Coral reefs are in my opinion one of the most spectacular works of nature and so not protecting them will be detrimental to several ecosystems. I found my interest of the coral reefs through my experiences of owning a saltwater aquarium in which I have a variety of different corals as well as fish and other animals. And so it was through my experience of taking care of my micro coral reef that I have come to appreciate the beautiful display coral reefs offer to us. Unfortunately the remaining coral reefs in our oceans are in danger of dying, and it is largely due to the effects humans have had on the environment, especially with pollution into our oceans. I believe that we must continue to try to sustain our coral reefs, through environmental conservationist methods, in order to try and insure the survival of these important works of nature.
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Sadly I have no experience with seeing coral reef in person but my love for nature has caught my interest here. I feel that Although most people may not see this as a case to give attention to simply because it is the ocean life and doesn't pertain to our day to day life, it should be our concern. Sadly human's careless ways have contributed to the ruins of these beautiful plants and the homes of thousands of marvelous sea creatures. Polluting the waters and invading a space, that isn't ours makes it our problem. The photographer did a wonderful job on getting all the right views and helping us see how sad and dead the underwater is without these gorgeous homes. Its a wonderful thing what you guys are doing here its nice to know that people still care for the beautiful animals and cherish every aspect of this world were living on.
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When it comes to corral reefs and environmental protection, I have two opinions on what should be done. I believe that, whatever the case, the United States Government should only get involved when the death of a corral reef poses a direct economic or public safety threat to her people; and that should reefs prove important, we should focus on a long term reliable solution.
When it comes to government, a majority of tax payers aren't paying to save corral reefs in Egypt; the Caribbean; or even those of non-populated, non-tourist related islands. While corral reefs are beautiful and harbor a wide range of biodiversity, they are not usually necessary for the general welfare of people on the whole. There is a solution for those who want to save those reefs that don't directly benefit humanity. All conservationists need to do is invest in the private sector and play to the needs of donors. For this I applaud the participants of this article for finding funding from non-profit and university organizations such as the Ocean Agency and University of California.
I also propose that should corral reefs prove more important to humanity than previously thought, we should focus on the genetics of the most adaptive corrals, and apply those genes to the most resilient of corrals in order to create a species that will last through environmental crises. Leaving those that cannot adapt in time to die, and saving those that can by making them stronger.
You clearly don’t know anything about the science of coral reefs showing what aspects of fisheries, for example, they are essential for. You don’t know anything about biology and why having a few genetically engineered corals would not replicate a functioning reef. Yet you feel comfortable making these pronouncements. However, even if you were right and reefs were totally useless I would be careful with your line of reasoning. Neither you nor I nor the USA are essential to the survival of humanity.
Living on the upper east coast, I don't see a lot of crystal clear waters with millions of colourful fish and coral like I do in some of these pictures. Whenever I go on vacation, however, I love to put on my snorkel mask and dive right in. I've snorkelled all over from the great islands of Hawaii to Turks and Caicos. Everywhere where I snorkelled, I've expected to see bright coral in shades of yellow and red, but instead, in most cases, I see dead coral in shades of green and brown. Most of these reefs are not up kept and most of them are populated frequently by divers and snorkelers such as myself. Contributing to the decline of these gorgeous reefs is overfishing, which is not going away anytime soon with the constant increase of human population and the need for food. This article interested me because of how much I love the ocean. I love to snorkel, swim and play in the waves, and I have ever since I was little. Knowing now that the damage on these coral reefs is so severe there may be no more fish and coral to look at when I go on vacation makes me so much more aware of what people are doing. Seeing these pictures of dead coral and no fish in it makes me want to take a stand, because it truly makes me upset what is happening. Considering most of my bucket list includes visiting certain spots all over the world to scuba dive, I hope the world can come together as one to see what they truly are doing to the biodiversity under the sea and stop it before its too late.
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I personally have experienced the true beauty of the coral reefs within the Caribbean ocean when I went to Barbados for vacation. Scuba diving in the depths of the reefs seeing all the amazing colors of the underwater ecosystem is something that really catches your eye. It is almost like an underwater city, coral rocks being towering skyscrapers. Fish, turtles, seahorses and dolphins acting as a huge population within the lifeful city. However, we have only one world, there is no plan b. So after reading this article and taking in the certainty of the threat on the reefs, it is truly disappointing. It is disappointing to know that the people on this earth are taking advantage of these god given beauties purely out their lack of knowledge on the subject. It is wonderful to read about two great people doing great things for preservation.
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The colors, the brilliance and the breathtaking photos are as magnificent as the plight of coral reefs detailed and described in this article are fragile and in such peril.
It's been a long time since I felt this awestruck from the beauty while feeling equally saddened and worried because of the situation.
Thank you NYT for covering this story and for making it a centerpiece for all to enjoy while also showing the world of the threatening circumstances surrounding these reefs.
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These magnificent oasis will be lost because people like Trump, the Kochs, and corporations like Exxon et al. couldn't adapt to a changing climate.
"While coral reefs only cover 0.0025 percent of the oceanic floor, they generate half of Earth's oxygen and absorb nearly one-third of the carbon dioxide generated from burning fossil fuels." www.ecowatch.com/coral-reef-bleaching-2408656490.html
Thank you so much for your work on reef preservation, and for the excellent pictures. I've been snorkeling at various locations in Southeast Asia for the past ten years. It has become increasingly difficult to find sites where live coral can be found near the coastline. It is often necessary to travel to distant islands. And rising water temperatures have clouded the water, making for poor visibility.
