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If you have any questions about your donation, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly Supporter Services team either by email: enquiries wwf. Share this page with your friends and family to help endangered animals even more. Our stories News Blogs. Adopt Koala Turtle Tree International species. Adopt Donate. Our oceans urgently need your help. Sign up here for news on the reef. What we're doing. Improving water quality To restore the health of the Reef, WWF is advocating a legal cap on pollution.
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rowley Shoals: The bleached Australian reef and a Covid challenge. Related Topics. Published 7 October Published 26 March Published 30 August Published 30 September Published 4 April Published 18 April Yet today the coral—and therefore all the organisms that depend on it—is gravely at risk.
Coral is made up of many small animals. These tiny animals build a hard external skeleton to make the vibrant structures that we recognize. When healthy, coral has a symbiotic relationship with algae. The coral produces fluorescent chemicals that protect the algae from bright sun—almost like a sunscreen. The algae use photosynthesis to harness solar energy to make sugars. In this way, the algae provide food and oxygen a byproduct of photosynthesis for the coral, and the coral protects and provides nutrients for the algae.
The algae also give coral its many colors. The coral and algae have evolved together to survive within a particular temperature range.
As sea temperatures rise due to climate change , the algae begin to produce products toxic to the coral, which in turn expel the algae. This process is called bleaching because the coral becomes white. A study showed that about one-third of the Great Barrier Reef had experienced substantial damage from bleaching. The researchers also found that large amounts of coral had died in the warming water almost immediately—even before there was time to expel their algal partners.
This suggests even greater risks from climate change than scientists had previously thought. Climate change is not the only threat to the reef. Chemical runoff and other forms of pollution , coastal development, and overfishing all can harm coral and reduce biodiversity. So can large storms such as cyclones.
Species that live in the reef can also cause damage. One major pest species is the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci.
A starfish may sound harmless, but these venomous creatures voraciously eat coral. Every so often, their numbers spike. Some scientists think these starfish caused over half of the reef damage from to Fortunately, many people are passionate about protecting the Great Barrier Reef.
National Geographic Explorer Dr. Erika S. Woolsey conducts research on coral reefs. Scientists can see damage to the reef over time and take detailed measurements of every nook and cranny—without having to get wet!
People around the world can access images of reef structures to study, thereby contributing to our knowledge of the reef.
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