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September 26, 2017

Corals – An Endangered Ocean Life: How Scientists Are Saving It

Authors Damien Cave and Justin Gillis bring to attention an issue which the majority of
population might not consider as integral to earth’s survival, but after reading their article
“Building a Better Coral Reef,” even the most skeptic of us has to realize that corals - the
beautiful, colorful creatures called “rainforests of the sea,” have a larger purpose than just
prettying up our oceans. The writers have quoted a few strong sources comprised of researchers
and scientists on how environmental changes are affecting ocean life, specifically the corals and
what efforts the scientists are making to ensure their survival.

According to the article, the corals are dying off rapidly due to an increase in ocean
temperatures i.e. the oceans are getting hotter and corals are finding it difficult to sustain at these
heightened temperatures. Researcher, Dr. Neal Cantin of Australian Institute of Marine Science
emphasized the importance of coral reefs and how their dying would be a loss not only to the
beauty of an ocean, but it would also be loss as a food source and of protein for some people, as
well as hit hard the tourism industry where coral reefs are a big attraction.

Dr. Cantin experimenting at the marine institute to keep corals said that the corals live in
“sea simulator”, and water temperatures simulate seasonal patterns of warming events where
lighting is replicated to moon cycles used at spawning times by coral. The purpose is to test
which ones will survive “with warmer and more acidic water that mimics what scientists are
predicting for the years 2050 and 2100.” The strong ones will breed and cross breed from
“different sections of the reef and also crossbreeding of different species to create genetic
hybrids.”

The scientists are trying to save the dying corals by breeding them and then releasing the
parent and spawns back into the oceans much like they are trying to do with other endangered
sea life. The article states that scientists had warned decades ago that the effects of global
warming would victimize the corals first as they are the most perceptible to heat. Their
predictions were ignored and the first corals to die was in 1982; by 2015-16, 35 to 50% of corals
along coast of Queensland are dead.
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Most of the funding for these projects is provided by philanthropists and not by
governments. But this does not seem to be enough as billions of dollars are required to carry out
this large-scale project worldwide. The scientists are trying to genetically modify corals to enable
the most heat resistant corals to revive ocean life. The most affected oceans, are the coast of
Australia, Florida beaches, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

Both human interference and climate change have affected the coral colonies and efforts
are being made to repair and reclaim the loss that has resulted due to human carnage. The oceans
make up 70% of the earth’s surface and a major portion of oceans is in direct path of sun’s rays
striking earth.

“The modeled increase in the heat content of the upper 70 meters of the oceans, based on
observations from 1993 to 2003. Oceans store much of the excess solar energy delivered to earth
and so, they are effectively buffering us,” (Kanamaru) but the ocean life is getting adversely
affected as seen by the dying corals that researchers and scientists are vigorously trying to revive.
With the ozone layer depleting due to carbon emissions, there seems to be no relief for oceans. It
is commendable that efforts are being made to save whatever life big or small, but some might
say that there are bigger issues to take care of than corals.

In my opinion, yes, there are bigger “environmental” issues but they are all caused by the
same problem – climate change! So why not solve that problem so our resources are not wasted
but instead channeled where they should go. Corals may not seem a big deal to a lot of people
but as stated in the article, it is a source of food not only for humans but also for ocean life and a
big source of tourism for some countries. We must save what we can because corals are one part
of it, there are a lot of other animal species that are also getting extinct, either because their
habitats are getting adversely affected by climate changes or man is claiming it. How successful
the scientists will be in breeding corals and reintroducing them to the oceans again is yet to be
seen, but at least they are making the effort to slow down the death of a planet that is slowly
encroaching on all life.
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Bibliography
Gillis, Daniel Cave and Justin. "Building A Better Coral Reef." 20 September 2017. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/climate/coral-great-barrier-reef.html?emc=eta1. 25
September 2017.

Kanamaru, Dr. Kinuyo. "Heat Engine Ocean Circulation I and II." September 2017.