Live VS Dead Coral

Coral should be looked up as being the forest of our worlds oceans, except that coral it is not a plant, it is a colony of animals called polyps.

Polyps live in a symbiotic relationship with algae, and they build tiny calcium stone houses for themselves. Overtime, all of these built houses are stacked ontop of one another and eventually form larger structures like apartment buildings. These can take many different shapes that might look like hard rock boulders, fans, trees or twig branches from the ground.

Some reef types are flexible and move with the currents of sea. If you look closely at one of the pictures we provided above you can see the built structure of these calcium houses, where the owners (animals) are withdrawn inside. In general, most corals only come out at night to feed, although there are many exceptions to that.

For example, in the first picture provided below you will see a leather coral (which is partially bleached), and the animals are retracted inside. The next sequential picture shows the animals out feeding.

I know, I know, its hard to think of corals as animals, but they truly are. Corals often feed on zooplankton that they pull inside and digest in their stomachs, and in

Aquarium corals are often fed with brine shrimp.

Please take some time to view the pictures we have provided for you below. These are just a few samples of some common corals that can be seen in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. 

Look closely at the color and shape. Old dead corals will look like they are broken down, will not possess or display any healthy colors, and in many instances will be covered in algae.

Corals that look like they have been bleached, this is from rising ocean temperatures that have made life unsustainable.  Therefore, the white color is the left over visual effect of the symbiotic algae leaving the coral. 

If a coral reef is damaged and dies, often the reef becomes covered in algae like in the picture below.

Corals clean the oceans, provide habitat, and are food to countless other species. And we are seeing a global mass extinction on a scale that is terrifying for not only ocean health, but human fisheries. Without coral reefs, human jobs and food sources are rapidly declining.

Helping prevent the continued destruction of coral reefs is pretty easy on a personal level at least

• Learn to recognize the live vs dead coral on the reef
• Only use sunscreens that don't kill the reef or wear a full body rash guard
• Don't touch or kick coral.  We ask that you always practice good reef etiquette. 

Fight the human causes and protection of our oceans in any way you feel you can.

Please consider supporting an ocean conservation related charity. 

So the next time you are out snorkeling, and see some beautiful fish, like in the pictures below, make sure and look behind at the corals, and take note of its condition. The corals are 95% dead in these pictures. Without corals, you can expect the oceans entire ecosystem to be stressed and declining.