Chasing Coral:

A coral is an animal with lots of polyps and is made up of thousands of small structures called polyps. Each polyp is a circular mouth surrounded by tentacles then can combine to be millions of them. Inside their tissues are small plants (microalgae) a million per centimeter squared. These plants inside photosynthesize and the animals use that for food. (food factories living inside). At night time the plants “sleep” and the animal becomes active. When active the tentacles come out and anything that swims by is caught by these stinging cells on the tips of the tentacles. There are so many different types of corals of different sizes, shapes and colors. So beautiful!

Sometimes I was surprised to discover about reefs was we've lost 80-90% of corals in Florida, I had no idea these issues were so advanced. Symbiosis is so interesting to me I'd like to learn more about this. Two separate organisms adapted to each other and are now benefiting from each other wow! The first widespread bleaching event occurred in the early 1980s only 12 years later we saw the second global scale mass bleaching NOW ONLY 5 YEARS later we’ve got the potential of the third global scale mass bleaching.

*Weedy sea dragons are the most beautiful sea creatures I've ever seen!

Corals are important to our community and the ocean because they are the foundation species and so many organisms depend on them. Coral reefs provide food for not only us but many marine organisms and give people jobs that they need for an income. Specifically living in Hawaii with the ocean surrounding us we need to think about our coastal ecosystems, clean waters and the fish we catch.

*“Creation of jobs, reducing pollution, greenifying cities…”

I think the mission of the producers for Chasing Coral was documenting the change of corals to reveal to the public in a powerful way. We need to take action to save our future corals.

*Educate! Educate!

A hope for the future is when comparing a photo of a current dead coral reef to one from 10 years later it will be healthier and filled with marine life. I hope we can restore as many coral reefs as possible and educate everyone about how to protect marine life.

As individuals we should all use clean energy, avoid touching reefs, and use reef safe sunscreen. Even though its “out of sight and out of mind” we need to pay attention to the importance of marine life. We have the money, the resources, and the brains to make a difference starting today. As individuals we should all use clean energy, avoid touching reefs, and use reef safe sunscreen.

Pelekane Field Trip Photo Reflection:

Place reflection here. (see prompt in myHPA assignment)

Place reflection here. (see prompt in myHPA assignment)

Place reflection here. (see prompt in myHPA assignment)

Place reflection here. (see prompt in myHPA assignment)

Place reflection here. (see prompt in myHPA assignment)

The presenting process went really well! Normally I get super nervous before I present but I felt comfortbale with my class and got good feedback. Some suggestions given were to explain my past pono plegde to give more context, explain the meaning of S.H.E (maybe changinge E for staning for excellance), and to make my slides less wordy. I realize I was reading off my slides so not presentation I will make sure to make flashcards/script. But in general feeling confident on how the prototype presentation went!