Coral Reef
By: Bahaa Fadl-Alla
The place they are going is....
They will be going to the Great Barrier Reef. It is just of the coast of Eastern Australia. It is in the Pacific ocean the largest one them all. It is estimated to be bigger than the land area of Texas. Under is many many organisms that will be beautiful to the eye.
What well you be feeling? What should you bring?
The average temperature in the coral reef is about 16-30 degrees Celsius, or about 61 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The salinity is about 27-40 ppt so you will feel a bit more lighter then if you were swimming in your local swimming pool. SO dont have a cut or you will have a wonderful day of pain. Now here are somethings you would want to bring if you want a nice day. Food. Of course food. You need food for this trip. If you didn't bring food then you might aswell go home. Camera. You will need a camera to save all the things that you will see. Scuba diving gear because how will you see the coral reef that you came for without gear to dive with. Clothes. Clothes just in case you get wet while getting to the great barrier reef. And for the stay if you want to stay for more then one day.
What to expect when you go diving.
Well for starters you will feel a lot of abiotic factors like the water may be colder than the surface or hotter. Also as you get deeper into the water you will notice 3 things. One is that it will be a lot darker because the light can't reach that far down. Two it will be cooler because the light heats up the water and if there is no light there will be no heat. And three you will notice that the pressure gets higher because you are getting closer to the center of the earth which has a lot of pressure. On the ground or the sea floor of the coral reef, you will see coral. Lots of different types of coral like whip coral, and many others. Also some specific animals include sea turtles crabs sea urchins and fish. You might also see other fish eating each other but don't worry, that is part of their life, the food web. One specific famous species that is in the coral reef and is becoming superior to other fish is the Lionfish. You call these types of fish invasive species.
All About Science!
DId you know that coral are actually alive and they need food to survive? Well they are alive and they don't have a way to get food without the currents and waves. They bring the nutrients that are needed in the water and to the coral so they can survive. But currents can also bring garbage to the coral reefs, which can effect the way the fish live in some coral. That is were the humans come in. They are throwing trash so it gets stuck to the coral reef. Although you might think it doesn't effect them, you are throwing. Coral reefs do stuff for us like a resource it gives us is food, and reduces gas from the greenhouse. All you have to do to protect the coral reef is to not fish so much and also to not throw garbage into the ocean so it can end up a place you wont see it again, because just because you wont see it doesn't mean other living organisms wont.