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When light is blocked, the immobile coral reefs bleach and die. When dirt and debris are deposited into the ocean, they pollute marine ecosystems and block the sunlight algae need for photosynthesis. And since the disruption of one ocean system impacts all the others, sea grass and mangroves-shallow-water plant species vital to the health of the marine ecosystem-are also threatened by coral stress.Īnother significant problem facing coral reefs is sedimentation. Once corals are bleached, they die and can no longer contribute to the biodiversity of the reef community. The coral organisms try to fight off the intrusion, but this process often leads to coral bleaching-when corals expel the brightly colored algae that live in them and become completely white. When tourists accidently touch, pollute or break off parts of the reef, corals experience stress. But 93 percent of the reefs in Costa Rica are in danger, and tourism is a significant factor in their degradation. In addition to the physical danger to humans, accidents like these can have a severe impact on sensitive marine ecosystems like coral reefs. Coral reefs are unique and complex systems, vital to the health of the world’s oceans. She was concerned by how unprepared their tour guide was to handle the medical situation, and by how irresponsible it seemed that tourists with no diving experience were allowed to swim so close to the reef.
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Everything she described sounded beautiful: the clear blue water, hermit crabs that left their shells to eat breakfast in the early morning hours, sweet fruits that fell onto the smooth sand and the lush trees that offered shade from the hot Costa Rican sun.īut her mood changed suddenly from bliss to concern when she told me about how her co-worker swam too close to a coral reef one afternoon and badly cut his thigh. She told me about her trips to the gorgeous local beaches.
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One day, during my internship in Costa Rica with the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), I met up with a friend of mine who was visiting from the U.S.