WHERE DO [CORALS] COME FROM?

Where do corals come from?

Although coral feels like rock and looks like a plant, it is actually classified as an animal.

- A coral polyp consists of tentacles, a mouth, and a gut.

- Coral utilizes calcium carbonate from the ocean to build its skeletal structure.

- As oceans acidify, due to increases in CO₂ levels, it becomes more challenging for coral to build and maintain its shell structure.

- The largest known coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef located off the coast of Australia.

- About 85 percent of the United States’ coral reef can be found in Hawai‘i. (The acres of coral reef found in Hawai‘i more than double the landmass of the islands.)

- Coral reef ecosystems demonstrate the second most amount of biodiversity (tropical rain forests are first).

- You can destroy a 100-year-old piece of coral with one careless step.