JudeBedessem

TableofContentsTableofContents .......................................................................................................................................2Introduction .................................................................................................................................................3DidYouKnow? ............................................................................................................................................3Coral?...............................................................................................................................................................4Wow,LookatThat.....................................................................................................................................4WhatAnimals? ............................................................................................................................................5We’llHelp! .....................................................................................................................................................7Glossary..........................................................................................................................................................8

Introduction

“Crash!”Youmightreckinizethissound,it’sawave.Butdidyoueverwonderwhat’sfartherout?Inthisbookyou’lllearnoneoftheamazingthingshiddenbythewater,Coralreefs.Diveintothisbooktodiscoverallaboutanimals,foodanimalseatandhowtoprotectcoralreefsforgenerations.

DidYouKnow?Therearealotoffactstolearnsojumprightintothischaptertolearnsomeextrafacts.Firstyouneedtoknowwherecoralreefsgrow.Coralreefsgrowinwarmwartersaroundtheworld.SomecoralreefsareintheRedSeaandthePacificOcean.Coralreefsareamazingplaces.Nowyouwilllearnaboutwhatcoralreefsaremadeof.Coralreefsismadeofcoral.coraliswhatluresthefishthateatcoral.Thefishlurespredatorsandwhenplantsstartgrowinghorbevorscomemakingawonderfuleycoseystemdependingoneachother.Thisistwoofthemostimportantthingstoknow.

Coral?

Coral,it’srockhard,itlayseggsbutitdoesn’tmove.Sowhatisit?Coralisaverydelicateanimal.Coralcomesinhardandsoftform.Thecoralyouareprobablyusedtoisbranchcoral,which,youprobablycantellhasbranches.Softandhardcoralarebothcoralbutsoftcoralisnotrockhardlikehardcoral.Butwhatmanypeopledon’tknowisthatbothhardandsoftcoralcomesaliveatnight,eatingandtakingovereachother.Afterthedarkthenightriotisoverbuthasleftclueseverywhere.Socoralishereandthereandwithoutitcoralreefswouldbenowhere.

Wow,LookatThatWowlookatthedifference!Night,day,night,day,isthisthesameplace?Yesitis.Duringthedaycoralreefsarefulloffishwithbrightcolors,amazingshapesandarealldesignedtoliveinthelight.Hereandthereanimalsofalltypesareswimmingaround.Thecoralisstillbutbeautiful.Thisisdayatcoralreefsbutnightiscompletelydifferent.Atnightdarkisallaround.Thequeen­of­thornsstarfishcomesout.Somedeepdwellersarelurkingaround.Butthecoral…isitcoral?It’sasaliveasyoucanimagine!It’smovingandeatingeachotheralive!Oh,itslayingeggs.DidIfallasleep?No,Ididn’t.Itistrulynight.Itismoreweirdandcreepythan

everbefore.Itisanalienworldatnight.Thecoralisalive!Night,day,it’sthesameplacebutthedifferenceisshocking.

WhatAnimals?Lookaround,youseejustafewanimalsasyoudipintothewater,than…outofnowherecomesmillionsofanimals!Animalseverywhere,fromanimalslikethewhalesharktoanimalsliketheyellowgoby.Forstarterswe’llbeginwithfish.Fishcomeinallshapesandsizes.Forexample,theoceansunfishisagiantfishthatlookslikeasemicirclewithfins.Thisfishmightnotliveincoralreefsbutisagreatexampleofthemanygreatfishintheseasaroundtheworld.Coralreeffishareamazingbutfisharen’taloneinthecoralcrustaceansarealsointhecoraljusthiddenaway…AAA!Ohit’sjustacuddlefish.Cuddlefisharethemastersofdisguise.Theycanchangecolorandshapeinseconds.Theycanevenchangecolortomatchacheckeredboard!CuddlefishmostamazingthingistheirbloodorshouldIsayBLUEBLOOD!Cuddlefisharetrulythealiensofthesea.Starfisharealsoamazingcrustaceans.Themostuniquethingaboutstarfishissomestarfishafterlosingalegtheygoawayfineandsoonthelegwill,tooafteritgrowsintoanewstarfish!Starfisheatbyforcingtheirstomachouttheirmouths!Thenallwhat’sleftisdissolvingtheirfood.CoralreefsarefullofamazinganimalsthatIhopeyourunintosomeday.

