Racing against the clock: Saving as many corals as possible

From the comfort of my living room in Fort Worth, Texas, it's not often that a story moves me personally to want to do more for our oceans than this one, featuring the efforts of Colin Foord. This three-page article is worthy of your time. At the time of this writing, he's working fervently to collect as many corals as he can off the coast of Miami before dredging commences. The clock is ticking. If I was based there, I'd grab my SCUBA gear and lend a hand myself if permitted.



It's amazing that more people aren't intimately familiar with the corals in our oceans. You can buy objects that are "coral" in color. Small pieces of corals are used for necklaces, and dead corals are bleached and sold as bookshelf ends. The earth is 70% water, yet people seem to only wade in about 50' from the shore or stand on the deck of a boat while incredible sites with corals and fish lie beneath. Well-known tourist destinations promote the coral reefs, but most people don't grasp what they are or what they do in the ocean, as well as for mankind. They don't know what they are looking at, or worse what they are stepping on.



Interestingly, Colin doesn't oppose the dredging of PortMiami and explained why in that Miami Times article. He makes a good point, and hopefully time will prove he's correct. Transplanting the rescued corals to a better spot is far better than destroying them to make room for shipping vessels. I hope you'll make the time to read the full article as well as the videos. http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/ripti...dynamiting.php



Reef Addicts, continue to teach others what corals are. You never know whom you might inspire with your words, nor what they might end up doing with that knowledge one day.