Frequently Asked Questions
Question: What is Coral?
Answer: Coral is a marine creature in the class Anthozoa, there are two types, hard and soft. Hard corals are what we know as the reef builders as they lay down a hard exoskeleton and soft corals have an inner skeleton. They are in a symbiotic relationship with the algae zooxanthellae in which they share their proteins with the algae and give them shelter in their polyps in return for oxygen. Click Here, for more information.
Question: What is Coral Bleaching?
Answer: Coral bleaching occurs when corals are put under stress, they expell their zooxanthellae which are necessary for their survival loosing their oxygen supply. This changes them from coloured to white or transparent and means that they can no longer lay down their calcium carbonate skeleton. Without the zooxanthellae the polyps die and if too many polyps die the coral will not survive. Click Here, for more information.
Question: Can a Coral return back to normal after a bleaching event?
Answer: If the bleaching event has been a long lasting and severe one the zooxanthellae are less likely to return to the coral and the corals will die. However if the event was only brief the zooxanthellae remaining in the corals can reproduce and slowly the coral will return back to healthy. Click Here, for more information.
Question: Does global warming make coral reefs more susceptible to bleaching?
Answer: Global warming intensifies the causes or coral bleaching. The sea temperatures rise higher or fall lower, the sea level rises highs and goes out lower causing exposure of the reefs and solar radiation gets stronger. Acidification of the sea becomes more common which weakens the corals and although global warming does not neccessarily make the corals more susceptible to bleaching, it changes the environment to one in which the corals are less able to enhabit. Click Here, for more information.
Question: When was the strongest mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef?
Answer: 2002. The bleaching event in this year was considered to be the strongest as it affected 10% more of the area of the reef than the previous 1998 event. The main concern with this event was that it was not due to a natural phenomenum such as the ENSO instead the sea temperatures weer just abnormally high that year, indicating a possible increase in global warming. Click Here, for more information.
Question: Can we stop the predicted disappearance of the Great Barrier Reef?
Answer: The Government have ongoing policies under way to try and prevent as much further damage as possible. They have restricted activites in certain areas at all time and got further plans towards education, rebuilding and management of the reefs. Click Here, for more information.
Answer: Coral is a marine creature in the class Anthozoa, there are two types, hard and soft. Hard corals are what we know as the reef builders as they lay down a hard exoskeleton and soft corals have an inner skeleton. They are in a symbiotic relationship with the algae zooxanthellae in which they share their proteins with the algae and give them shelter in their polyps in return for oxygen. Click Here, for more information.
Question: What is Coral Bleaching?
Answer: Coral bleaching occurs when corals are put under stress, they expell their zooxanthellae which are necessary for their survival loosing their oxygen supply. This changes them from coloured to white or transparent and means that they can no longer lay down their calcium carbonate skeleton. Without the zooxanthellae the polyps die and if too many polyps die the coral will not survive. Click Here, for more information.
Question: Can a Coral return back to normal after a bleaching event?
Answer: If the bleaching event has been a long lasting and severe one the zooxanthellae are less likely to return to the coral and the corals will die. However if the event was only brief the zooxanthellae remaining in the corals can reproduce and slowly the coral will return back to healthy. Click Here, for more information.
Question: Does global warming make coral reefs more susceptible to bleaching?
Answer: Global warming intensifies the causes or coral bleaching. The sea temperatures rise higher or fall lower, the sea level rises highs and goes out lower causing exposure of the reefs and solar radiation gets stronger. Acidification of the sea becomes more common which weakens the corals and although global warming does not neccessarily make the corals more susceptible to bleaching, it changes the environment to one in which the corals are less able to enhabit. Click Here, for more information.
Question: When was the strongest mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef?
Answer: 2002. The bleaching event in this year was considered to be the strongest as it affected 10% more of the area of the reef than the previous 1998 event. The main concern with this event was that it was not due to a natural phenomenum such as the ENSO instead the sea temperatures weer just abnormally high that year, indicating a possible increase in global warming. Click Here, for more information.
Question: Can we stop the predicted disappearance of the Great Barrier Reef?
Answer: The Government have ongoing policies under way to try and prevent as much further damage as possible. They have restricted activites in certain areas at all time and got further plans towards education, rebuilding and management of the reefs. Click Here, for more information.