fish_r_great
Especially African Cichlids
I just wanted to share this with you guys
The Great Barrier Reef
Had Some Pictures Here!!!
By: Brad Loepfe
Covering more than 300,000 sq kilometers the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. Being interested in aquariums and marine biology I would love to keep this amazing reef alive and flourishing. That is why I’ll be telling you about the Great Barrier Reef, its destruction, how it is being preserved, and about corals and coral reefs.
The Great Barrier Reef is more than 1250 miles long and as I said before the Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef in the world. It also consists of over 300 islands, more than 1500 different types of fish, 400 types of coral, 4000 types of mollusks, 215 different types of birds, 500 species of seaweed, 16 species of sea snake, 6 species of sea turtle, and more than 3000 beautiful reefs which vary in size. It is called a “barrier” reef because it is an outer reef. The Great Barrier Reef is facing some problems though; its latest is bleaching causing many corals to die. Bleaching is when a stressed coral expels the zooxanthellae and turns white. If the zooxanthellae does not return to the coral’s tissue, the coral will die. This is thought to be connected with the rises in water temperature from El Nino. Another thing that is aiding in the destruction of the reef is the Crown of Thorns Starfish which destroy corals, birds, and other sea life by eating them. People are yet another factor in the destroying of corals. Some things that they do to destroy the reef are; dropping anchors, reef walking, over fishing, oil spills, sewage, hitting them with boats, pollution from people and their boats, and deforestation which blocks out sunlight for the corals when soil is washed into the ocean .Although there are a lot of things that add to destroying the reef, there are also areas that are protected from boating and fishing. There are even some species of animals that are protected such as whales, dolphins and green turtles.
Coral reefs are very interesting underwater environment shaped by limestone, but they also need certain conditions like anything to enable them to thrive. They lie mainly in the shallow and warm seas. Most cannot survive in water colder than 61 to 68 degrees F. They also need enough sunlight to provide photosynthesis for their algae and plants. There are many types of coral, some grow slow while others grow fast and some can live for 100 years. Corals are created from layers of living animals called polyps, which secrete a chalky limestone skeleton as they form. The polyps use calcium carbonate from the ocean to create their cup-shaped outer skeletons. Corals can produce more corals of the same in a process called budding where they divide and multiply to create more. The color of a coral is created by algae, and only living corals have color. Dead corals are white. When diving by the reef you might notice that the corals don’t look as colorful as you have seen in pictures and on the television. This is because as you go deeper into the ocean the more colors disappear, the first being red and yellow. Coral reefs are also extremely important to marine life. They provide a home to many different plants and animals. They also protect coastlines from erosion and it is thought that they regulate the Earth’s temperature. They also aid people in many ways. Some people depend on reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef for food from the animals which live within the reef. They are also used in the medical industry when doctors replace human bones with the limestone gathered from a coral reef. They will also help build a cities economy because they attract many tourists to the cities around coral reefs.
In conclusion I hope that you have found coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef are a wonderful environment and that they are very helpful to us and because of this that you too feel that we need to save them. I also hope you now know a little bit more about the Great Barrier Reef, the organisms that live in it, coral reefs, and more about corals.
The Great Barrier Reef
Had Some Pictures Here!!!
By: Brad Loepfe
Covering more than 300,000 sq kilometers the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. Being interested in aquariums and marine biology I would love to keep this amazing reef alive and flourishing. That is why I’ll be telling you about the Great Barrier Reef, its destruction, how it is being preserved, and about corals and coral reefs.
The Great Barrier Reef is more than 1250 miles long and as I said before the Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef in the world. It also consists of over 300 islands, more than 1500 different types of fish, 400 types of coral, 4000 types of mollusks, 215 different types of birds, 500 species of seaweed, 16 species of sea snake, 6 species of sea turtle, and more than 3000 beautiful reefs which vary in size. It is called a “barrier” reef because it is an outer reef. The Great Barrier Reef is facing some problems though; its latest is bleaching causing many corals to die. Bleaching is when a stressed coral expels the zooxanthellae and turns white. If the zooxanthellae does not return to the coral’s tissue, the coral will die. This is thought to be connected with the rises in water temperature from El Nino. Another thing that is aiding in the destruction of the reef is the Crown of Thorns Starfish which destroy corals, birds, and other sea life by eating them. People are yet another factor in the destroying of corals. Some things that they do to destroy the reef are; dropping anchors, reef walking, over fishing, oil spills, sewage, hitting them with boats, pollution from people and their boats, and deforestation which blocks out sunlight for the corals when soil is washed into the ocean .Although there are a lot of things that add to destroying the reef, there are also areas that are protected from boating and fishing. There are even some species of animals that are protected such as whales, dolphins and green turtles.
Coral reefs are very interesting underwater environment shaped by limestone, but they also need certain conditions like anything to enable them to thrive. They lie mainly in the shallow and warm seas. Most cannot survive in water colder than 61 to 68 degrees F. They also need enough sunlight to provide photosynthesis for their algae and plants. There are many types of coral, some grow slow while others grow fast and some can live for 100 years. Corals are created from layers of living animals called polyps, which secrete a chalky limestone skeleton as they form. The polyps use calcium carbonate from the ocean to create their cup-shaped outer skeletons. Corals can produce more corals of the same in a process called budding where they divide and multiply to create more. The color of a coral is created by algae, and only living corals have color. Dead corals are white. When diving by the reef you might notice that the corals don’t look as colorful as you have seen in pictures and on the television. This is because as you go deeper into the ocean the more colors disappear, the first being red and yellow. Coral reefs are also extremely important to marine life. They provide a home to many different plants and animals. They also protect coastlines from erosion and it is thought that they regulate the Earth’s temperature. They also aid people in many ways. Some people depend on reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef for food from the animals which live within the reef. They are also used in the medical industry when doctors replace human bones with the limestone gathered from a coral reef. They will also help build a cities economy because they attract many tourists to the cities around coral reefs.
In conclusion I hope that you have found coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef are a wonderful environment and that they are very helpful to us and because of this that you too feel that we need to save them. I also hope you now know a little bit more about the Great Barrier Reef, the organisms that live in it, coral reefs, and more about corals.
