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The
McGinty Aquariums |
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The McGinty Aquariums consist of dozens of saltwater and freshwater tanks, ranging from 10 gallons up to 900 gallons. Home to sharks, alligators and animals from all over the world, the aquariums display habitats of shoreline communities, mangroves… even a living coral reef! The aquariums also feature a "touch tank," where visitors can get up close and personal with a variety of aquatic creatures. |
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Why Are Corals
Colorful / What Happens When They Bleach |
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By Lee Dashiell |
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When
most people look at coral, either in a picture or
an aquarium, there is usually a bit of confusion
as to exactly what it is they are looking at. Is
it a plant, animal or colorful rock? Well, actually
corals are a bit of all three. Corals are scientifically
classified as animals because they do feed on plants
and animals and breathe oxygen. However, reasons
for the confusion are very understandable. Coral
movement is often not seen by the average person;
they are colored like plants and most are hard like
rocks.
The best way to describe corals is to compare them to their
close relatives, jellyfish. Like jellyfish, corals have stinging
tentacles to capture small pray and have translucent body tissues.
Unlike jellyfish, many corals attach themselves to substrata
and secrete a hard calcareous skeleton and incorporate symbiotic
micro-algae into translucent body tissues to give corals the
variety of brilliant colors we see. Many anemones and some
species of clams and jellyfish incorporate micro-algae within
their body tissues as well. |
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| The coral animal or polyp
is very small, most not much bigger than the individual
letters of the words in this article. Together, theses
individual polyps form the large coral heads and
reefs we are accustom to seeing. It is that special
symbiotic relationship with the micro-algae within
the body tissues of these animals that allow such
small creatures to build such incredible structures
of nature. The micro-algae, collectively called zooxanthellae,
within the coral tissue produce nutrients, amino
acids and oxygen necessary for healthy coral growth
and reef building. In return, corals give the algae
a safe place to live, provide the algae with carbon
dioxide and nutrients from their waste. |
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| So, what happens when
corals bleach? What causes bleaching to occur? Coral
bleaching is when the micro-algae within the coral
tissues dies or is expelled. Without the symbiotic
micro-algae, the corals lose their color and soon
die, leaving behind the white bare skeleton. Coral
bleaching is caused by an overall rise in the Earth
's average temperature. This became a global occurrence
in the 1980s and is presently worsening. The burning
of fossil fuels has increased the Earth 's temperature
and allowed more potent UV rays to enter the atmosphere.
Our delicate coral reefs are among the first organisms
to indicate these changes that are occurring on our
planet. There is hope in reversing this effect. We
work very hard to educate visitors and students about
the problems that are occurring on our planet. We
have active coral aquaculture and propagation programs
where we clone and grow corals in captivity. Everyone
can help out by practicing conservational approaches
to our day to day use of resources, becoming educated
as to what the problems and potential solutions are
and supporting alternative fuel sources and green
living. |
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| Email
the Curator - Do you have a question
for the Aquarium Curator? If so, then send him
an email. Please make sure the question is related
to marine biology and you have at least a week
to get a reply. The curator tries to reply as
soon as possible to all questions. |
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