User:Renee rodrigues/sandbox

Coral Reef Care is a process in how to maintain an healthy Environment for coral reefs.Coral reefs are fragile environments that are very vulnerable to damage from boat anchors or accidental groundings. Boaters can protect coral by dropping their anchors on sandy patches of bottom. Accidental groundings by boats can obliterate large areas of coral reef. Lettuce corals and branching corals such as elkhorn and finger coral are extremely fragile, but even massive boulder corals can be crushed or snapped off and turned upside down to die by a sailboat keel. Groundings in sand, or even the churning action of propellers, can cause major localized siltation, indirectly killing adjacent corals.

There are two types of stresses associated with reef systems: natural and human-induced. The effects of these stresses can range from negligible to catastrophic. However, reefs are not well adapted to survive exposure to long-term stress. Some examples include agricultural and industrial runoff, increased sedimentation from land clearing, human sewage and toxic discharges.