Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. Coral reefs only occupy 0.1% of the area of the ocean but they support 25% of all marine species on the planet. Because they are so diverse, coral reefs are often called the rainforests of the oceans.
Individual coral polyps within a reef are typically very small, usually less than an inch. These coral polyps live in a symbiotic relationship with Zooxanthellae algae. These single called algae provide food through photosynthesis to the corals, and in exchange, the coral animal gives nutrients to the algae. Corals are themselves transparent but look colourful because of the algae. The zooxanthellae algae provide many of the green, brown, and reddish colours that corals have.
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth. various ecosystem services provided by coral reefs.
Coastal Protection - Like mangroves, these protect coastlines from damaging effects of wave action during tropical storms, cyclones etc. These break the power of waves during tropical storms and tsunamis. These prevent coastal erosion, and flooding and therefore save the loss of lives and property.
Tourism - Sustainably managed coral reef-based tourism can also provide significant alternative or additional sources of income to poorer coastal communities in developing countries. However, unsustainable tourism is lately becoming a major threat to coral reefs.
Nutrient Recycling - These also help in nutrient recycling by acting as the source of essential nutrients for marine food chains
In present times of climate change and increased environmental pollution, coral reefs are under threat. As per the IPCC Special Report, coral reefs are likely to decline between 70% and 90%. If the global temperature rise is up to 1.5°C as compared to pre-industrial levels. However, global warming of 2°C, will cause the decline of more than 99% of coral reefs.
In this article, you will find 45+ amazing, inspiring, magical and unfortunately depressed quotes about coral reefs that are sure to impact your mind.
Amazing Coral Reef Quotes
- “That includes not cutting down the rain forest, and stop polluting the ocean because once we kill the coral reefs and the rain forest, this earth is toast.” – Michael Berryman
- “Coral is bright without being intrusive. We associate it with the sea and nature. It’s lively and warm and flattering to every skin tone.” – Dixon Barlett
- “Beauty lies in the depth of a character. The ocean might be pretty, but the coral reef is magnificent.” – Abhilasha Chowdhury
- “The sea has never been friendly to man. At most, it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.” – Joseph Conrad
- “The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal joy to the soul.” – Robert Wyland
- “Cherish clean water be colourful live together in harmony celebrate nature’s wonders be full of life!.” – Proverb
- “All wear the corals, rich and poor, they raise those below and adorn those above.” – Joseph Roth
- “Intelligence is the ability of a species to live in harmony with its environment.” – Paul Watson
- “The greatest danger to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” – Robert Swan
- “We know that when we protect our oceans we’re protecting our future.” – Bill Clinton
- “In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.” – Kahlil Gibran
- “Land forests are the coral reefs of the ocean of air.” – Steven Magee
- “Ice ages have come and gone. Coral reefs have persisted.” – Sylvia Earle
- “Her blush was the colour of a coral reef, but smooth.” – Aimee Bender
- “Corals Build underwater cities.” – Unknown
- “It’s impossible to imagine our planet without coral.” – Ian Somerhalder
- “It is not length of life, but depth of life that matters.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Dreams are like coral reefs, you might think it’s far but looks so near.” – Unknown
- “Most people tend to ignore the coral reef because it does not act like the fish around it.” – Kevin Rowe
- “Truth like a coral reef in the sea precious among all creatures only truth is, you are alive.” – Monika Anand
- The CORAL has the beauty of the rose, the colour of blood, the clear nature of crystal, the heat of the fire.” – Vittorio G. Rossi
- “You are like the ocean, pretty enough on the surface, but dive down into your depths, you’ll find beauty most people never see.” – Proverb
- “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir
- “Think about this: If water is the blood of our planet flowing through veinous rivers, streams, and into our oceans, what does that make coral? Our heart. We simply cannot survive without our heart; therefore, it’s mandatory we heal and protect our coral reefs now.” – Ian Somerhalder
