Corals are amazing!  They are beautiful.  They make homes for a wide range of species.  Of all the species in the ocean, about one out of four spends at least part of its life on a coral reef.  Individual coral polyps are very small, but together they grow the largest biological structures on Earth.  When they are healthy, they can re-grow after being damaged by a big storm or tidal wave.  Reefs also absorb wave energy, preventing damage and erosion of the shoreline.  That protection makes it possible for many species, including people, to use land closer to the ocean.

• Coral reefs are beautiful, vital ecosystems that make a large contribution to the planet’s biodiversity (variety of life).  While coral reefs cover only about 1% of the surface area of the ocean, about 25% of all ocean species live on reefs.  The variety of species can be explained in part by the various shapes and structures that hard-corals build, that provide homes for other animals.  Branching corals are shaped somewhat like antlers, plate corals build broad flat structures, and boulder corals grow solid spherical structures.  The hard-corals shape spaces for other habitat-building animals including anemones, soft corals and sponges.  Some corals grow where waves crash with full force, while others live in protected areas.  Some species only live very close to the surface of the water, where sunlight is strongest, while others live in deeper water with dimmer light.  Together, they build complex structures that have been compared to cities.  Many people dream of being able to snorkel or SCUBA dive on a reef to witness its beauty and search for a favorite species like an octopus, a peacock flounder, a turtle, or a flame-tongued snail.

• Engineers are learning from corals about how to protect coastal areas from erosion.  Coral reefs absorb about 97% of incoming wave energy and reduce wave height by 84% (Ferrario, et al. 2014).  Unlike engineered barriers, "as living structures, reefs have the potential for self-repair and thus lower maintenance costs as compared with artificial structures."  People are beginning to design coral restoration projects to protect coastlines from erosion.

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Coral reefs and their inhabitants are inventors.  They have developed chemistry to grow hard structures - like concrete.  Species that live on reefs make a wide array of proteins that scientists are investigating with hopes of finding new treatments for cancer or other diseases, painkillers, or other uses.  There is much more to learn about reefs and from reefs.  Joining and supporting groups working protect them is good for the ocean, and it is good for people.

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• Each reef species needs defenses or ways to quickly immobilize prey.  Many species that can’t swim fast or hide are vulnerable to anything that wants to eat them.  For defense, they can build hard structures or make powerful toxins that sting or poison predators.  Some predators that move very slowly or stay in one place use powerful toxins to quickly immobilize prey that gets too close.  Cone snails, for example, can catch fish that are much faster than they are.  They use powerful toxins in a harpoon-like structure that they inject into their prey. 

  • "Dozens of promising products from marine organisms are being advanced, including a cancer therapy made from algae and a painkiller taken from the venom in cone snails. The antiviral drugs Ara-A and AZT and the anticancer agent Ara-C, developed from extracts of sponges found on a Caribbean reef, were among the earliest modern medicines obtained from coral reefs. Other products, such as Dolostatin 10, isolated from a sea hare found in the Indian Ocean, are under clinical trials for use in the treatment of breast and liver cancers, tumors, and leukemia."

Interview