Just what are coral reefs?  Only recently have we began to understand the role of corals  in nature.  Corals are animals that belong to the phylum of coelenterates, which also includes sea anemones and jelly fish.  The coral is a very simple organism.  A tiny gelatinous body enclosed in a tube with  an opening  at one end that functions both as a mouth and as a passage for waste excretion.    Around this mouth are tiny fringes of tentacles used to draw in plankton- their only source of nourishment. Corals are stationary animals. It anchors itself permanently  and, extracting calcium from the sea water, begins the process of constructing an external skeleton made of hard limestone, which is the raw material for the reef. When the polyps die the soft interior deteriorates leaving the exterior  limestone casing.  This process continues repeatedly building up thick layers of coral material.
      Polyps "many footed" corals  are hermaphrodites capable of producing either sperm or egg.  They can even reproduce by asexual means in a process called budding.  A clone of the parent coral literally sprouts from the side of the coral.  Corals can only exist in tropical and sub tropical temperatures.  Temperatures ranging from 70 degrees to 30 degrees and no deeper than 150 feet bellow sea level.  They are basically confined to a narrow belt  of area ranging from 30 degrees above and below the equator.  The reefs take on three forms: fringe reefs, barrier reefs and atolls. Why should we save the reefs? 
     Aside from our own personal uses and the raw beauty of the reef lies yet another reason to save the reefs.  The reefs are home to thousands of different species of animals.  Also there are many symbiotic relationships in existence in the reefs.  The extinction of one animal could lead disaster.  Because of the nature of water, aquatic life forms are not used to drastic temperature changes and concentrated pollutants which are usually diluted and dispersed throughout.  The reefs are part of complex chain of life.