- “Coral reefs represent some of the world's most spectacular beauty spots, but they are also the foundation of marine life: without them, many of the sea's most exquisite species will not survive”. - Sheherazade Goldsmith
- “Ice ages have come and gone. Coral reefs have persisted” - Sylvia Earle
- “The more we heat the planet, the more it costs all of us, not just in money, but in colossal famines, displacements, deaths, and species extinctions, as well as in the loss of some of the things that make this planet a blue-green jewel, including its specialized habitats from the melting Arctic to bleaching coral reefs. - Rebecca Solnit
- “Ten per cent of the big fish remain. There are still some blue whales. There are still some krill in Antarctica. There are a few oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape, with a jewelled belt around the middle of the planet. There’s still time, but not a lot, to turn things around. - Sylvia Earle
- “That includes not cutting down the rain forest, and stop polluting the ocean because once we kill the coral reefs and the rain forest, this earth is toast.” - Michael Berryman
- “Some experts look at global warming, increased world temperature, as the critical typing point that is causing a crash in coral reef health around the world. And there’s no question that it is a factor, but it’s preceded by the loss of resilience and degradation.” - Sylvia Earle
- “As the oceans get hotter, corals also become heat-stressed and expel the algae that live on their skeletons, resulting in coral bleaching events that can wipe out entire reefs. This destroys the habitat that supports a quarter of all marine life.” - Barry Gardiner
- “The coral reef at Bonaire, one of the alphabet islands in the Caribbean, is so alive and healthy.” - Aslan Gorse Cousteau
- “Practically the whole world depends on coral reefs, so if the coral reefs get all killed, then the ocean will start going out of whack, and if the ocean goes out of whack, something might happen on land.” - Alexander Gould
- “Our globe is under new dramatic environmental pressure: our globe is warming, our ice caps melting, our glaciers receding, our coral is dying, our soils are eroding, our water tables falling, our fisheries are being depleted, our remaining rainforests shrinking. Something is very, very wrong with our eco-system.” - Richard Lamm
- “If I didn’t so much, maybe my perfect Sunday would be skin diving on a coral reef - not scuba diving, as skin diving is more physical, and I prefer the lightness of it. Skin diving means wearing just goggles. Oh, I could wear some trunks, maybe.” - Morten Harket
- “Coral is a very beautiful and unusual animal. Each coral head consists of thousands of individual polyps. These polyps are continually budding and branching into genetically identical neighbours.” - Antony Garrett Lisi
- “Typhoon damage happens when they hit land, and as humans, we’ve decided to destroy mangroves and hurt coral reefs. If we don’t have barriers, the devastation is worse, and that is scary.” - Ashlan Gorse Cousteau
- “I Have touched coral, and it feels hard like a rock, with a little slimy thing on top of it. But it is better to not touch coral, to prevent damaging it.” - Enric Sala
- “I think that most people would associate big schools of fish with healthy coral reefs. At Kingman, the predators keep the herd thin, so there aren’t a lot of big fish schools.” - Brian Skerry
- “ I’m obsessed with great white sharks. And I want to dive into the coral of the Great Barrier Reef.” - Sara Sampaio
- “Hawaii feels so passionately about climate. You know, our oceans are warming. As a result, we have more ocean acidification and coral bleaching. You can see it.” - Brian Schatz
- “Managing forests, rivers, grasslands, and coral reefs in sustainable ways makes them more resilient and increases their ability to absorb greenhouse gases, which is good for business.” - Johan Rockstrom
- “Organisms don’t think of Carbon Dioxide as a poison. Plants and organisms that make shells, coral, think of it as a building block.” - Janine Benyus
- “ I can mention many moments that were unforgettable and revelatory. But the most single revelatory three minutes was the first time I put on scuba gear and dived on a coral reef. It’s just the unbelievable fact that you can move in three dimensions.” - David Attenborough
- “ We cannot afford to continue losing our coral reefs, which are suffering from a number of threats such as warmer temperatures, more acidic waters, and disease, and that is why Hawaii has become a leader in taking steps to mitigate the harmful impacts of sunscreen on our marine environment.” - Mazie Hirono
- “We have changed. We are no longer, as I said, bipedal monkeys. We are instead a kind of cybernetic coral reef of organic components and inorganic technological components.” - Terence McKenna
