CORAL BLEACHING PRESENTATION SCRIPT

Vallery Tesalonika

Wahyu Laurentius

Devi Agustin

Lailatur Rohmaniyah

Edra Naufal Alfarisi

Slide 1 Introduction

Most people stare up into space, with wonder, yet we have this almost alien world on
our own planet, just teeming with life. It is the ocean.

Our planet is a unique planet in the known universe because it has ocean. Ocean is the
source of life. It controls everything. It controls the weather. It controls the climate. It
controls the oxygen we breathe. Without a healthy ocean, we do not have a healthy
planet.

Corals, as a part of the ocean is in danger. In the last 30 years, we have lost 50% of the
world’s corals. Home to one in every four fish in the ocean, the extinction of coral reefs
will have major economic and environmental impacts.

Coral bleaching is one of the biggest issues in the ocean. It is completely out of sight and
out of mind. This is why we would like to bring this issue in our presentation.

Slide 2-3—What is Coral?

Before we discuss on the main issue--which is coral bleaching—let’s see the coral first.

Corals are a symbiotic association between a cnidarian animal host and unicellular
dinoflagellate algae, called zooxanthellae (Muscatine, 1980).

Corals are animals. Some corals are able to catch small fish and plankton using stinging
cells on their tentacles, but most corals obtain the majority of their energy and nutrients
from photosynthetic unicellular dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium that live
within their tissues. These are commonly known as zooxanthellae.

There are two kinds of corals, which is soft corals and hard corals. The hard corals are
the ones that build the reefs.

Corals are made of tiny polyps.

Slide 4-5—What’s a Polyp?

This is the morphology of a polyp. The tentacles release stinging cells when something
brushes by them.

Polyps make their own limestone cup to hide in during the day.

At night, polyps come out to catch plankton floating by.

Inside polyps live zooxanthellae, which are algae.

Zooxanthellae give corals their color.

Since algae are plants, they use sunlight and CO2 to make food (the process known as
photosynthesis).

The algae and the coral’s relationship is called mutualism symbiotic. But unlike any
other, their relationship is very tight because they can’t live without each other.

Zooxanthellae make oxygen, remove the polyp’s wastes, and make food for the polyp
from photosynthesis.

Coral polyps protect the zooxanthellae, release CO2, and provide it with necessary
nutrients from their own waste.

Slide 6-8—What is Coral Bleaching?

The tropical waters that corals grow in are very nutrient poor. During photosynthesis the
algae make oxygen. Corals use oxygen to remove wastes. Zooxanthellea also provide the
coral with glucose, glycerol, and amino acids.
When the coral is under stress it will expel its zooxanthellae. This makes the coral
appear “bleached”. The coral can no longer build its calcium carbonate skeleton. It can
regain zooxanthellae if stress is reduced. If not, the corals can die.

Slide 9—Coral Stressors

What made the coral stress so that it bleached?

First, pollution and natural disasters. Pollution causes the water to be cloudy the
sunlight cannot reach the zooxanthellae and they cannot produce the byproducts the
coral depend on. Natural disasters can also cause the water to become cloudy with
sediment and block the sunlight. Natural disasters can also tear coral reefs apart and
extreme low tides can cause them to dry out and die.

Second, increased carbon dioxide. A study was done (Hii et al. 2009) that tested the
effect of increased co2 on two different species of coral. Porites cylindrica and Galaxea
fascicularis. The increased C02 caused stress and reduced zooxanthellae in both species
of coral and caused bleaching. Degree of stress was species dependent.

Third, temperature and predation. Corals live in a narrow temperature margin. A rise in
temperature in 1-2 degrees for 5-10 weeks can cause bleaching. Corals are also
venerable to predation from starfish, fish, crabs, worms, and snails.

Fourth, coral mining and overfishing. The most devastating threat to corals come from
humans. Many coral reefs are harvested for aquarium fish and decoration, jewelry, or
building materials. Certain fishing techniques also kill coral which are Blast fishing,
Cyanide fishing, or Deep water trawling.

Slide 10—The Importance of Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are important for many different reasons aside from supposedly containing
the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. They:

 protect coastlines from the damaging effects of wave action and tropical storms
 provide habitats and shelter for many marine organisms
 are the source of nitrogen and other essential nutrients for marine food chains
  assist in carbon and nitrogen fixing
 help with nutrient recycling.

Slide 11—The Importance of Coral Reefs

This is why large numbers of marine species live in reefs. Other reasons why they are so
important include:

 The fishing industry depends on coral reefs because many fish spawn there and
juvenile fish spend time there before making their way to the open sea
 The Great Barrier Reef generates more than1.5 billion dollars every year for the
Australian economy, from fishing and tourism
 The study of coral reefs is important for providing a clear, scientifically-testable
record of climatic events over the past million years or so. This includes records
of recent major storms and human impacts that are recorded by the changes in
coral growth patterns.

Slide 12—Coral Evolution

The coral expelling their zooxanthellae may be an adaptation so they can acquire
different zooxanthellae that can withstand the environmental stress.

Some studies have shown an increased tolerance in certain coral species (Maynard et al.
2008) when comparing the damage from a bleaching event in 1998 and a bleaching
event in 2002.

Another study (McClanahan et al 2007) showed that some corals seem to have
acclimated to rising temperature and bleach less, though these areas are less diverse.

The future of coral reefs will highly depend on how quickly and efficiently they can adapt
to global changes.

Although some coral species appear to be evolving a tolerance for higher temperatures
and Co2 levels, human interference in reefs by harvesting and fishing still pose a
problem.
Slide 13—Protecting Coral Reefs

What can we do to protect them?

 Corals are already a gift, don't give them as presents.

 Conserve water. The less water you use, the less runoff and wastewater that will
eventually find its way back into the ocean.
 Become an informed consumer and learn how your daily choices such as water
use, recycling, seafood, vacation spots, fertilizer use, and driving times can
positively (or negatively) impact the health of coral reefs.
Finally, stay informed and spread the word! Educate yourself about why healthy coral
reefs are valuable to the people, fish, plants, and animals that depend on them. Your
excitement will help others get involved.

Slide 10—Closing+Conclusion

The conclusion of this presentation is that corals are important in our life, indirectly. It is
a unique animal that is depending on the zooxanthellae. However, corals are vulnerable.
There are many things that can make it stress and expel the zooxanthellae. And if the
stress is not reduced, it eventually will die. And this happens worldwide. As a marine
science students, we have to protect them by conserving water and educate others.

As a marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle said, we are all connected to the ocean. Let’s make
it a better place for us.

This is the end of our presentation. Thank you for your attention. Good afternoon.

https://www.bloomberg.org/program/environment/50-reefs/#overview

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/thingsyoucando.html

Maynard, J. A., Anthony, K. R. N., Marshall, P. A. Masiri, I. 2008. Major bleaching events
can lead to increased thermal tolerance in corals. Marine Biology 155: 173-182.
McClanahan, T. T., Ateweberhan, M., Muhando, C. A., Maina, J., Mohammed. M. S.
2007. Effects of climate and seawater temperature variation on coral bleaching and
mortality. Ecological Monographs 77: 503-525.

Muscatine, L. 1980. Productivity of zooxanthellae. Environmental Science Research. Vol.

19: 381-402.