Coral reefs protect coastlines, and reef fish feed an estimated 1 billion people a year in Asia alone. Worldwide, reefs proved 375 billion dollars a year of goods and services, and locally, coral reef related activities bring an estimated 4 billion dollars a year to the Florida Keys alone. But, we have also seen live coral cover decline spectacularly from over 50% in the 1970’s, to under 15% in 2002, from threats like pollution, disease, overfishing, and climate change.
This photo was taken just off of Key Biscayne, Florida. I am raising the flag over a colony of Acropora cervicornis, or “staghorn” coral. Staghorn coral is important because its branches create habitat for fish and small marine critters. It was recently one of two corals that were the first to be listed as “threatened” on the Endangered Species list, largely due to the steep decline in their population since the 1970’s. Now their populations are so low that coral nurseries have sprung up throughout the Caribbean to try to restore these important coral species.