Ecological Balance of the Coral

¶ … Ecological Balance of the Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are a system of living organisms found only in the warm benthic shallow ocean water environments along the world's coastlines. The shallow seas where the reefs grow represent just eight percent of the world's oceans, but sustain most of the life found in the sea (BBC/Discovery, film documentary, 2008). The health of the coral reefs is representative of the health of our oceans, and the health of our planet. The health of the coral reefs is impacted by hurricanes, tsunamis, drastic fluctuations in water temperatures, and the presence of mankind. It is a fragile ecosystem, but one that provides $375 billion a year in good, service and industry, and supports as many as 500 million people who are dependent upon the ocean life that can be found only in the coral reefs (Tibbets, John, 2004, p. 472). This represents a relationship between man and the environment that is co-dependent in nature; mankind must be aware of the fragility of the system that sustains him, and work to protect the coral reef environment to preserve it in whatever ways we can. Today, 30% of the world's coral reefs are damaged, and it is expected that the damage will increase to 60% by the year 2030 (Tibbetts, p. 472). This suggests the critical state of the reefs, and the logical conclusion that mankind must take whatever actions possible to negate damage to the coral reefs stemming from man's impact on the environment.

The Threats to the Coral Reefs

There is really very little that environmentalists or scientists can do prevent damage to the coral reefs from natural threats like tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, or fluctuating changes in the water temperature as a result of the earth's natural evolutionary processes. We know that at least twice in the history of the world, the coral reefs along the coast of Australia were destroyed because of natural planetary changes. We know this, because the remnants of the dead coral reefs are found hundreds of feet below the ocean, in the abyssal zone of the benthic environment, are the remains of coral beds that illustrate changes that occurred in the water levels and water temperatures.

The threats posed by man, however, are:

Overfishing and pollution, wrote Hughes and colleagues, have been the most important causes of "massive and accelerating decreases in abundance of coral reef species." These two factors have caused widespread changes in reef ecosystems over the past two centuries, but the past few decades have seen an exponential increase in the amount of damage done (Tibbetts, p. 472)."

If we do not take steps, now, to preserve the coral reefs, and protect them from the destructive forces of mankind, then we are destroying a complex ocean system that supports marine life and mankind. It should not be a difficult question to answer: we must begin reducing ocean pollution and taking steps to prohibit overfishing of our ocean shallows.

The plan that is formulated to address the overfishing and man-made pollutants in the coral reefs must be conducted by authorities in marine and ecological sciences. It must be conducted on two levels: the fishing industry associated with the catches on the coral reefs; and the pollutants that are introduced into the coral reefs through contact with man. This can be done by monitoring commercial tourism and diving industries, which claim there is no residual effect on the coral reefs (Carrier, James, and McLeod, Donald, 2005, p. 315).

The Plan for Preserving the Coral Reefs

Action Items in the correct order)

Action Steps

Timeline

Research and identify the effects of overfishing of species found in coral reefs.

Review fishing data as it pertains to catches, compared against load weights and specie size allowances for commercial vessels.

Month 1-6

Live Monitoring of Commercial Fishing

Marine biologists aboard commercial fishing vessels collect data to compare to prior industry data.