THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CORAL REEFS AND CORALS.
A coral reef is a wave-resistant underwater ridge or mound built of fragments of coral, coral sands, and solid limestone at or slightly below sea level, while corals are members of a large class of marine invertebrates characterized by a protective calcium carbonate skeleton. Corals vary in shape, form, and colour depending on the arrangement of polyps, and there over four hundred different types of species.
WHAT CORAL REEFS DO FOR US:
- provide shorelines with protection by breaking waves,
- serve as nurseries for growing fish,
- supply a protein source in coastal people's diets,
- give food, shelter, and protection to a variety of marine species,
- provide jobs through fishing and tourism,
- serve as a source of medicine against a variety of illnesses,
- give us a wondrous underwater world to study and enjoy.
WHAT WE DO TO CORAL REEFS:
- pollute them with sewage, oil spills, fertilizers and pesticides,
- fish them in destructive ways ( overfishing, chemicals, damaging gear and anchors )
- mine them with explosive devises,
- smother them with silt resulting from logging, land use and development,
- ground boats on them,
- drop anchors on them, step on them,drag dive gear over them,
- chop them down for tacky jewellery.
CORAL LINKS
Geohazard Homepage
Case Study Page
Antoine Coral Guide Tour Homepage
