23/10/2024
Types of Coral Reef in the Philippines🐠
Fringing, Atoll and Barrier Reefs: What are the difference?
The most common type of reef is the fringing reef. This type of reef grows seaward directly from the shore. They form borders along the shoreline and surrounding islands. In the Philippines, fringing reef in Cagayancillo, Palawan is one example.
When a fringing reef continues to grow upward from a volcanic island that has sunk entirely below sea level, an atoll is formed. Atolls are usually circular or oval in shape, with an open lagoon in the center. That makes Tubbataha Reef, the paradise of blue, grounds to be considered as an Atoll Reef.
Barrier reefs are similar to fringing reefs in that they also border a shoreline; however, instead of growing directly out from the shore, they are separated from land by an expanse of water. This creates a lagoon of open, often deep water between the reef and the shore. In the country, we have this only unique barrier reef and is found in the Visayas, the Danajon Park Double Barrier Reef.
Coral reefs are important because they bring in billions of dollars to our economy through tourism, protect coastal homes from storms, support promising medical treatments, and provide a home for millions of aquatic species.
However, threats continues to prevail up to these days. Pollution, overfishing, destructive fishing practices using dynamite or cyanide, collecting live corals for the aquarium market, mining coral for building materials, and a warming climate are some of the many ways that people damage reefs all around the world every day.
Let's be the change for a .🌊
What are the types of Coral Reefs have you encountered so far?🤗
Source:
NOAA. Types of Coral Reed (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/threecorals.html)
