Coral Reefs: The Breakdown
So, what is a coral reef? I’m sure you are thinking of the vivid images flashing across your TV screen showing ultra-colored landscapes and fish darting about. You would not be wrong. However, a coral reef is more than just a pretty video, a secret fishing hole, or a good spot for a vacation. Coral reefs are an ancient civilization made up of hundreds of thousands of different animals. It is an entire ecosystem; they often have been compared to our rainforests. These animals create a labyrinth of structures and color, playing a symphony of crackles and pops, providing an oasis on the ocean floor. These foundational animals called coral lay out the base which every animal builds upon. Fish, dolphins, sharks, crabs, and many more creatures rely on coral reefs for the production of food and habitat. Outside of the animal realm, coral reefs have been the inspiration for writers, artists, and scientists throughout time.
Coral reefs form in warm shallow waters where sunlight is still peneratable from the surface. Coral reefs, on average, exist anywhere between 60-90 meters, but can reach as far down as 150 meters. The warm coastal waters of places like Australia, Florida, Costa Rica, and the Maldives offer the perfect amount of sunlight and water temperatures of 73-84 degrees Fahrenheit for these ancient cities to form. Coral reefs began forming millions of years ago, with the oldest carbon dating of corals dating back to over 500 million years ago. There were recorded notes of corals, particularly red corals, in ancient civilizations like Greece and Rome. Even Aristotle mentioned them in his biological studies!
However, our understanding of this incredible ecosystem only really began to develop between the 17th and 18th centuries, most noticeably by Charles Darwin’s written observations in the Galapagos, where researchers began to recognize corals as animals rather than plants. Henri Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime conducted significant work towards this taxonomy classification via studying their polyps and skeletal structure. That was even further in the 19th century.
Before we get too far into individual corals themselves, you will need to know the formation of the reef as a whole. There are four different kinds of coral reefs: Fringing Reefs, Atolls, Barrier Reefs, and Patch Reefs, each having their own distinct patterns and characteristics.
Fringing reefs are the most common type of reef and are directly attached to a shore or bordering a coastline. They grow outward from the shore and are separated from it by a shallow lagoon or reef flat. The proximity to land can expose fringing reefs to more sediment and freshwater runoff, which can affect their health.
Barrier reefs are similar to fringing reefs, but are separated from the shore by a deeper and wider lagoon. The most famous example of a barrier reef is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Barrier reefs form parallel to the coastline but can be several kilometers offshore, creating a substantial barrier between the open sea and the shore.
Atolls are ring-shaped reefs that encircle a lagoon, often without any central island. They typically form around the subsiding remnants of volcanic islands. As the island sinks, the coral continues to grow upward, maintaining the reef structure above sea level. Atolls are common in the Indo-Pacific region.
Patch reefs are small, isolated reefs that grow up from the open bottom of the continental shelf or lagoon, often between larger reef structures. They can vary greatly in size and are usually found within lagoon systems associated with barrier reefs or atolls.
Before I even ended up in the Florida Keys, the first functioning reef I went to was actually in Belize.
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