Essay About Coral Reefs

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Sarah Smith
Writing- 1
December 19, 2017

6 Fishy Facts About Coral Reefs

What are the bright blues, greens, reds, and many other colors in the ocean that we see? That is coral! Coral Reefs are mainly made of coral and other organic matter that has created an ecosystem for 25% of all marine animals. Even with all the colors most people don’t know what these reefs really are.
1. Coral are Animals
Coral is made up of tiny animals called Polyps! They have a saclike body topped with a mouth covered in stinging tentacles. At the bottom they use a protective limestone base called a calicle to form the coral. The process begins when a polyp attaches itself onto a rock and splits masking thousands of clones. So much more than most people think, right? …show more content…

They get their color from Zooxanthellae, or algae, which lives in their tissue. This is their food, fuel and pigment! They can get some food using their tentacles, but get the most from the algae that Coral house. Scientists have also found glowing coral deep in the ocean. In the past researchers have thought that the pigment in the algae acted as sunscreen to help the algae stay alive, but in the Red Sea things were changing. Instead scientist, Jörg Wiedenmann, a marine biologist at the U.K.'s University of Southampton, thought that the pigments were used to make more light since they needed it for photosynthesis. Deep in the sea they saw the glowing colors of bright green and orange. Once in the lab, Wiedenmann put a blue or ultraviolet light on the samples and the coral changed to a brilliant red or …show more content…

Without proper conditions coral can bleach and die. People, water temperature, and other pollution in the water can severely hurt coral. Bleaching is now a big problem in coral reefs. Bleaching occurs when coral polyps lose their algae. When this happens they become transparent and you can see right through them to the skeleton, a bright white, hence the word “bleaching”. With temperatures over 2 degrees F (1 degrees C) coral can bleach. When this happens the coral is not dead. Bleaching can cause more stress and has a much higher chance of death, but it can survive a

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