CORAL reefs are one of the wonders of nature, because of their enchanting beauty and unusual biology. In addition, many consider them to be second only to tropical rain forests as incubators and protectors of biodiversity.

The reefs, which grow in shallow, warm waters, consist largely of the skeletons of small, sedentary animals called polyps, which are relatives of jellyfish and sea anemones.

Coral reefs have been around for about 200 million years, and have survived eons of storm-induced damage and sea animal predation.

Unfortunately, their survival in this century is less certain. The year 2000 report from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network says that approximately 25 per cent of coral reefs worldwide have been effectively lost and another 40 per cent “may be lost” by 2010 unless urgent action is taken.

Warming oceans, pollution from human activities, damage from careless tourists and fishermen — even increased ultraviolet radiation from the sun due to the depletion of ozone in the upper atmosphere — have been blamed for extensive illness and death in the coral population. Corals are uniquely vulnerable because they are near coastlines and near the surface of the ocean. There are fewer healthy colonies on the planet than even a few decades ago, according to marine scientists. One of the most frequently studied pathologies is known as “coral bleaching”.