Coral Reefs in General
Coral Reefs are large structures made up of living organisms, typically coral polyps (tiny corals) that have built up from accumulated calcium carbonate released by these corals. These delicate reefs can be found in many different parts of the world, often in warm translucent water in the tropics zone (around 21ºC/69.8ºF) and occupy about 1% of the ocean sea floor. As you can see below, coral reefs exist in many different locations in the world with various amount of biodiversity within each. Coral reefs are home to numerous organisms, ranging from sea anemones and sea stars, to turtles, sea sponges, a colossal variety of fish and corals and more. They are known to be one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Numerous coral reefs have become an extremely popular tourist attractions in the Caribbean and especially, the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia (known for being the largest coral reef in the world). Unfortunately though, all the tourism disrupts coral reefs and in some cases can damage them severely over the years, injuring the coral and harming the biodiversity of the reefs.