NATURE PHOTOS
Nature photos the Florida Everglades |
The Living Coral Reefs
underwater
photography from the coral reefs of our beautiful blue world
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TRUE PORTRAITS
Photos Women girls male female models |
The Worlds Great
Living Structures are Coral reefs. Corals are Living Rocks.
A Living Coral Reef
is as diverse as any rain forest and can be likened to a
rain forest, where the coral it self is the equivalent
of a tree. Many trees make a forest and
many corals make a reef. Many woodland creatures
depend on the trees for food and as a home and it is the
same with a reef. Marine animals of all shapes and sizes
live on a coral reef.
Corals. Corals are tiny marine animals,
called polyps, coral polyps are related to and look like
sea anemones. Each individual coral secretes a stony cup
of limestone around itself as a skeleton. The polyps
divide as they grow and form coral colonies. As the
coral colonies build up on top of each other, they
gradually form a coral reef. Individual coral colonies
may be up to 1000 years old. Coral reefs may be many
thousands of years old, forming slowly over time,
responding to changes in sea level and other
environmental conditions. A coral reef is the largest
living structure on our planet.
Coral Reefs.
It is estimated that between 70% and 80% of the oxygen in the atmosphere
is produced by marine plants . Nearly all marine plants
are single celled, photosynthetic algae. Even marine
seaweed is many times colonial algae. They are a bunch
of single cells trying to look like a big plant but they
are really individuals.
Marine Algae is Life.
We need marine algae a
whole lot more than they need us. Think about it….70% to
80% of all the oxygen we breathe comes from algae!
Without them we would really be sucking wind, but not
for long! At this point you may be saying, "Yo! What
about the trees and other land plants?" Well, trees and
other land plants are very important, no doubt about it.
But for pure survival, we couldn't make it without
algae.
Why does so much of our oxygen come from
algae? Well, first of all, remember that the oceans
cover about 71% of this planet and land is only about
29%. If we assume that every square mile of the ocean
produces as much oxygen as every square mile of land,
then this makes sense. The oceans would produce about
71% and the land 29% of the oxygen we breathe.
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Important Marine Algae.
Marine algae exists in different
concentrations throughout the world's oceans, depending
on the amount of nutrients that are available. The
colder the surface waters, the more these essential
nutrients -- like iron -- can flourish and support
phytoplankton, which are microscopic algae. There are
widespread concentrations of marine algae throughout the
world's oceans, with the highest concentrations in the
colder arctic waters.
Corals Make Oxygen.
Now the question is, "Are
the oceans, indeed, as productive as the land?" At first
you might not think so, after all when you look at the
land there are trees and bushes and grass and all kinds
of plants growing. They must crank out oxygen to beat
the band! They do, but also remember that there are many
places on land that don't have much in the way of
plants. How about Antarctica or the Sahara Desert along
with many others? These are pretty good sized chunks of
real estate where plants are few and far between. How
much oxygen is being pumped out in these areas?
I
would venture to say there's not enough to keep a pack
of wild hamsters (ever seen wild hamsters?) going for
very long. So, some areas on land have an abundance of
plants and produce a large quantity of oxygen while
others have very few plants and produce very little.
Corals and Oceans.
The same can be said for the oceans. There are some
areas that have an abundance of algae living in the
waters and other areas that don't. In the ocean there
are areas of upwelling where cold, nutrient rich bottom
water moves toward the surface. These upwelling waters
mix with the surface water and produce an area that is
like liquid fertilizer for plants. They go ballistic and
there are billions of the little critters in the water
just pumping out oxygen left and right. Other areas of
the oceans don't have much in the way of nutrients in
the water and they are like the deserts on land with
very few plants. |
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