Of Hurricanes And Corals: Caribbean Coral Colonies

When you think of the Caribbean, you imagine sun, sand and surf. Many come to our region just to enjoy our warm waters and amazing reefs (others stay for the food).

The Caribbean reefs only make up 8% of the world coral reefs which is not surprising considering our small size. It is composed of [1]:

Mainly Fringing Reefs (Shore Reefs) which are reefs that extend from the shore with no true lagoon (deep water channel) between them.
Two Barrier Reefs, which are reefs that run parallel to the shore and are separated by a lagoon, near Belize and island of Providencia.
One Atoll Reef, which is a circular oceanic reef system containing a large lagoon, called Glover's Reef off the coast of Belize.

Image Credit: World Resources Institute

The Caribbean Sea contains approximately 65 species of hard coral (reefs builders) and 700 reef associated fish species [1]. Most reefs are mainly dominated by [2]:

Clubtip Finger Coral (Porites porites)

Lobed Star Coral (Montastrea annularis)

Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis)

Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata).

These stony corals are colonial corals which secrete calcium carbonate to make its skeleton. Because of their tough outer structure, when the coral dies, it provides a stable place for other polyps to settle an grow. These hard corals make up the base of many coral reefs, when it provides structural support and a suitable environment for juvenile fish to live and evade predators [3].

Since the majority of Caribbean Islands have Fringing Reefs, the population tends to utilize it as much as it can. Many people have grown to depend on the reefs for income, through tourism and the fishing industry, for food and even medicine. We even use reefs for protection against hurricanes to reduce storm surges that could destroy coastal areas. With the amount of activity involved in and around reefs it is no wonder that reefs are slowly being destroyed either naturally or man-made. Even though policies are being made to improve the treatment of coral reefs it may be a long time before the reefs begin to properly heal.

For a better understanding of Coral Reefs in general you can check out the video below: