Background Research

Did you know that corals are related to jellyfish? Coral is the origin of fine sand beaches. 25% of the ocean's fish depend on reefs. Corals produce powerful chemicals that are able to fight diseases such as cancer, heart disease and many more.

Coral polyps are responsible for building reefs. Reefs begin when a polyp attaches itself to a rock on the seafloor, then divides into thousands of clones to create a juvenile coral. Coral gets its nutrients from algae called Zooxanthellae which are symbiotic algae that live within the coral. Zooxanthellae can provide all of the necessary things, like the carbon for the calcium to build the exoskeleton. They also wouldn’t be able to get food and nutrients. In return, the coral protects the algae for growth (algone.com/zooxanthellae-and-corals).

All coral formations begin the same. Coral starts as a swimming planula. The planula then swims to the seafloor. Then there is metamorphosis from a planula to a polyp, then they multiply. The polyps start a colony of polyps which forms the coral. Corals come in many shapes and sizes. At the base of coral is a protective limestone skeleton called calicle. When stressed by such things as temperature change or pollution corals will start to bleach (nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertabrate/group/corals/).

Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean but are home to 25% of marine species. For a barrier reef there should be a lagoon and then out to sea would be a reef. Barrier reefs help to protect lagoons. Fishing, diving and snorkeling on and near reefs add hundreds of millions of dollars to local business. The net economic value of the world's coral reefs is estimated to be nearly tens of billions of U.S dollars per year. Over half a billion people depend on coral reefs for food, income and protection. Some of the coral reefs on the planet today began growing over 50 million years ago. Three different types of coral reef formation-barrier reefs, coral atolls, and fringing reefs. Coral reefs grow at a max depth of 150 feet. Coral reefs grow very slowly at an average of two centimeters per year. Fringing reefs are found on the coast line. Fringing reefs have three zones called the reef flat, the reef crest and the reef front. Coral atolls are made from volcanic remains (reefci/2017/08/11/5-amazing facts-about-coral-reefs/).

Elkhorn provides shelter for many fish. Elkhorn get their color from algae in their tissue. Elkhorn colonies are golden tan or pale brown. The U.S.V.I have populations of endangered elkhorn. (fisheries.noaa.gov/speacies/elkhorn-coral).

The purpose of my project is to compare the branches of coral at beaches with different levels of wave energy to see if waves affect the branches of coral. My hypothesis is that the coral at the high energy beach will have fewer coral branches than the low energy beach.