The reason that they call the Earth a “water planet” is that water covers around 70% of our planet. Seawater makes up more than 95% of that water. Besides all the marine life that lives in our oceans, it produces two resources that are vital to life: oxygen and heat distribution. Coral reefs play an essential role in everything from water filtration and fish reproduction to shore line protection and erosion prevention.
Reefs protect our shorelines from storms and surge water. Barrier reefs are named after the way they reduce waves and buffer shores. They also help to stabilize mangroves and sea grass beds by protecting them from large waves and currents.
Coral reefs are the foundation for complex food webs, therefore they support an incredible diversity of fish. Algae, soft coral, sponges and invertebrates create the base of this web. All kinds of fish find food and protection on the reef, from small herbivorous fish to large predatory fish.
Thats why it’s very important to protect our oceans. Project AWARE Foundation is a growing movement of scuba divers protecting the ocean planet – one dive at a time.
The Reef Check Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conservation of two ecosystems: tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs. In June 2014 I became a Reef Check Eco Diver at Coral Point Diving, in the Dominican Republic.
Copyright © 2019 Created and designed by Wisse van der Zalm.