Source: The secret life of Corals
Sex, War, and Rocks That Don´t Roll
What do you think a coral is?
An animal, plant, microbe, or mineral?
Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes-all of the abov
A coral is a small marine animal polyp that shares its corallte cup with symbiotic partners made up of algae and microbes.
Do you want to visit Caribbean Coral Restoration or donate to them?
We can help you with that, too!
The importance of corals
The majority of oxygen we breathe on land is produced in the ocean, estimated by scientists to be between 50-80%. This oxygen is produced by marine plants. Released into the water, the oxygen travels to the ocean surface where it escapes into the atmosphere.
Coral reefs support 25-40% of our commercial fisheries. If you don´t like eating seafood this may not seem like a problem, but many of the indigenous people in Bocas del Toro and other tropical island nations around the world subsist on local seafood caught in and around coral reefs.
Coral reefs can be the primary reason why tourists come, and the same vacationers help the local economy.
Coral reefs provide an amazing amount of shoreline protection - they are the underwater defenses for damaging waves.
Researchers are exploring corals for potential medical therapies, including significant anticancer properties, bone loss prevention, Parkinson’s disease treatment, neuropathic pain relief, and inflammation reduction.
A funny fact about corals
The mouth of the polyp is extraordinary and used for all vital life functions: food goes in, all waste products go back out through the same orifice, and last but not least during spawning events bundles of gametes are released through the mouth, too!
Bocas del Toro and Caribbean Coral Restauration
Bocas del Toro is a significant hotspot for coral biodiversity in the Caribbean.
Caribbean Coral Restauration
- builds and installs environmentally friendly artificial reef structures to establish fish habitat as an imporant first step
- owns and takes care of a coral nursery in form of shallow water nursery sites, a forest of coral trees, and on-land tank systems
- creates community opportunities to build lifelong and career conservationists – from nursery staff, tour guides, to the Caribbean Coral Restoration education center employees
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