Muckian, M. (2018, July 16). Hawaii’s Olowalu Reef is a Vital Natural Treasure. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.wisconsingazette.com/lifestyle/hawaii-s-olowalu-reef-is-a-vital-natural-treasure/article_fbedaae8-886a-11e8-a8c9-779917cb8b30.html

The Olowalu reef is known as Hawaii’s “mother reef,” and its revitalization provides hope for other reefs throughout Hawaii. This reef suffers from bleaching and other dangers, so the Hawaii Association for Marine Education and Research has made efforts to help save this reef. Researchers are also attempting to build new reefs. There is coral growth and increasing fish habitation in a sunken ship. The ship is also now a nursery for reef sharks and is providing a home for many forms of aquatic life.

Many life forms would not be able to exist without reefs. Efforts such as using sunken vessels to build new reefs and organizations funding research to help protect reefs not only helps the coral, but it also helps the many sea creatures that depend on reefs for food and shelter. Mission Blue states that less than six percent of the ocean is protected in any way. The ocean and coral reefs need to be protected to save many forms of life and the ecosystem as a whole

Halper, E. T. (2018, July 14). In Light of Climate Change, Scientists Race to Create a More-Resilient Coral Reef. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.chieftain.com/life/in-light-of-climate-change-scientists-race-to-create-a/article_46a2bc38-b979-5aee-bf2a-3f524bc87a6f.html

Scientists in the Florida Keys are taking pieces of coral from the moment they were spawned and putting them in tanks filled with hotter and more acidic water that mimics the conditions coral will face in the future due to climate change. Many of the coral dies, but the coral that survives the strengthening is put back in the coral reef. A goal of many of the scientists that are working on saving the coral is to keep the coral alive long enough for governments to take action to decrease climate change.

Strengthening the coral is necessary to save the coral reefs that are a primary source of food to as many as a billion people and are a home to one fourth of all marine species. In the past, scientists studied die-offs, which are caused by bleaching when large increases in ocean temperatures kill large portions of reefs and turn the coral white. Coral used to be able to restore itself and grow back, but it happens more frequently now and that is no longer the case.

Halper, E. (2018, July 09). Racing to save Florida’s coral from climate change, scientists turn to a once-unthinkable strategy: ‘assisted evolution’. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-na-pol-coral-climate-change-20180709-htmlstory.html

In the Florida Keys, marine biologists used to do their research around the coral reef in order to not disturb it, but they are now trying to change the natural balance of the reef to prevent global warming from making the reef go extinct. This is called assisted evolution, and scientists are cutting off coral microfragments, strengthening them in the lab, and replanting them in the ocean. Another method of restoration is where scuba divers hang small corals on artificial trees made of plastic pipes in an underwater nursery. The corals nourish themselves and then are replanted.

95% of the coral reef tract has already died. The coral are not able to come back on their own, so these methods scientists are using to strengthen the coral is necessary to prevent extinction. If these new methods are successful, they can rebuild a vital part of the ecosystem and lead to research that can help reduce the impact of climate change on other parts of the ecosystem. Scientists will not be able to use these methods to bring back every coral that has died, but the goal is to promote natural recovery.

Moulite, M. (2018, July 09). Is Your Sunscreen Killing Coral Reefs? Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/health/hawaii-sunscreen-ban-questions/index.html

Hawaii will ban the sale and distribution of sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in January 2021. The American Academy of Dermatology Association claims that it has not been proven that those ingredients are dangerous to humans; however, the Environmental Working Group claims that those ingredients may cause hormone disruptions and allergic skin reactions. States farther from coral reefs will most likely not ban those ingredients in sunscreen because they are too far to make a large impact on coral reefs, but a sewage plume or water from a swimming area can flow downstream and flow into coastal water and spread.

Coral reefs protect beaches from erosion and support biodiversity, and oxybenzone and octinoxate cause bleaching, deformities, DNA damage, and death in coral. Not only are these ingredients a threat to coral reefs which are an important part of the environment, they are also a threat to many sea creatures. They are found at toxic levels in fish, sea turtle eggs, algae, dolphins, oysters, crayfish, and mussels. These chemicals are having a harmful effect on the environment, and Hawaii’s ban of them is a large step to stop some of the human damage to the environment.

Treviño, J. (2018, July 16). Can We Create Sunscreen That Protects Both Humans and Coral Reefs? Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science/scientists-are-unraveling-new-dangers-sunscreen-coral-reefs-180969627/

The 2016 study by Craig Downs and colleagues from the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory led Hawaii to recently ban sunscreen containing the active ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are found in many popular sunscreen brands. The study concluded that those two chemicals slow coral growth and increase the rate of coral bleaching. However, it is debated whether the ban will help coral reefs as much as anticipated. The marine ecology researcher Cinzia Corinaldesi argues that the ingredients banned are not the only harmful ingredients and chemicals such as zinc oxide and other UV filters are harmful to coral reefs as well.
This discovery that ingredients in sunscreen are damaging to coral reefs leads to more measures that can help reduce the amount of damage done to coral reefs, such as the ban of those ingredients in Hawaii. Also, this discovery has inspired researchers such as the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida to develop an environmentally friendly sunscreen. Although the effectiveness of the ban is disputed, it sets a precedent for other areas to make laws to protect the environment and for more environmentally safe products to be developed