Facts about Coral Reefs
October 31st, 2005· Coral reefs take up less than 1% of the ocean floor, yet 25% of all marine life lives on the reefs.
· Over 3,000 species can live on one reef.
· Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is over 2,000 miles long.
· Coral reefs are the largest living structures on Earth. They are over 100 million years old.
· Without reefs, many shoreline communities would be underwater. Every square meter of reef protects $ 47,000 of property from storm damage and erosion.
· Ceral reefs provide humans with a wide variety of medicinal resources. Chemical compounds found in reefs provide chemicals used in antibiotics and antihistamines. Medicines are made from these chemicals to treat heart disease, asthma, leukemia and more.
· People living in the Pacific Islands get most of their protein from coral reefs.
· 350 million people on Earth depend on coral reefs for their food and survival.
by Mary M. Alward
October 31st, 2005 at 8:28 pm
I found it very interesting that coral reefs provide resources for medicines. I do know that coral reefs teem with life. I’ve watched many documentaries about them and they are awesome.
November 1st, 2005 at 11:39 pm
I knew that medicines came from rainforests but wasn’t aware they came from coral reefs. Amazing. This site is great. I’m glad I surfed onto it.
November 3rd, 2005 at 11:30 pm
I didn’t know that chemical compounds in coral reefs were used to make medicines. It seems that nature provides us with natural remedies for almost any disease if we only knew how to use the resources. Great trivia.
April 18th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I didn’t know so many species of animals could live in one reef wow!
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:15 pm
This website was so cool, I learned so many things!
June 5th, 2007 at 9:41 am
I would hate for all this natural beauty to go to waste
December 2nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I have a question about Coral, we found already dead coral in Islamorada florida. We took a few pieces home, there is clear brownish jelly like substance coming from within the coral now. What is this? Is this a substance that is used for medicine?