Munch,Munch,Munch“Yumthatwasgood.”Thatiswhatacuddlefishwouldsayaftereatingabigcrab.Amazinganimalsamazingfoodbutifyouwanttounderstandfeedingyoufirstneedtounderstandthefoodchain.Hereeveryanimalcountspreyorpredator.Onespeciesgonesodoestherestuntilitaffectsus.Thenumberofanimalsinaspeciesiscrucialtotheotherspecies.Usuallyit’sthesmalleranimalsonthebottomofthefoodchainandthebiggeranimalsonthetopbutsometimesitcanbetheopposite.Nextyouneedtoknowaboutpreyandpredators.Incoralreefsitisusuallythebiggeranimalsthatarepredatorslikethetigersharkandthegreatwhitesharkoreventhehammerheadshark.Preyisusuallyuniquetoprotectorcamouflagetheirselves.Protectionisasimportanttopreyasweaponsaretopredator.Huntingisreallyimportanttoeverything.Thebalanceoflifeforcoralreefsdependsonhunting.Thereasonforthisisoverpopulation.Tomanyherbivoresandalltheplantsdisappear!Samethingeverywhereelse,too!Sohuntingisn’tjustimportantforpredatorsunlessit’soverhunting.Thischapterismakingmehungry.Howaboutyou?

OhNo!Ohnoallthecoralreefsaredoomed.Inmanywayswearetheonescausingthis.Mostofthewaterwepolluterunsintoorisseasandoceans.Butwedon’tcauseallofitforexample;thequeen­of­thornsstarfishisoneoftheproblems.Thesegiantstarfisheatcoralofallsortsbutstillit’snotallcoveredwestillhavestorms.Stormscandestroyshipsofallsizesbuttheycandestroycoralreefsevenmore.Afterastormdecadesofworkisdestroyed.Buteventuallyitwillgrowback.Itjusttakesonesurvivingcoral.Problemsasyoujustreadarejusteverywherebutcoraljuststaresdangerinthe,well,eye.

We’llHelp!Ohnowearetheonlyonesthatcanhelpnow!InthechapterOhNo(pageseven)youlearnedsomeoftheproblems.Butthereishope.Everythingwedocanaffectcoralreefsevenifwelivemilesandmilesawayfromtheocean.Tohelpwefirsthavetonotpollutewater,secondweshouldnotpollutelandbecauseeventuallyitwillruntowater,andthirdcleanupbyrivers,seas,oceansandprettymucheverythingelse.It’salottodobutit’sworthitbecauseitcanaffectoureverydaylifesojustthinkofitassavingyourself.

GlossaryBranchcoral:atypeofcoral.Camouflage:whenanimalsusecolorstoprotectthemselvesorhuntCoral:astillanimalthatmakesupcoralreefs.Crustaceans:animalsthatdon’thavebackbones.Cuddlefish:aweirdcrustaceanEcosystem:asystemofanimalsthatdependsoneachother.Foodchain:achainthattellsyouwhatanimalspredatorsandpreyGreatwhiteshark:averyferocioussharkHardcoral:ahardtypeofcoral.Hammerheadshark:asharkthatlookslikeahammerisonheads.Herbivores:animalsthateatplantsOceansunfish:agiantfish.Pacificocean:thebiggestoceanintheworld.Predators:animalsthateatotheranimals.Prey:ananimalthatisfoodforanotheranimal.

Queen‐of‐thornsstarfish:ahugestarfishthatcomesoutatnight.RedSea:aseathatisinAfrica.Softcoral:coralthat’ssoft.Starfish:ananimalthathasmanylegsandcrawlsontheoceanfloor.Tigershark:asharkthatwouldeatanything.Whaleshark:thebiggestfishintheworld.Yellowgoby:asmallyellowfish

Indexanimals,3,4,5,6,7,11Coral,3,4,5,7,9,11coralreefs,3,4,5,7,9,11crustacean,5,11Cuddlefish,5,11

fish,3,4,5,7,11food,3,5,7,11Hardcoral,11Softcoral,11Starfish,5,11