Be Kind to the Reef
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Staff While you're snorkeling, remember that those rock-looking things down there probably aren't just rocks. Corals are colonies of small, soft-bodied animals with hard outer shells. As generations of these animals die, they leave behind their hard shells and new generations build on top of their skeletons, ultimately building structures that can be hundreds of miles long. (The only biological feature of the earth that can be seen from the moon is Australia's Great Barrier Reef.)
Similarly, soft corals build tall, colorful sinewy structures that we call sea whips or sea rods.
You can help keep the corals healthy by following a few simple rules. First, don't fondle the reef. There's a slimy coating secreted by the corals that helps protect them from disease. If you rub that off by touching or bumping the coral, you could be creating a place where the colony could become infected, much in the way the cut you receive when you bash into the coral may become inflamed. Don't run your hands along the sea whips or sea rods for the same reason.
In addition to corals, there are many other small creatures such as anemones, tunicates and feather duster worms that attach themselves to bare spots on the reef. Most have delicate bodies and don't benefit from being fondled.
If you're a new snorkeler, practice in an area with a sand bottom until you're breathing smoothly through the snorkel without slurping too much ocean. Reef damage often occurs when snorkelers get a snootful of seawater and then stand up quickly, kicking or crushing corals and other sea life below.
Obviously, don't walk on the coral, and don't take any live shells, starfish or other animals out of the water.
If you're snorkeling from a boat, do not run up into a coral area and drop anchor. Find a sandy spot to put the hook and swim over to the reef. If you must anchor near or on a reef, swim the anchor to the bottom and carefully place it in a spot where neither it nor the anchor chain will slap against or drag into coral.
Posted online 07/01/97.
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