![]() ![]() When marine animals, such as dolphins, eat species living around the affected coral reef it can cause bioaccumulation. You go from an extremely productive area to a barren desert,” said Nickels. “With the reefs, if you start to lose coral, all the other organisms that depend on them may also die, and in turn, the large fish and other creatures that depend on them are lost too. Coral colonies give food and shelter to many organisms, and their health is important for the ecology of the reef community. When coral reefs turn to wastelands, other marine creatures suffer as well. According to the Reef Resilience Network, nearly everything in a coral-reef ecosystem depends on corals in some way. Sometimes corals recover from these events, but sometimes the coral is lost and the ecosystem transitions to something totally different,” said Adolf. During bleaching, “Corals lose their symbiotic zooxanthellae, which are small algal cells living in the tissue of the coral animal, resulting in a white, ‘bleached’ appearance. ![]() Jason Adolf, Ph.D., Monmouth University’s first endowed Associate Professor of marine science and a member of The Urban Coast Institute, explained what bleaching means for coral reefs. Jim Nickels, a Marine Scientist for Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute (UCI) said, “Corals have been under threat from a variety of sources, the ingredients in some sunscreens are having a direct affect causing bleaching, damaging their DNA, and causing deformities and death.”Īn ecosystem once vibrant with colors is now going white, in the process Nickels mentioned as “bleaching.” If you are having trouble picturing bleached coral think of the way a tree appears in the winter: without life, barren, and brittle. Oxybenzone, a common chemical found in sunscreen, is toxic to the symbiotic algae of coral reefs. Gregory Moehring, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Chemistry, said, “ a petroleum-derived chemical with an arrangement of electrons within the molecule that allows for it to absorb ultraviolet radiation found in sunlight. Its solubility properties make the molecule effective in topically applied sunscreens.” Beneath the surface of the oceans, the Florida Keys Reef system is struggling to stay alive due to a chemical used in sunscreens, The New York Times reported.Īccording to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the reef is the third largest living coral barrier reef system in the world. ![]()
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