Mind blowing facts about coral

Disclaimer: these facts may not blow your mind, but they really did blow mine.

- Firstly, coral is an animal. I definitely thought it was a plant. In fact, coral belongs to a group of animals called cnidarians. The name comes from the Greek ‘knide’, meaning nettle, and sea anemones and jellyfish both belong to this group. 

- Although they are sort of distant cousins, scientists have documented groups of coral working together to capture and eat jellyfish. A scientist, Fabio Badalamenti, who saw this crazy phenomenon, said he watched a jellyfish be captured in a matter of minutes by a “wall of mouths.”. He went on to say, “The jelly tried to move, to escape, but there was no way.”

- Coral reefs are the largest structures on earth of biological origin. The largest coral reef on earth is the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for 1,429 miles, over an area of approximately 133,000 square miles. It is so large that it can be seen from space.

- In 2017 a family of seven from Adelaide, Australia, all ended up in hospital after cleaning coral in their home aquarium. This is because certain corals release toxins as a defence mechanism. Although the Australian family were all okay in the end, in extreme cases, coral toxins can cause muscle breakdown, kidney failure, coma and death from cardiac or respiratory failure. 

- Coral reefs make up less than 1% of the ocean, but they provide a home to around 25% of all the world’s marine life. 

- The country with the largest amount of coral reef in its territory is Indonesia. In fact, 17.95% of the world’s coral reef is located there.

- The first recorded use of coral as a colour name in English was in 1513. The various tones of the colour coral are representations of the colours of precious corals, which are used for making jewellery, or coral gemstones.

- Coral gemstones are referred to as organic gemstones as they are formed from living matter as opposed to from minerals. This means that technically they aren’t gemstones at all. Other organic ‘gemstones’ include pearl, amber and shell.

- Corals have barely changed in the last hundred million years, and are largely the same as they were during dinosaur times.

- Tragically, recent studies suggest the planet has lost approximately half of its coral reefs in the last 30 years, and could lose more than 90% by the year 2050 if drastic changes are not made.

- But on a more positive note, scientists have started developing novel methods to help restore existing, but damaged, coral reefs. For example, it is now possible to 3D print coral models which are then implanted onto damaged coral reefs to help with their recovery. The coral models provide structural support for the restoration of damaged reef systems, and act as a foundation for coral larvae to settle and grow.

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