Aquamarine's Reef

Ever wonder where the powdery white sand of Caribbean beaches comes from? The answer lies within the coral reef ecosystem. Various reef fish feed on the colorful algae that live on coral, and in the process swallow some of the corallite, or skeletons of dead coral. This matter is passed through their fishy digestive systems, where it is later washed ashore.

Always popular with snorkelers and divers, a coral reef is one of nature's most sublime and remarkable structures. A reef accommodates scores of life-forms including algae, some forms of sea sponge, and sea fans. Small and exotic fish, shrimp, and the spiny lobster make their homes in coral, taking advantage of the rich fare that passes their way Jeff's coral siteHe's qouted saying "I have witnessed this firsthand, and provide photos on my site"

I am here to address a very disturbing issue, I read a National Geographic magazine that had an article on the ocean Coral Reefs, it caught my eye because it also showed beautiful tropical fish. I love looking at these as it amazes me how God has created such unique colors and designs as if he was painting. If you can't appreciate how intriquete that the creator has gone out of his way for what may seem to be a insignificant living creature, then you probably wouldn't care that there are divers who actually go out and pollute the coral in order to flush these beautiful creatures out of their homes so that half of them can be sold to stores for people to have in aquariums. The other half die from the poison. The coral is destroyed...the color drained from their living cells. And the process happens so much the coral doesn't have a chance to restore itself. The coral is then broken up also for profit to put in these aquariums. I'm sorry I will not support this. The men who go down to these dives only make a profit of approximately 50 cents per fish. They endanger their own lives to do this as well. It saddens my heart to see that the beauty we wish to bring into our homes has this kind of history. I believe that we can appreciate these same fish by looking online, through cams to see their natural habitat. Or learn to dive and swim among them without destroying their homes. I enjoy having a small aquarium at times...but I am glad to reflect that I have not had any coral, but man made products that simulate their home. The fish I have had were small freshwater fish easily caught. I have not supported the tetra that they pour dye into their fins to make them neon colors. This shortens their lives as well. I'm sure alot of you have never known some of these things...as I had just learned about the coral reefs.

I hope, no I know there are more people who feel like this and I would love to hear from you. Support our life as well as the creatures lives. The natural habitats must be preserved as this gives us the balance in our air to survive as well. I don't have the magazine to recall everything. I remember that they did mention using coral for medicinal purposes. But as I recall this did not destroy the coral like the poisoning with cyanide did.

I hope that this will serve as a enlightenment for people and that they can take time to reflect and appreciate the simple things, like smelling the flowers.

OTHER CORAL PRESERVATION SITES:

ReefBase.org
Steve's Photos
endangered species

More Sites: learn more about the live coral. :) The Planetary Coral Reef Foundation is aiding SCIENCE.ORG (tm) and Proteus Sea Farms in the search for California or Mexicanwhite abalone to begin a captive breeding program designed to return these animals to coastal waters. TONS OF LINKS TO OTHER CORAL SITES More on coralreef headquarters Coralreef.gov Marine Biology.org Coral Org Dive in and see Spawning Fish Oceanimages.com Reefrelief.org protect reefs Knowledge is power to protect the Reefs & the endangered species. Coral-cove.com A nice getaway beautiful pictures of the coral reefs More oceanography The Internet can be a mysterious place of searching and exploring, there are alot of very interesting sites. I wish the newspapers wouldn't always bring to the attention that it is only a bad place. If parents are responsible, the children have a whole world of knowledge at their fingertips. I am a responsible parent. My son works very hard on his homework projects and gets A's because he can find information that he might not have been able at the local library. I added a site for you parents to go to where it will be an excellent source for research. School House online See real Fish Back to Aquamarine's Reef I've got some awsome new links on my main page, including Bakersfield, My special friends, & Wonderland. Don't forget to check them out. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time... Your ocean friend LynnD I have been approved & it's a honor to feature the webring below. This Endangered Wildlife Netring site is owned by *** Aquamarine/Lynn- *** Want to Join this: Ring. [Prev] [Next] [Random] [Next5] Click on the prev/next,etc. buttons to visit some other unique and animal lovers sites.