While Reunion is in the middle of the school vacation period and the heat has returned, many are tempted to go swimming in the lagoon. An environment where fish and swimmers come together in the middle of the coral reef. Over the next few days – due to low tide, corals are particularly vulnerable. The Réunion Marine Nature Reserve therefore reminds that it is forbidden to walk or move on the corals, whether they are bare or totally submerged.
Large armies “stress the coral massifs which are partly out of the water and weaken them”, explains the Marine Reserve.
Vacationers, swimmers and users of beach equipment (SUP Paddle, Kayak, etc.), “move in the channels between the coral masses and in the sandy areas only”.
Wait for high tide for an exploration that is more respectful of the environment.
With their pretty branch and plate, their diversity of colors, corals are an integral part of the seascape of Reunion and are the pride of the island.
As the years pass, the number of living corals decreases in Reunion waters. It is estimated, according to scientific data, that currently between 20 and 30% of corals are alive, whereas they were 40% more than 20 years ago.
We must continue to act and protect them, otherwise there may well be no more of them by 2100.
As a reminder, corals are small animals, shaped like sea mininaemone which can form colonies. “These polyps create a common skeleton which for certain species becomes the founding bases of a coral reef,” defines the oceanographic institute on its website. In short, coral reefs are made up of a multitude of coral species which together form an ecosystem, that is to say a very specific natural environment made up of different plants and animals.
Read also – Corals in Reunion: act before they disappear
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News from Reunion Island, Environment, Lagoon, Reserve
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