In a study done by Mark Hay and Linda Teasley, it was found that the key to recovering coral reefs may be having the proper balance of herbivorous fishes in the reef. Seaweed is what coral reefs battle against the most. If not enough of the seaweed is eaten by fish, the plant then starts to take over the coral and destroy it. These two scientists went to a coral reef in the Caribbean and caged 32 sets of different fish on separate parts of the reef, and examined them for 10 months. After 10 months, the cage that held 2 herbivorous fish had increased the coverage of seaweed destruction by 20 percent, which is huge! Read the full article here.
This is an amazing discovery. Coral reefs are some of the beautiful things that God gave us on this earth, and they are slowly being destroyed. What these scientists discovered could really help us repair our once-stunning reefs that i’m sure everyone enjoys seeing. If we can somehow manage to maintain the balance of herbivorous fish that we need to recover these reefs, in time we will possible be able to go back to enjoying looking at the coral that we used to see before it started being overtaken by seaweed.
Another thing to consider is that if our coral reefs are being destroyed, people won’t want to see those once beautiful sights. This can help differant businesses get back on their feet after our recent economic blunder. I know Mr. Faust would love to go see those reefs so together, we can fight seeweed.