WHAT ARE CORALS?
Corals are animals and they live under the sea and form colonies that are made of polyps. They can form coral reefs that are made of skeletons that the polyps build. Every species has its own distinct skeleton. Every polyp is an organism on its own, but once they form a colony, they act like one big organism. They have tentacles around their mouths and they secrete calcium carbonate near their base and form an exoskeleton. They can catch their food, but prefer to get the nutrients they need from algae that live in their tissue. The algae living in corals are called zoohanthellae and they give the corals their vibrant colors. The polyps form big colonies and even though they act like one large organism, they are still many small genetically identical organisms that act as one.
CORALS REEFS
Corals form coral reefs, and they are large structures and they are big underwater ecosystems. They provide a shelter and home for about 1/4th of the sea life including various fish species, worms, sponges and many others. Even if the water doesn’t have many nutrients, they will develop normally. Even though coral reefs are made of corals that secrete their hard exoskeleton, they are very fragile and sensitive too. They are sensitive to temperature changes, pollution, various ways of fishing (be it legal or illegal ways), pH changes and more. Since corals and the colonies they form are so sensitive, much must be done in order to protect them, especially from human influence.
PROTECTION
The first corals you saw were the ones that were used as jewelry. This is also a threat to the reefs and all the life around it. There are many who wish to make profit on corals and mining of them, but that way they are destroying many reefs that have been alive for hundreds of years. Because this has to be stopped, there are many initiatives on protecting and restoring the coral reefs. Even if corals make fancy jewelry, they are living organisms and as such, they deserve our protection and care.