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A very nice article. Magnificent photographs.
As humans we should cherish our environment.
Oh this breaks my heart. I realize what a great honor/joy/privilege it was to snorkel before climate change began to seriously manifest itself. A beautiful day at a remote bay in the BVI stands out. The water was calm and the sun was out. We had the bay to ourselves and it felt like snorkeling through the throne room of God.
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Coral reefs are called "the rainforests of the sea".
I just returned from a pilgrimage -- spiritual and ecological -- to a 20,000 year-old reef on Baja Sur. A community of 100 people, led by a family who'd lived there for five-generations had stripped their reef. The precious rainbow lipped pearls they'd gathered by free-diving were gone. The big sport fish that brought tourists were gone.
In 1995, the community stopped fishing and invited tourists to dive and snorkel in their waters. It took over two decades for the reef to recover, increasing its biomass by 450% over that period.
The government helped. International marine and environmental scientists assisted, as did ocean conservation groups.
But that tight-knit Mexican community of 100 souls gambled and saved their coral gardens. They continue to nurture and guard their reef, sharing it with respectful visitors.
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Also of interest in coral research and restoration is Dr. Ruth Gates' work at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Her website is www.gatescorallab.com . An alarming 50% of the coral reefs in the world have rapidly declined or died over the past 30-40 years.
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If the shallow corals like the ones that we typically see on vacation are not doing well but deep water ones are, then naturally the human response would be to lower the ocean levels so that the deep water ones are now visible from our glass-bottomed tour ship. No reason to ruin a holiday cruise over this.
I was hoping for a more in depth article about the causes of coral bleaching and the solutions proposed. There seems to be a lot of monitoring going on.
I googled the causes of coral bleaching - Changes in ocean temperature out of the norm, run-off and pollution, overexposure to sunlight and extreme low tides exposing shallow corals to the air for too long.
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An idea might be instead of putting metal structures only in the same place that the coral has previously bleached, treat the corals more as you would a garden. Have deeper trenches to pool colder water in time of warming and overarching underwater rock structures to provide shade in times of high UV sunlight.
When the algae leave the coral at the stress time where do they go? Can reef builders provide refuge areas for the algae?
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The Red Sea, Brother Islands is truly a world treasure. Yes there were sharks but the real beauty was the coral and huge groups of colorful reef fish.
When I visited the Maldives it cost less than $10 a day for a burrie and that included 24 hour electricity and meals. Now finding a place to stay for less than $500 per day is difficult. The Maldives ban all fishing/spear fishing, dogs and any magazines containing pictures. Yes they are Muslims but all live by these rules.
So sad to see coral bleaching is attacking the coral.
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Enjoy the beauty of coral reefs while you can. There was a time when anyone who said the passenger pigeon would someday become extinct would have been laughed at or considered insane. The last one died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
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Love. This just brings back all the reasons I fell in love with diving all those years ago....
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Nature in all it's splendor, coral reefs a beauty to behold. And yet, fragile to human polluters, oblivious to the harm being caused by climate change, go on, now supported by science deniers 'a la Trump', in the name of their god, Greed. Are we so arrogant as to think we are above and beyond all this, intent in destroying the very universe we are part of, and whose integrity we depend on for our own survival?
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Wonderful Article that is shinning the light on a Major concern that can not be understated The Health of the Oceans ecosystem is as tied to Mankind's and should receive the same care one would give to ones own Children/Amen^
This is hartbreaking to see the coral reef is not in great shape because Hurricane Irma has destroyed it. I choose this article because the pictures looked interesting and I really like sea animals and it makes me sad to see animals suffering and then they have no were to live and then they die we should do anything to help them such as not throwing food or garbage in the water.
Nice. Thank you for this article.
About 71 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water, yet we are still just scratching the surface as far as exploring the oceans. (let alone understanding completely the ecosystems)
I think there is an apt metaphor, and that is that we are literally putting a tiny finger into the hole of a dam and expecting to hold back the water. - not possible
With rising temperatures, pollution through our runoffs of chemicals and oils, dumping of garbage and in particular plastic, the future is looking bleak, even with all of these conservation efforts. (coral rebuilding)
Water is going to be the new oil right quick. - finite, expensive and controlled by conglomerates.
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Irresistable for a photo article, but the live coral is mostly shown here, even in a story about it dying. For 40 years I have watched the coral die here. Though this island is 2/3 US national park, it is much more than half dead. The protruding rocky points do much better on average, maybe 80-90% alive. The mangroves were the healthies area, about 95% alive 10 years ago. A large increase in "ecotours" in kayaks, and other amature snorkelers stirred up enough muck on bottom to smother - kill about 20%. Irma wiped out all sign of life in the mangroves.. One year later, it is maybe 5% alive. Many bays that have had a lot of construction runoff are 85% or more dead. Algae covers everything there. Lionfish invaded but have been kept totally under control by CORE, an organization I wirk with. A million visitors a year come mostly wearing sunscreen with oxybenzone, a proven, world banned coral poison. Even park shore reefs with no construction runoff were half dead before Irma . They were worse after Irma but recovering faster than mangroves.
The vast areas of 80 to 90% dead reef over a mile offshore of the park have been a mystery as to the source of their death. No runoff or sunscreen poison, good circulation like points, and deeper so water is cooler. I theorize that heavy boat traffic is logical killer. Boat engines do not have catalytic converters & pump exhaust directly into the sea. Every power boat leaves an oil slick, an underestimated threat to coral.
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