Caution: Not For Human Use

    Yes, they are beautiful and yes, they are colorful and yes, they are fascinating.

   But let's be real, coral will always be better as a home to marine organisms than as a lifeless decoration on your shelf. So please don't touch the coral, remove it, or attempt to cut it, no matter how much you think the coral pieces will go with your interior designing visions.

Coral Reefs - Almost Extinct

    Coral Reefs are as lively and active as anything else in marine environments. They are the mother to all marine ecosystems, providing shelter and food to thousands of organisms every day. So why is it that they continue to suffer? 
    According to the Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2004, 70% of the worlds' coral reefs are threatened or destroyed, 20% of those are damaged beyond repair, and within the Caribbean alone, many coral reefs have lost 80% of coral species.
    

Human Effects on the Ocean

Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. 

Wanna learn more? 

Check out http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/ioc-oceans/priority-areas/rio-20-ocean/blueprint-for-the-future-we-want/marine-pollution/facts-and-figures-on-marine-pollution/ 

Take Action Now!

     The leaders of super powers like the United States, China, and Brazil have yet to make the sweeping industrial and cultural reforms necessary to slow the release of greenhouse gases that are currently destroying marine ecosystems around the world, so that's where we step in. We need to not only push our domestic governments to change their policies, but we need to encourage our peers to make environmental-friendly lifestyle choices.

  The biggest victims of the greenhouse gases are the coral reefs, polluted by inefficient boat motors and fishing techniques. At the same  time, though, beach-goers need to treat the reefs with the utmost respect. As beautiful as coral reefs are, they are also delicate and vulnerable. Any touch by humans leads to the death of the thousands of microscopic organisms that compose coral. Please be careful! We wouldn't want to lose this, now would we? 

Ocean Pollution

Did you know that an estimated 3.5 million tons of trash reside in the "World's Largest Landfill" (a.k.a The Pacific Ocean)? And that, according to the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, fish ingest an estimated 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic per year in the Pacific Ocean? Not only that, but  20% of the trash that enters the Landfill comes from beachgoers that allow their trash to float out to sea. Unbelievable, right? 

"Def: Ocean Acidification"

"Def: Ocean Acidification"

Definition: The decrease in pH level of the Earth's oceans as the water absorbs carbon dioxide, released as carbon emissions from industrial factories, from the polluted air (A.k.a - Something really, really bad and awful that endangers all living marine organisms)

Why do humans selfishly abuse Earth's wonderful resources?

I know, I don't have an answer to that one either.

Rest in Peace Senator Inouye, Medal of Honor Recipient and the most senior member of the Senate.  Thank you for fifty years of dedicated service and commitment to the preservation of Hawaii's beautiful coral reefs and marine life. You were a wonderful man and a true American hero!