss of the Coral Reef habitat. In fact, you could say I spend a lot of my time lamenting its loss. So everybody here in the reef calls me Lamenting Lobbie. Check out the description of Coral Reefs below and you'll find out what this place is like.

Description

A living coral reef is an underwater ridge or mound built of fragments of coral sands and limestone.

Corals survive in warm water which is pollution free and usually 75 feet deep or less.

Coral colonies form when floating larvae settle on a surface. Larvae then develop into polyps (POL-up) which are the living portion of the coral.

Billions of these polyp coral skeletons make up some of the oldest, largest and most beautiful structures on earth..

Coral reefs grow in many different shapes, depending on the depth of the water and their preferred position.

There are different kinds of reefs.

The Atoll is a ring-shaped reef found in the open ocean (far from shore). It is formed when a volcano sinks and leaves its ringed top. The Atoll reef has a lagoon in the center.

Barrier reefs lie farther off shore, separated from the shore by lagoons. It forms a barrier between water and the shoreline and the open sea. It is broken up by deeper water which separates the reefs.

Barrier Reef

Coral Cays are formed when eroded reef material is swept into a particular point of a reef due to waves and birds.

Fringing reefs are close to shore separated from land by shallow water.

"This place is terrific, isn't it? Let's take a look at three of my favorite Coral Reefs."

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Built by tiny marine animals, Australia's Great Barrier Reef is so large that it is visible from the moon. It is like an underwater tropical rainforest with all the life it holds. The Great Barrier Reef is located on the East coast of Australia in Queensland. It is the largest coral reef in the world which measures several thousand miles long. This particular reef is a protected reserve. It is home to 200 species of cowrie shells, about 2,000 species of fish (about one-tenth of all known species), and hundreds of types of hard and soft coral. Corals on the Great Barrier Reef all spawn on the same night once a year. Many animals burrow and bore into the solid reef itself (sponges, worms, bivalve mollusks and sea urchins). Snails and sea slugs eat the reef. Parrotfish bite off small chunks with their beak-like teeth and grind the coral to extract polyps.

BELIZE

Next to Australia's' Great Barrier Reef, Belize is home to the second largest coral reef in the world. The Meso-American Caribbean Reef is located in the Caribbean of Central America and Mexico. It supports a wide biological diversity (fringed reefs, seagrass beds, patch reefs, atolls and barrier reefs and mangroves).

FLORIDA KEYS

Through the 1960s and early 1970s coral reefs of the Florida Keys were being dynamited constantly by the curio shops. All that was left behind was taken by hordes of scuba diving tourists. In 1975 the Government declared the reefs endangered and the taking of any live coral was prohibited. The reefs also suffer from a disease. A bacterial infection took hold from such heavy underwater sightseeing where coral branches were scraped by flippers or broken by humans. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park has a 120 square mile area of coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. This is a protected reserve and protects a portion of the only living coral in the continental United States. There are more than 650 varieties of tropical fish and 40 species of coral here.

"The Coral Reef habitat areas on Earth are often compared to the Rainforest habitat areas. They both are home to an incredible amount of plant and animal life. You are not gonna' believe what you'll find living in Coral Reefs! Check out some of my closest friends and relatives. Don't forget to tell them I said 'Hello!' See ya' when you get back. I'll be waiting!"

Click on the button below to see some of the resident animals.

"Now check out the plants! Lamenting Lobbie Lobster

"Welcome back! Now we are really going to get down to business. Fun's over! You are now going to learn why these beautiful places are disappearing and why I am running for my life! Pay close attention! Inch told me to make sure you understand how important this is. Guess I did my job, huh? I'll be back after you learn this stuff."

Reasons For Habitat Loss

	Coral reefs are threatened by pollution, oil spills, global warming, coral bleaching and, of course, tourism.

	Coral reefs are threatened by pollution, oil spills, global warming, coral bleaching and, of course, tourism.

	Fishing is a major problem and threat due to the fact that people are using dynamite to blow apart coral reefs to catch large fish for the food trade. Also trawl fishing is a threat because it rips the reefs apart. Cyanide fishing is used to capture fish for the pet trade and live fish for the restaurant business. These pellets of cyanide are spread over the reefs to stun fish. The targeted fish as well as non-targets and corals die in the process. The cyanide is also squirted into holes in the reef to drive the fish from their hiding places. Some fish die immediately. Up to 80% of the rest will die from the poison within a few weeks or months.

