June is almost gone and with it the first half of the year. I can't believe it either! This week's newsletter is all about coral reefs, mainly because I want to be sitting on a warm beach somewhere with my toes in the water and a drink in my hand.
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design
I love how ArcGIS mapping creates visual, interactive displays about large areas of our world. Check out this map that takes satellite data to show the status and health of coral reefs around the world. Feel free to click around and see reefs throughout the world!
nature
Coral reefs are a vital and beautiful part of our ecosystem, reducing the impact and erosion from storms, providing habitat for many species of fish, and minimizing flooding from hurricanes. For 25 years, scientists have been talking about coral bleaching.
White coral that has been "bleached" is essentially starving to death. Coral is actually an animal, coral is formed by small polyps that excrete a hard exoskeleton for protection. In order to eat, coral needs to photosynthesize. So, coral has created a symbiotic relationship with algae (zooxanthellae). The algae lives in the protective exoskeleton, and in return the algae photosynthesizes and shares some of that energy with the coral. So when we see white, "bleached" coral, it's essentially starving to death—all of the algae that lives in it and provides food is dying or dead.
And while we've heard about this coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef (the only living thing that can be seen from space, by the way), coral reefs in East Asia are actually thriving and not dying. It seems likely that a few things are at play: the diversity of the coral helps make them resilient—if one coral dies out, another can take its place. Secondly, some of the corals seem to genetically be more heat resistant and then have heat resistant offspring. So the future may hold some of the greatest coral reefs in this area of the world.
reimagine
Check out a previous article I wrote on work being done to rebuild and even spread coral to new areas.
