Page 15 - Guide to the Oceans

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REEF LIFE . -,._ ~:i;~-~)
FISHING AT NIGHT Divers miting a coral reel at night are oltm arr,aud at how colmful the corals appear in thrir llashlight beams. This is because it is at night that the coral polyps ntmd thrir bright tmtadn to lttd. During these hours of darkness. tlny plankton animals, on which the corals Iced, swim up onto &he red rrom deeper water. . TuBE WORMS Coral polyps are

This pho1ograph, from Cocoo l•land ck 01 In the Pacific Ocean, •hows a whllctlp reel sharks (Trl4nCllo::-.bt,,,,) hunting at nlgh1. During the day, the sharks rest peacefully In sandy coral but as darkn<,.. falls, they burst Into frenetic activity • sniffing nut coral fish hidden Colorful salt corals, such as these Delrdronq,tltya species from Fiji, are dose relatives

SHAAK PATROL caves and gulllc, - deep In the reel.

RED SEA REEFS The coral red scene shown in the main (lhotograph (above) is typical 0 1 the Red Sea. The corals come in many dlllerem shaJll 'S and si,.cs and JO\tlc wi1h um_. another rur space. Each coral colony haS> grown up from a single are · pocking- plankion horn the water while emJ)l'ror angt:-l

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. . for divers Ill cnJOY- . all reel mt < n r h I : is r 11 coplc m coasta . , _ ., ,. fP'' .
. I • same way ian d" crabs • 1 medicines. 1 •mall larva lhat drifted in and scnled on th e reel. Cloud, ul •mall, pink anthias llsh

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. . \'ISIT TO A CORAL REEi' IS an amatmi: cxptn<lll< . fl.A hl•ahhy reel simply burs1s with lik and wlor m JU st . t ich • I Oo:an may have many hundreds ol different sorts ol cora 5 . 1 l'ommunitics worldwide rely on coral reels to provide hsh. and many other materials. Bui reels arc impor1an1 to all ol us. Cora s use up cart111n dioxide to make their skeletons and t

lil' IIJE TO TIIE OCEANS REEF LIFE that a tropical rain forest docs on land. Ewn a sm starfish. Sl.'a urchins, and other annna s. i:lobal warming.

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