You might think coral reefs aren't living things. Well, then you're wrong! Coral Reefs aren't useless rocks that sit on the ocean floor, they're animals! Every coral consists of tiny animals called polyps that have a mouth with tentacles to catch food like tiny crustaceans. Coral reefs provide habitats for 25% of ALL marine animals, meaning that they are very important in ocean ecosystems. Due to this, we must protect coral reefs from becoming more endangered!  

The picture on the left of the introduction is a picture of a bleached coral. Coral Reefs are mainly endangered because of global warming, overfishing, light pollution, and sound pollution. Global Warming is causing coral to expel the algae that they contain to make those vibrant colors, causing them to bleach and become unhealthy. Harmful fishing practices like using large nets and break coral and leave it buried in the sand. Light pollution will light up the night sky, which is 1/3 brighter than it should be! Coral depends on the full moon to lay their eggs or gametes. As a result, coral reefs lay their eggs at the wrong time, leading to a failure in their reproduction. Coral reefs also use sound to detect things like when to reproduce or where to live. Because of the boats and all the recreation humans do, this disturbs the coral.