Barrier Reef

Corals live in colonies made up of hundreds or thousands of tiny animals called polyps that attach to hard surfaces on the seafloor. They are related to jellyfish and sea anemones in the phylum Cnidaria, but have a hard external skeleton that they build by drawing calcium carbonate from the surrounding seawater. They are found in a variety of shapes and sizes and some produce massive skeletons that collectively form the limestone framework of tropical coral reefs.

Each year divers from around the world travel to see these marine creatures. Coral reefs form complex and diverse ecosystems that take up less than 0.1% of the ocean floor but provide habitat for approximately 25% of all marine species