Having spent a holiday not more than a couple weeks back in the midst of enticing and sublime coral reef islands, I could not let pass this piece of news that caught me with a jolt—that coral reefs would be first among our ecosystems to vanish completely!

Marine ecologist Peter Sale, who currently leads a team at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health and who studied the Great Barrier Reef for 20 years at the University of Sydney, claims in his new book, "Our Dying Planet," that coral reefs are on track to become the first ecosystem to be actually eliminated from the planet. The reasons are not hard to guess: deforestation, overfishing, loss of bio-diversity, the use of fossil fuels, population growth and climate change, to name a few. According to Sale, about 20 percent of the world's coral reefs have already been lost in the past few decades.

Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef, in this case the Great Barrier Reef

So, how are reefs formed, and what is their significance?

Embedded in calcium carbonate shells, live corals are tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. They should not be mistaken for plants or rocks. Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral polyps secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect their bodies. Reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. They provide a home for 25 percent of all marine species.

Is there a way to save them?

Apart from calls and efforts to control human activity that is leading to the destruction of the reefs, few people have offered a solution in science. However, some individuals working on reefs have secured patents on, for example, techniques for coral reef restoration or for the invention of artificial reefs. Let's take a look at a few of these patents.

Source: Image

1. Coral reef restoration: US Patent Application No. 20090194217 (published)

A method of restoring a damaged coral reef involves securing a coral reef fragment to a support with a bonding composition comprised of a particulate material produced by heating an animal skeletal material to a temperature of at least 1000 degrees Celsius and hydrating the heated skeletal material.

2. Artificial reef: US Patent No. 06186702

This patent relates generally to an artificial reef and more particularly to a versatile artificial reef that will prevent erosion from beaches and shorelines, adequately and efficiently promote marine growth, and provide protection and shelter for marine life. This is intended to provide for a balanced reef ecological system to promote a full spectrum of marine life development. The present invention also provides a means of fabricating a versatile structure that can be used as an artificial reef in fresh or salt water and can be used as a barrier in various applications, such as by the military, in beach and sand dune restoration, and when the structure is located above water and on ground.

3. Artificial reef: US Patent No. 05454665

An artificial reef is formed for use in a body of water to provide a habitat for aquatic life. The reef is formed by providing an anchoring structure that is submerged in the body of water. The anchoring structure has a weight sufficient to anchor the artificial reef to the floor of the body of water. Reef assemblies are spaced at intervals along the floor of the body of water and attached to the anchoring structure. Each of the reef assemblies is formed from a base secured to the anchoring structure. A flexible elastomeric sleeve is coupled to a lower end of a buoyant, elongated member formed from a substantially rigid polymeric material so that the elongated member is held in a general upright position. Through a plurality of these reef assemblies, an artificial reef is formed. The elastomeric element of the reef assemblies allows the elongated members to pivot relative to their bases at the elastomeric element so that passing fishing nets or other objects may merely deflect the elongated members of the artificial reef. The artificial reef is restored to its original state after the object has passed by.

4. Integrated Reef Building System: US Patent No. 05803660

This invention relates to an integrated reef building system. More particularly, the invention encompasses underwater building block structures with stackable and interlocking components that can be used as artificial reefs. The artificial reef structure provides an environment where colored growth such as coral and sea fans can thrive. The openings in the reef structure can allow fish and other sea life to pass through. Further, the artificial reef structures can be positioned to be a protective barrier between natural offshore reefs and a shoreline.

5. Biologically dominated Artificial Reef: US Patent No. RE042259

This invention pertains to artificial reefs and, more particularly, to a transportable, modular apparatus and method of effectively reducing the effects of hydrodynamic forces of waves and water currents in coastal environments (e.g., ocean, coastal, river, lake and reservoir banks). In another embodiment, the oysterbreak comprises a plurality of growth layers of regular polygonal members made from a material capable of inducing aquatic sessile organism attachment and growth and that, when stacked, form a relatively portable breakwater module.

Without knowing much about the scale on which these methods and techniques are being practiced, I hope science can prevent the complete destruction Sale predicts for the coral reef ecosystems.