This month's featured article

Hawaii’s Coral Reefs
Terry Lilley

Hawaii’s Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are among the Earth’s most beautiful, ancient and complex ecosystems. Coral reefs play an essential role in sustaining life in the sea and coastal communities. Healthy coral reefs are some of the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on earth, providing food, jobs, recreation, pharmaceuticals, coastal protection and other important functions to virtually everyone on the planet. More than 3.5 billion people directly depend on the ocean for their primary source of food.

The reefs are alive… coral polyps are small animals akin to sponges and anemones that form immense colonies in our shallow tidal zones. The polyps form a symbiotic relationship with certain species of algae to photosynthesize energy directly from the sun.

Coral reefs are intrinsic to the formation of tropical islands and their surrounding beaches. Fringing reefs protect shoreline communities from storms, surges and erosion. Coral reefs provide a rich and complex habitat for a phenomenal variety of aquatic creatures, similar to the role tropical rainforests play on land. The reefs provide a safe hatchery and nursery for an incredible variety of fish species. The many filter-feeders in the reef community; the coral polyps, sponges and anemones filter the coastal waters.

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