Hello, imradical here to aware people of Whyville's reef. If you didn't know already species are disappearing due to such things as over fishing for food and aquariums, coral bleaching, too many nutrients, buried reefs and tourism.
If you are confused, that is okay, I'll explain it all and make you all aware what is happening to our very own Whyville reef.
Tourists step on the corals and they get buried in the sand, therefore causing the Green Humphead Parrotfish, Oval Butterflyfish and the Neon Damselfish population, that eats off the corals, to disappear and cause division in their population. And what happens when those fishes disappear? The shark population, which is very low to begin with, eats the fish that get divided, but when there is not a lot of fish to eat, then what happens to the sharks? That's right, extinction. Sure, some species do increase, but the other species need saving!
Coral bleaching is the loss of color to the beautiful corals. Coral bleaching is caused by such things as: increased or reduced water temperatures, increased solar irradiance, changes in water chemistry, starvation caused by a decline in zooplankton, levels as a result of over fishing, increased sedimentation (can be contributed to silt runoff), pathogen infections, and changes in salinity. And once bleaching begins; there's no stopping! Even if the 'stress' is taken away the corals tend to keep bleaching, so we should do something to save them before you can't stop it.
Oh, and don't forget global warming. Global warming causes heat and that's where soon condensation, evaporation, and precipitation takes place. You may be wondering what that has to do with anything, but, it does. With the increase of climate change there comes an increase of storms, damaging the coral.
Here is an interview with fellow citizen jji55.
imradical: First question, how many clams did you donate?
jji55: 1200 clams.
imradical: Wow, what made you do it?
jji55: I am an animal lover all around.
imradical: That's good, what's your favorite species in the reef?
jji55: The octopus, most definitely. Because I find them amusing that they have more than 2 arms and have ink.
imradical: Awesome. So what do you know about the reef?
jji55: I know it's filled with wonderful creatures that are being destroyed because of overfishing and fishermen. It's an amazing place being destroyed.
imradical: I agree. Any last comments about the reef?
jji55: Yes, I want everyone to treat the WhyReef for what it is; beautiful and something to care about.
jji55: The reef is a very great place to learn about other species and it's fun learning it would be a shame for it to go to waste.
imradical: Thank you, jji55 for sharing your thoughts and comments on the reef.
If you are wondering what YOU can do to help our reef, here are some ideas:
- Donate clams to the reef.
- Buy 'Save The Reef' face parts at Akbar's.
- Make a management plan for the reef.
- Write more articles to get people aware.
- Get your friends to donate clams.
And if you donate enough clams you get badges showing your support. Be proud of your support and if you are thinking that I'm not wasting my clams on this, DON'T! Even if it's just 10 clams or 5, it helps, believe me. Say if 20 people were convinced that it was okay to give just 5 clams then there's 100 clams there, it will help.
Whyville needs YOU. We need citizens with spare clams to save our Whyreef. Whether you want you are an animal lover, just want to be a part of something big, you love reefs or a very generous person you can do it and help Whyville's reef. We need your support.
