June is World Ocean’s Month and today is World Reef Awareness Day.
It’s purpose, to bring awareness to the importance of reefs to the Earth’s ecosystem and by extension, life itself.
Most importantly, today is also meant to bring awareness to the damage being done to the oceans reefs .
Definition: “Ridge of a rock or any other type of land that extends some distance just under the the surface of the water.“
Did you know: Coral reefs are living breathing entities.
Why are reefs so important? Reefs do for the oceans what the rain forests do for the air. As a matter of fact they are often called the “rain forests of the sea”.
Reef provides
- A home for plants and other marine life
- Creates oxygen,
- Protects coastlines from erosion
- Filters the oceans
- Even medicines are being developed from reefs.
Did you know? The antiviral drugs Ara-A and AZT and the anticancer agent Ara-C, developed from extracts of sponges found on a Caribbean reef, were among the earliest modern medicines obtained from coral reefs – issues.org
Just like plants die on land when the soil is polluted, the reefs also die when the ocean is polluted. Experts claim about 90+% of the Caribbean and Florida reefs have disappeared in in the last 30 years , the Great Barrier Reef decreased by 40 percent.
What causes this phenomenon? Things like
- Over fishing and shipping routes damage our reefs.
- Irresponsible tourism is one of the causes. Tourist damage reefs by stepping on or breaking corals.
- Rising ocean temperatures causes Coral bleaching. The higher temperature (as little as 2 degrees) can Corals to expel algae living within the corals. Bleaching can also be caused by pollution and too much sunlight
- Industrial pollution and other chemicals used by humans are also harm the ocean’s reefs.
Did you now: Sunscreen can be a treat to reef? Why? Sunscreens can contains non-nano zinc oxide.
The next time you chose a product to protect your skin, just like you should do with your food, read the label
In 2012 my family and I boarded the glass bottom boat “Sugar Lips” to take in the beauty of the Bucco Reef in Tobago. That was the closest I ever came to seeing a reef. Had I been able to swim, I would have gone in to swim with the fish but in a good way 😛 . I’m sure that I would have wanted to touch the Coral because it was just breathtaking. The awe of being there would have been so much. Most of us are not aware of the damage we cause simply breaking off a little piece of a coral. We need to be more aware of our actions and the potential problems we could end up causing.
This image is becoming more and more common
We need to get back to this
You may think the death of a reef does not/would not affect you but it does. Millions of people make a living off reefs. These reefs are nurseries to sea creatures. Without reefs, the fishing industry would gradually grind to a halt. It’s estimated that over $300 billion dollars annually is generated from reefs.
The good news is that something is being done. Deny climate change and warmer oceans as much as you want, the facts speaks for themselves.
What can we do?? It’s easy to say, “It’s just a small piece, what’s the harm!” What we need to remember is there are millions of people out there making the same statement… “It’s just a small piece, what’s the harm!” and you see the harm.
The information is getting out there and reefs are being protected, fishing is has more regulations. The smaller fishing vessels are making more conscious choices and if you’ve never heard of it, Coral Farming is actually a thing.
When we’re all back out there and we ready to dive into the ocean, be more mindful of your impact, make better choices.
Learn what you can do to help save our reefs at www.worldreefday.org
Always remember to Do Something That Makes Your Soul Glow
So tell me… Who’s Your Dahlia? 😉