5 CHAPTER ONE Scuba diving can be an exciting way to explore coral reefs Courtney was excited It was her first time scuba diving in the Florida Keys This string of islands and coral reefs is off the southern coast of Florida She had lived in the area most of her life Still she had never seen a coral reef up close Courtney knew she needed to be careful Touching the delicate corals could harm them She also knew not to take anything from the reef UNDER THE SEA
Filled with Life Combined the world’s reefs cover less than 1 percent of the sea floor Yet they have a huge amount of biodiversity This means many kinds of plants and animals live there One third of the world’s ocean fish species spend part of their lives in coral reefs 6 Everything in the reef plays an important role in this ecosystem Courtney’s diving instructor told her to be watchful Dangerous animals live among the beautiful corals A painful jellyfish sting could quickly ruin the day She hoped to see other marine life though Even a short glimpse of a sea turtle would be thrilling The Keys are home to about 1,700 species of mollusks and 500 species of fish With such a variety of life this amazing ecosystem is as diverse as it is beautiful What Is a Coral Reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem It is made up of plants fish and other living things The organisms of a coral reef live on the hard
The reefs of the Florida Keys are near the shoreline skeletons of coral Corals are tiny animals that live in huge groups or colonies The structures they build are known as reefs Each plant and animal of the reef has a function within the ecosystem There are three types of coral reefs Fringing reefs are the most common They begin at the fringe or edge of a shoreline and extend into the sea These reefs create a border along coasts Many fringing reefs are found in the Caribbean Sea 7
