They serve as natural breakwaters protecting land from typhoons and erosion, Crosby said. The beauty of coral reefs, and all the life within them, is both a reason to save them and a way to protect them. Without such algae-eating creatures, algae becomes so dominant it overwhelms the ecosystem. The opposite problem hit many reefs in 1998, an El Nino year that saw the warmest ocean temperatures on record. The warmer conditions killed the algae the coral needs to survive, bleaching the reefs white.
Coral structures are colonies of animals, and they get their color from algae.
In bleaching, the animals expel most of the algae. Usually, the remaining algae can repopulate the coral later on and restore its color. An otherwise healthy reef can bounce back from a bleaching. Warming Oceans Reef problems triggered by climate changes are continuing. In early April, Fiji began seeing major coral bleaching, Hodgson said.