The Beauty of the Deep: The Coral Reef and It’s Extinction

Hundreds of feet below our temperate and tropical waters lay the most beautiful hills of carbonate minerals produced by living organisms that you could ever dream of seeing. Coral reefs are among the many living organisms that decorate and help our waters to flourish and create a tranquil and serene look at our underwater kingdoms.

Coral reefs are created with little or even no nutrients in the water and are produced of skeletal objects that has been broken up or piled up by waves.

Recently found off the coast of Washington state on the Pacific seafloor, scientists have found reef building sponges that are made of silica. Because silica is normally used to make glass, these rare reef sponges have been named “glass sponge reef”.

Over 100 million years ago there were many reef building species, all thought to be extinct, until recently when three of these reef building species were found a few years ago. The new addition to these species were discovered only thirty miles west of Gray’s Harbor thriving in open ocean waters in a reef of hundreds of feet in width and length at least 2,000 feet long and have measured to rise as much as 15 feet above the sea floor. These sponges can live for a century or more, and when they die, the next generations of sponges grow on top of them, which in turn cause them to rise as much as the 15 feet suggested.

Unlike normal sponges, the glass sponges are growing in shapes that are similar to funnels and cups and their colors; white, orange, yellow, vivid yellow, and pale yellow white, have been located 650 feet below the surface.

The findings of this wondrous thought to be extinct reef sponge, is that there is natural methane seeping out of the ocean’s floor that are feeding strands of bacteria. The reef sponges seem to be inhaling the bacteria that are feeding off of the methane into the pores of their sponge, eating them, and then they release the extra water through the hole that is at the top of their sponge body.

Reefs are considered the home to many types of living things including worms, spiny lobsters, crabs, snakes, starfish and many more. However, over the last several years, us humans and our pollution have caused the coral reef population to decline. With current scientific calculations, the reefs depletion will be as low as 70% in 50 years. Since 1975, more than 90% of the reefs that live in the Florida Keys have lost their living coral cover.

The threat to the coral reefs isn’t just about some fish, bacteria, and tiny creatures loosing their home or their food supply, it goes a lot deeper than that. Did you know that most of the aquarium fish that are captured from the Philippines are caught using sodium cyanide? Sodium cyanide is a very highly dangerous and deadly toxic chemical that is quickly fatal. Its normal use is to extract metals from mining operations. Not only does the cyanide kill the fish that is collected, it also kills other species of fish around it, even contaminating the water.

Economically, healthy coral reefs generate around $375 billion in annual revenue. This amount comes from the fish, sand, gravel, shells, and tourism that the reefs provide. Of course when I mention the above, it restricts the illegal ways of acquiring the products such as the use of cyanide. Coral reefs are also a nature’s way of controlling erosion. Currently coral reefs are protecting the coastlines of over 109 countries. Over the ages, the coral reefs have assisted in making the beaches as their own calcium carbonate connected on to the shore.

If you want to think more along the lines of direct human benefits, many antiviral drugs have been developed from sponge extracts found on the Caribbean reef. Dozens of products are being developed from marine organisms, including the use of algae to make a cancer therapy.

It’s the circle of life that will keep continuing as long as we help it to continue. 80% of the Earth is water and coral reefs help control the water as far as how much carbon dioxide is in the water. Coral reefs assist in turning the carbon dioxide into limestone. Without the help of coral reefs, the amount of carbon dioxide would ascend enormously and have an effect on every single living thing on the planet.

According to recent studies, because of human’s careless behavior towards the coral reef systems, the fish populations residing in the deteriorating coral reef areas need more than a few decades to recover from our coral reef bleaching, blasting, and polluting. The environmental stability needed for a strong reef system, relies on the interaction of numerous fish along with plant life.

In conclusion, what can we do to help and save our coral reefs? It’s simple. Try not to use pesticides or any other fertilizers because even though you are hundreds of miles away from the ocean, most of these products to end up in the waters that support the reefs. Remember the circle of life! Always remember if you are visiting a coral reef to respect it and always follow local guidelines. Don’t pollute the waters by throwing your trash in the waters or even on the beaches. When those tides come in, the trash will soon be in the water and affecting many lives. Make a habit of throwing away your own trash as well as any other trash you see scattered by the waters. And if you are going diving, don’t touch the reefs, not only will this damage the coral reef, it can furthermore injure you!

The Earth is changing and we need to help it change in a positive way, not negative.

Reference:

• www.oceanworld.tamu.edu