Jokes about coral reefs

Here are some jokes about coral reefs. there will be regularly updated:

One day, Simon told Theadore, "Did you know that to this date, more than 20% of the world's coral reefs have been totally destroyed?" Theadore, shocked, replied, "Oh, good greef!"

reef conservation websites

Websites about reefs and conservation of reefs:
http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/

http://www.oceansatlas.org/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0xMjcyNS41NTA1NSY2PWVuJjMzPXdlYi1zaXRlcyYzNz1pbmZv

http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/coral/coral5.htm

Any one who wants to join on scuba diving expeditions:
http://www.coralcay.org/

Videos

Here are some coral reef videos on Youtube. This post will be constantly edited whenever we find new videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGYV79YSAh4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2qYJVNblVs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HhyHswjlJ8&feature=related
How devestating longlining is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMYtuMgwNCY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4hte-MdRCg( Look at this... touching)
Coral Bleeching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60jof35WuAo

NOAA

What have we done to save these precious coral reefs? Well, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program supports effective management and sound science to preserve, sustain and restore valuable coral reef ecosystems. When we grow up, we could form clubs like NOAA and save corals, or other things like the icecaps which global warming melts. So if you can, save corals reefs.

Destruction of Coral Reefs

The destruction of coral reefs is the cause of weather conditions, such as hurricanes, and diseases. Human pollutions and too much fishing are also why the reefs are dying. The pollution comes in different forms. I went to the beach at East Coast Park and the things I saw were not pretty. there were bottles and plastic bags everywhere. I took some pictures to show it to you (below).

Coral Bleeching

Here is one of the main causes of coral destruction- Coral Bleeching

Coral bleaching is one of the main ways that coral reefs could die. Coral reef bleaching is the whitening of the creature due to reduction of photosynthetic pigment. Bleaching conditions that last longer than ten weeks usually lead to the death of the coral. It is caused by a change in sea temperature, sedimentation, freshwater dilution, and could be caused by many other things too. It is thought that half of all the coral reefs will die within the next forty years unless extreme measures are taken to save them from the climate changes. Twenty percent of the Earth’s coral reefs have been completely destroyed already. Another threat to coral reefs that causes bleaching is that there are very destructive fishing practices, like poison fishing that makes the coral more vulnerable to bleaching. It can decrease coral cover or get rid of fish that are important for the coral reef ecosystem. If we don’t start protecting the coral from bleaching, a lot more coral will die.

So it you want to save more corals, try to spread the word on this blog. We will appreciate it.

What is it??? (summary)

Here is a short summary of "What is it?":

Coral reefs are structures formed by living organisms, found in oceans with little or no nutrients in the water. They cannot live in water with high nutrients as algae will form, harming the reefs.

The organisms which form the reefs give out calcium carbonate. After a while, they will accumulate and form coral reefs, to support a lot of other animals and plants. Reefs are also home to a large variety of other organisms, including sponges, Cnidarians (which includes some types of corals and jellyfish), worms, crustaceans (including shrimp, spiny lobsters and crabs), molluscs (including cephalopods), echinoderms (including starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers), sea squirts, sea turtles and sea snakes.

The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef isthe largest coral reef system in the world,stretching for 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi).The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia.The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. The Great Barrier Reef supports a wide diversity of life, and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN has labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.The Queensland National Trust has named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as overfishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures to the reef and its ecosystem include water quality from runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, and cyclic outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish.
However, other reefs are not protected. We need to put in our effort to keep these reefs alive. Do your part to save them by commenting on our blog!
We appreciate it.

Longlining

HAVE you ever eaten Sharks Fin? HAVE you ever wondered where the sharks come from? HAVE you thought of how sharks might go extinct because of eating?
If sharks go extinct, the shark's prey would rise in numbers, causing the reefs to be eaten by more and more marine animals. The food pyramid would then be unstable.
Sharks are caught mostly by longlining, for their fins. The sharks are then threwn into the sea to die. Have you thought of the sharks dying?
Stop this crazy obession of sharks fin today and do your part in saving the REEF!
On behalf of the sharks, Thank You.
We appreciate it.

What is it???

Detailed description:

Coral reefs are structures produced by living things, found in the ocean with little to no nutrients in the water. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm the reef by encouraging the growth of algae. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The accumulation of skeletal material, broken and piled up by wave action and bioeroders*, produces a massive calcareous formation that supports the living corals and a great variety of other animal and plant life. Although corals are found both in temperate and tropical waters, shallow-water reefs are formed only in a zone extending at most from 30°N to 30°S of the equator. Tropical corals do not grow at depths of over 50 m (165 ft). Temperature has less of an effect on the distribution of tropical coral, but it is generally accepted that they do not exist in waters below 18 °C. However, deep water corals can exist at greater depths and colder temperatures. Although deep water corals also form reefs, very little is known about them.


Coral reefs support an extraordinary biodiversity; although they are located in nutrient-poor tropical waters. The process of nutrient cycling between corals, zooxanthellae, and other reef organisms provides an explanation for why coral reefs flourish in these waters: recycling ensures that fewer nutrients are needed overall to support the community.
Cyanobacteria also provide soluble nitrates for the coral reef through the process of nitrogen fixation. Corals absorb nutrients, including inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus, directly from the water, and they feed upon zooplankton that are carried past the polyps by water motion. Thus, primary productivity on a coral reef is very high, which results in the highest values per square meter, at 5-10g C m-2 day-1. Producers in coral reef communities include the symbiotic zooxanthellae, coralline algae, and various seaweeds, especially small types called turf algae, although scientists disagree about the importance of these particular organisms.
Coral reefs are home to a variety of tropical or reef fish, such as the colorful parrotfish, angelfish, damselfish and butterflyfish. Other fish groups found on coral reefs include groupers, snappers, grunts and wrasses. Over 4,000 species of fish inhabit coral reefs. It has been suggested that the high number of fish species that inhabit coral reefs are able to coexist in such high numbers because any free living space is rapidly inhabited by the first planktonic fish larvae that occupy it. These fish then inhabit the space for the rest of their life. The species that inhabit the free space is random and has therefore been termed 'a lottery for living space'.
A healthy reef in East Timor on the southern edge of the Banda Sea
Reefs are also home to a large variety of other organisms, including sponges, Cnidarians (which includes some types of corals and jellyfish), worms, crustaceans (including shrimp, spiny lobsters and crabs), molluscs (including cephalopods), echinoderms (including starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers), sea squirts, sea turtles and sea snakes. Aside from humans, mammals are rare on coral reefs, with visiting cetaceans such as dolphins being the main group. A few of these varied species feed directly on corals, while others graze on algae on the reef and participate in complex food webs.
A number of invertebrates, collectively called cryptofauna, inhabit the coral skeletal substrate itself, either boring into the skeletons (through the process of bioerosion) or living in pre-existing voids and crevices. Those animals boring into the rock include sponges, bivalve molluscs, and sipunculans. Those settling on the reef include many other species, particularly crustaceans and polychaete worms.
Due to their vast biodiversity, many governments world-wide take measures to protect their coral reefs. In Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and is the subject of much legislation, including a Biodiversity Action Plan.

*The erosion of hard ocean substrates by living organisms by a number of mechanisms