Coral in its self and coral reefs are a miracle of nature. They are a miracle of nature because they can be regarded as a unique creation that is in the same time an animal, a plant and a rock altogether. A stony coral has a skeleton that helps build reefs with other coral skeletons; the other type of coral the soft coral has no bones. In fact a coral is not a single animal but colonies of polyps, which are very small animals with a mouth, a body sac, and tentacles. Within the body of the polyp a microscopic algae co-exists in symbiosis with the coral; the coral supplies the algae with carbon dioxide and nutrients which the algae will in turn use for photosynthesis and produces carbohydrates and oxygen that the coral will then use for nutrition and respiration. Part of this energy goes to building a protective skeleton and thus the coral resembles a rock and when they start to bunch up they form a coral reef.
However this mass accumulation process is a very slow one, and generally corals grow only about half an inch a year. The bad news is that human activities and most forms of water pollution have a negative and destructive effect on the development of coral colonies.
Corals need deep warm seas to thrive in, and there are different varieties of coral that live around Japan, Taiwan, the Malayan Archipelago, Australia and the Canary Islands, in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean as well. In many of these places, coral reefs represent a very popular tourist attraction.
Corals also come in different colors and it is this beauty that has made them a favorite material in jewelry. However corals are not only beautiful, but they also contain many useful substances and are also used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Coral reefs although they seem to be study and rock-solid, are fragile and delicate, and it is no wonder that in many countries coral is considered to be a protected species, because only by caring for them now they can be preserved for future generations.