	Agricultural run-off and excessive coastal development have very negative and deadly affects on reefs. Pollution is a major problem and killer.

	The construction of seaside homes, resorts and dive camps excavates sand and silt that flow onto the reef. These sediments cloud the water and smother the coral reef!

	Deforestation kills coral. Without trees the soil cannot be held in place by the roots of the trees. The soil then erodes into the water and smothers the coral to death.

	Boat anchors damage and kill coral reefs.

	Stepping on or touching coral reefs kills as does hitting or brushing against it when snorkeling or scuba diving. Remember, coral reefs are alive!

	Plastic waste such as soda can rings entangles and kills marine animals and coral. Damaged and destroyed reefs can be found along shores of more than 93 countries, including the United States. Each reef lost means more probability of extinction of tropical marine life!

	Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals which results when there is a temperature increase, (Global Warming), over prolonged periods of time. Coral bleaching also occurs from pollution. In conditions above or below-normal water temperatures, runoff of fresh water, silt or too little sunlight, the coral polyps may react by getting rid of their plant partners (or the plants may leave on their own and swim by means of a threadlike tail to find a new host). Without the plants, the polyps lose all their color and, more importantly, their ability to build more reef.

"Wanna' know what you can do to help? I thought you would. You know, you can understand that Coral Reefs are vanishing. You can know why they are vanishing. Unless you do something to stop it, knowing and understanding doesn't do any good. Do something, please!"

What Needs To Be Done

	More areas need to become protected reserves, (more coral reef sanctuaries). Think of how long it takes for coral reefs to grow versus how fast we are destroying them!

	People need to be aware, when snorkeling or scuba diving, not to come into contact with the coral (Look but don't touch!) The people want to see the beauty of the coral reef and life around it not to kill or destroy it.

	Boaters must beware and only anchor their boats where specific anchor buoys are placed. The buoys are placed there for a reason.

	Human beings should remember to keep the ocean clean and not dump garbage in the fragile ecosystem. The cleaner the ocean, the more life it can bring for us to enjoy. Use less energy and keep pollutants out of the water. Recycle, reuse and reduce waste.

	Stop the destruction of forests. Keeping trees in the ground would also save many land animals.

	Underwater crafts such as submersibles are dredging up silt and sand which causes clouding of the water and smothers coral reefs. Stop using them!

In June 1998, President Clinton, of the United States, created the Coral Reef Task Force. In the second meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force this month in Maui, Hawaii, Commerce Deputy Secretary Robert Mallett, on behalf of the task force, announced a series of actions to begin the collaborated effort to strengthen protection of natural coral reefs around the world. Six actions to be implemented over the next six months were targeted. They include:

Launch a comprehensive effort to map and assess U.S. coral reefs in the Pacific
Establish a coordinated network of coral reef protected areas, building on existing federal, state, territory and other sites and activities
Implement a coordinated coral reef monitoring program, building on federal, state, territory and other partners and including support for international efforts such as the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
Coordinate efforts among federal, state, territory and other partners to build emergency response capabilities and restore injured coral reefs
Strengthen local and regional efforts to protect coral reefs through support for priority items identified in the U.S. Islands Coral Reef Initiative

"Hey, looks like we've got somebody's attention. We need a lot more help though. We need your help! Before I run, I've included a picture of a Coral Reef for you to print and color. Have fun!! Hope I see you again. Bye for now!"

"What a presentation! Lamenting Lobbie is known for his fast paced lifestyle. Now, I guess we know why he's always running. He and every plant and animal that lives in the Coral Reef Ecosystem needs our help. I think, if we pool our resources and work together, we can really make a difference here. What do you say we work on this as a whole planet of people working together?"

For more pictures of Coral Reefs visit the following:
Nautilus Scuba Club Underwater Photo Gallery
Bill Wood - Marine Photography
THE MAGIC SEA
Cybereef

To learn more about Coral Reefs, visit the following:

The Coral Reef Alliance
Reef Check 1999

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