The blog is located at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/environment/Gulf_corals_in_oil_spill_zone_appear_healthy_106285848.html?c=y&page=2#storytop
This blog talks about monitoring and research which is being conducted on corals located in the Gulf of Mexico, around the sight of the deep water horizon geyser. The research is intended to find out if there is any harm befalling the coral from the oil. Surprisingly, there is no harm that anyone can notice. one theory is that oil will prevent the reproduction of coral, but leaves the adult organisms unharmed, but continued monitoring will need to be carried out in order to know for sure.
I found this whole blog very interesting and thought that it was cool that so little was known about these corals. I guess that if the oil does harm the coral, we may not be able to notice since there really is no baseline data about them.
Hope you enjoy the blog.
This article is a glimmer of hope that we don't often see in the media. The coral Could have escaped the harm of the spill. Does anyone feel that the media lets the negative results of the spill overshadow the progress thats being made to clean up the spill?
ReplyDeleteI feel the media typically lets negative news fill up the majority of what they put out, it is what gets people's attention.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing that they mention the corals possibly having a link to aiding in cures to cancer or heart disease. It would be a shame if scientists found that the corals helped cancer but the coral reproduction was severed by the oil spill. Any thoughts?
Im surprised that the oil doesn't do any damage to the adult coral but not being able to reproduce new coral seems like a pretty big ndeal to me especially since coral is home to numerous organisms. if it can't reproduce then more species could possibly be in danger
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to here that the coral so far has not had any major damage due to the oil spill. I feel like sometimes the media over played how damaged certain areas were, maybe there is hope that nature can still take care of itself despite the mistakes of mankind and our environmental disasters. But I realize that this study only applies to one specific area of coral so there could be more severe damage in other areas...
ReplyDeleteit's hard to believe that the coral has not been affected yet at all by the oil. i'll be even more surprised if no problems arise down the road with growth of new coral. i guess it's always good to hear something positive about ocean life in the gulf following the spill.
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to why the corals have not been affected. You would think that the coral would be far from healthy. to tate.... I really think that the media has to coverage the problems because that is what the public wants. The public is probably very upset with the spill, so it might make the media look bad if they are not defending the publics view. Also I feel that BP has a lot more work they need to do. I think it helps to make it seem that there is a lot more work left, so more people will contribute to cleaning up as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like the picture they used.
ReplyDeleteIts weird to think these corals were only discovered about a hundred years ago. I suppose that's why they don't know much about them.
The article says "It is now a prime time for coral spawning in the Gulf, when the corals release tiny larvae that eventually form new corals." Do you think the oil is affecting the reproduction of the coral and we just don't know it yet?
I just don't see how the coral could go unscathed? It kind of makes me question the validity or credibility of the blog?
ReplyDeleteTo Amy--I think that we must not fully know or haven't gathered enough data because if so many organisms are affected, how can coral just pass by?
I welcome any criticism of that argument, maybe i just don't understand the article...However if this is true, i agree with Kevin, it is a great sign of hope during a bleak time
i thought this blog was very interesting. i agree with what Nick said at the beginning...it is interesting to get a different view on the coral. i have never really taken the time to think about coral too much? and to answer Amy's question, i think the coral has been affected some way? i don't see how it hasn't been affected "at all"? i think it will all turn out negatively if the coral can't actually reproduce. they coral population will decrease!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to hear about the possibility of the coral curing diseases. It reminds me of the rainforest and how we are destroying life forms that could potentially aid our lifestyles medically.
ReplyDeleteI found the whole premise of this article interesting- I completely forgot about corals. But, I believe that only time will tell the true extent of the damage in the Gulf. I also thought it was interesting how the Federal Government said that most of the oil was gone. How? If this is true, I would think this news would be everywhere
ReplyDeleteGracie thats true. There's no reason for us to be destroying the rain forest. There are so many plant and animal species that haven't been discovered. And who knows what they could be doing for us?
ReplyDeleteThe reason for this disappearing oil is because a lot of it has evaporated. The warmth of the Gulf and the intensity of the sun have been breaking up the oil into tiny bits that either evaporate or dissolve into the water. I read an article from TIME magazine at the end of summer that said 25% of the oil spill has evaporated, so I can imagine more has evaporated since then.
ReplyDeletethat is very interesting that the coral has not been studied in depth before and know that the oil has or has not effected it will be a mystery. i believe that no good can come from this spill especially on the environment. i will say that the spill has made people more aware of the dangers we can do in a split second or how the choices we make can make a very big difference good or bad.
ReplyDeletei agree with what amy and gracie touched base on. the rainforests are a big deal too, whats not to say coral will become a major aspect in the medical world!
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a very interesting topic, and I'd really like to learn more about these corals in the future. And find out what happens since some of them may have been very damaged.
ReplyDelete