Adopt a Coral Reef

You can adopt a Coral Reef!

(http://coralreefcreator.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/p1230062.jpg)

Now even you can help save the coral reefs by adopting one! The Nature Conservancy has created an Adopt A Coral Reef program to raise funds for projects surrounding coral reefs. You can adopt reefs in The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Palau, Papua New Guinea. Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse places in the world and they need our help. If the present rate of destruction continues, 70% of the world's coral reefs will be destroyed by the year 2050. If you are interested in learning more or donating money please check out the link below!

http://adopt.nature.org/coralreef/?src=CPC.sgoogle.CE2.AG183.CC22.CL2.MT2.KW1673&gclid=CL-TvJuY8rQCFcyf4AodnFQACQ

Coral Reefs on Google Maps

(http://maps.google.com/intl/en/help/maps/streetview/gallery/ocean/heron-island.html)

In September of 2012, Google Maps began adding StreetViews of many coral reefs and oceans. For those of you who aren't sure what StreetView, it's an interactive panorama feature within Google Maps. In September they added added panoramic undersea images of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the waters off the Apo Islands in the Philippines, underwater life around the Hawaiian islands and few other breathtaking places. These stunning panoramas allow us to experience schools of fish, turtles and breath-taking coral reefs, all from the comfort, safety and dryness of our homes. Viewers are able to zoom in and get a better look at schools of fish, intricate coral and even the belly of a manta ray. These panoramas are due to a partnership with the Catlin Seaview Survey, a group determined to create an archive of all the coral reefs.This partnership with Google is an attempt to get people to care about the fate of these beautiful ecosystems. These panoramas allow people who have never gone diving an introduction to the wonder. According to Richard Vevers, project director of the Catlin Seaview Survey, "It's about introducing to the wide number of people on this planet the impact we're having on these coral reefs. Until we make coral reefs and the important ecosystem in the ocean relevant to people on the planet, we're not going to get action." Future panorama sites will include Bermuda, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Coral Triangle, an area where coral reefs retreated to after the last ice age. I encourage all of you to take a look at these beautiful pictures and do your part in helping save the earth's coral reefs. The link is below, there are different reef options at the bottom of the page. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


http://maps.google.com/intl/en/help/maps/streetview/gallery/ocean/wilson-island.html

Prompt: Marine Pollution's Effect on Coral Reefs

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/23/coral-reef-report-dying-danger)

Description:

This blog was created so that I can share the dangerous and harmful effects that marine pollution has on coral reefs. Each week I will be posting my thoughts, videos, photos and other interesting tidbits that I may find.

Coral reefs are the "rainforests of the ocean", they provide shelter and food for many sea creatures. They are a vital presence in the ocean and must be saved! 

Goals:

Many people enjoy the wonders of coral reefs while they are on vacation but many don't realize how fast coral reefs are dying out. While this does not affect those of us who live in Harrisonburg, but anyone who has been to the beach are unknowingly affected by marine pollution. There are means of turning this destruction around and I hope that I can inform people of this serious problem and help them help the reefs. 

Audience:

Since this blog is for my writing class I have decided my main audience are people my age. I hope that I can reach many others out there but I will be focusing on college students. I believe that college students are at the perfect age to really step up and initiate a change in the world.