What are coral reefs? Coral can be found in tropical ocean waters around the world. But how much do you know about reefs and the tiny animals—polyps—that build them? Learn all about coral and why warming waters threaten the future of the reef ecosystem.
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Coral Reefs 101 | National Geographic
https://youtu.be/ZiULxLLP32s
National Geographic
https://www.youtube.com/natgeo
(gentle music) - [Narrator] Coral reefs,
their bright, vivid colors can be seen in tropical ocean
waters around the globe. Beyond their brilliant appearance lies a hidden significance. Coral are animals. Though they may look like colorful plants, coral are, in fact, made up
of tiny animals called polyps. These invertebrates can range
from the size of a pinhead to a bit larger than a basketball. Each polyp consists of
a soft, saclike body topped by a mouth covered
in stinging tentacles. To protec
t their soft
bodies and add support, the polyps secrete limestone
skeletons, or calicles. Corals are mega builders. Polyp calicles connect to one another, creating a colony that
acts as a single organism. As colonies grow over hundreds
and thousands of years, they join with other colonies and become reefs that can grow
to hundreds of miles long. The largest coral reef is
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which began growing
about 20,000 years ago. Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystem
s on Earth. Though they cover less
than 1% of the ocean floor, coral reefs are home to 25%
of all marine creatures. It's been estimated that
up to two million species inhabit coral reefs,
rivaling the biodiversity of the rain forest. The reefs provide rich habitat that helps protect
young fish as they grow. Coral are translucent. Coral reefs get their
rainbow of colors from algae, or zooxanthellae, that
live in their tissue. Though corals use their
tentacles to capture some food, most of their f
ood comes
from the algae they house. When coral become stressed by
pollution or other factors, they evict their algae. Coral bleaching results,
revealing corals' white skeletons. Coral provide a window to the past. As coral grow, their limestone
skeletons form layers, similar to tree rings,
that vary in composition and thickness based on ocean
conditions at the time. With some coral reefs growing for thousands or even millions of years, scientists can study these layers to reveal what the Earth'
s climate may have been like in the ancient past. Unfortunately, climate change is putting coral's future in danger, along with the millions of
species that inhabit the reefs and the half-billion people
that rely on reef fish for food. Warming waters result in prolonged coral bleaching that kill coral reefs or leave them vulnerable to other threats. Without significant
action on climate change, our oceans could lose many
of their colorful reefs by the end of the century.
Comments
WE NEED TO PROTECT THIS BEAUTIFUL AWESOMENESS!
I'm using this for school as my year is ✨Back in lockdown ✨
“Size of a basketball” They'll use anything but the metric system. But, joking aside, thanks for such a highly informative video, it was utterly helpful.
This helped me so much with my assignment ty!!!
We need to protect this beauty 😮
So beautiful!
I have seen this first hand and made a video on Andaman coral reef’s grave conditions along with many interesting facts. So I can totally relate to this.
We need her to do every video from now on
very nice. here in the Philippines, our corals are dying this vid helps inform the new generation about the threats of climate change
Thank you for explaining me that !!
nice video and voice! i rly loved it! it was informative for my arts project!
keep sending such informative videos.....thank you.
Wow amazing vedio 😍 tysm ❤️
I see this is very wonderful scientific stuff. Three methods of a coral is hard to find
Excellent
Too many doubts cleared in a single short video... Boom! Thanks guys!
I keep corals in my mini reef aquarium, but it’s so different when you seen them in the wild.
we need to save them!
Thnkiew so much for this great videos 🌹🥀
Thanks for the info. 😉