Crisis for corals in the Gulf

Florida’s Barrier Reef, courtesy NOAA

One of nature’s most spectacular creations, coral reefs are also among the most complex, diverse and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. They account for only one-tenth of one percent of the world’s surface area, yet they harbor at least 5 percent of its known species and 25 percent of all marine species—leading some to call them the rainforests of the sea.

Oil threatens coral in a variety of ways, from smothering the tiny animals, to impairing reproduction. And when corals suffer, the whole ecosystem that relies upon them does as well.

Among the creatures living in reefs in the Gulf of Mexico is elkhorn coral, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Already beset by climate change, disease, bleaching and other problems, this rare coral is now jeopardized by the oil spill from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Read our factsheet to learn more about what the Gulf oil disaster could mean for coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.