Life on the Reef and Coral Calcium
Coral Calcium and The Reef
The miraculous chains of life events on coral reefs are highly complex. The basic photosynthetic organisms and plant life provide food for herbivorous (vegetarian) inhabitants such as damsel fish, parrot fish, blennies and puffer fish.
The parrot fish plays a unique role in the biomass of reefs. They use their strong teeth to chew away coral, which is ground in their digestive tract and released to form the ground-up, sandy bases of the reef. In fact, parrot fish and similar “coral munchers” are a prime source of marine coral that is harvested as coral calcium.
The reef has many species that sleep by night and play by day or vice versa. The coral reef has a fascinating bio-rhythm with an interplay of thousands of species of fish, worms, sponges, fungi and transient visitors.
The recognition of the diversity life forces to which coral is exposed makes it easier to understand how difficult it may be to define all of the nutrient benefits that may come from coral. There is a lot we do not know about the dynamics of life surrounding coral.
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What is the Structure of a Coral Reef?
Coral reefs are sea mountains of minerals which calcium carbonate predominates, along with numerous other inorganic and organic forms of calcium. Calcium is a biological glue and an inorganic building block that is ubiquitous on the planet earth. In order to build a reef, the living coral polyps require specific climatic and ecological conditions. Indeed, coral reefs are most preponderant in warm waters of the ocean which have a range of temperature from 20 degrees C to 30 degrees C, approximately.
Without sunlight the living infrastructure of organisms on the reef that use photosynthesis for nutrition cannot survive. These photosynthetic organisms (zooanthellae-algae) are quite primitive, but efficient in forming a basic nutrient source for the food chain of the reef dwellers. Some marine organisms rely heavily on the photosynthesizing organisms. For example, coral reef sponges obtain the bulk of their nutrients from these organisms and some species of jellyfish harbor photosynthesizes in their tentacles.
Of the vast number of species of coral, two distinct, basic types are recognized. These are the reef-building stony corals and the more delicate soft corals that have an inner skeleton. Not all corals from aggregations into colonies and many soft corals live among the stony corals.
The most interesting aspect of coral is their different and versatile ability to reproduce. They can reproduce by budding in an asexual manner and many polyps can form with remaining connections to its forerunner. Once a year, the corals may spawn filling areas of the reef with massive amounts of eggs and sperm (the reefs are submerged in a cloud if sperm and eggs) which attract plankton eating fish and mammals.
Oceanographers refer to several distinct types of coral reef. The coral reefs in Okinawa are associated with dormant underwater volcanoes and they tend to grow outwards to maintain their submersion in the seas. Fringing reefs are found in the Caribbean and the Great Barrier Reef and related grow along coastal plains which are raised from the seabed. Reefs can grow with amazing variations in architecture that is shaped by the geological circumstances and climate of the ocean.
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Linking “Life-Supporting” Concepts and Coral
To understand the potential of coral for health, one needs to understand the ecology of life on coral collections in the ocean. Coral reefs have been dated back over two hundred million years and they are the largest structures, on earth created by any organism.
The beauty of coral reefs hide a secret, that up to one half of all species of fish in ocean live or visit the biomass around coral. In addition to fish, the coral reefs contain hundreds of thousands of different species of bacteria, fungi, invertebrate organisms and plants which interact in a harmonious manner.
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Reciprocal Harmony of Life in the Seas
The sea contains a massive expanse of life which it supports by its content of “free-floating” minerals and bio-active, nutritional compounds. Water provides an ideal communication pathway for messenger molecules of life. There are free floating hormones in some areas of the sea that are elaborated by certain marine organisms. These ecto-hormones (ecto means “from outside”) can be taken up by various other plants or life-forms in the ocean and cause many biological chain reactions that support the diverse array of marine inhabitants.
The chemical balance in the oceans supports life in complex ways. Therefore, one cannot be surprised by scientific reports that many marine life forms and their environmental waters or habitants, such as coral reefs, produce substances that have potent and versatile biological actions in nature. Marine compounds of various types have been found to be antifungal, antibiotic, anticancer, antiviral, growth inhibiting, analgesic, cardio-stimulatory (or inhibitory) and antangiogenic in their actions.
To add to our appreciation of the health secrets that the oceans contain is the recognition that four fifths of all life on our planet (about one half million species) lives in water. Massive amounts of suspended organic matter are incorporated into the food chain of marine organisms. Furthermore, marine organisms, such as living corals or mussels, process or expose their life cycle to thousands of tons of water. In one estimate, a small colony of mussels (ten million) can process one square mile of sea water that is 25’deep. As “big fish eats little fish” or marine organisms are used in complex food chains, the permutations of transfer of active molecules become limitless. Humankind joins this complex harmony of planetary life when it harvests the offerings of the oceans.
Coral Calcium is a true gift and benefits us greatly as a natural form of minerals and other natural components that we so desperately need to achieve optimal health. We are not destined for pain and discomfort as we age, we are just led to believe that this is normal. It’s not! Learn More…
Life in Water
Scientists may have tended to underestimate the importance of the oceans in sustaining life on our planet. The complex and varied composition of the oceans of the world make them home to more living organisms than the land. Water forms an ideal medium to contain all the inorganic material that are essential for the development and sustenance of life forms. The “vitality factors” contained within oceans, rivers, and land locked collections of water are the most important component of the food chain of all plant and animal life. The healing properties of sea water have been recognized by every culture for thousands of years. In some circumstances “treated sea water” has been used as medicine with variable benefit. In wartime, it was successfully used in lieu of blood for transfusions.
About 80% (four fifths) of the total animal life on the planet exists in the seas. Plant life is also abundant and seaweeds (especially kemp) are among the fastest growing most prolific plants on earth. The biomasses vary in density throughout the ocean. The deepest parts of the ocean supports life forms about which we know very little. The concept of “biomass” is important in oceanographic studies and it refers to the amount of living matter found per unit area of the sea. Underwater sea forests of kelp and coral reefs are rich biomasses that support a high concentration of living organisms. Coral reefs grow over thousands of years and mature into rich ecology where nutrients and elements are concentrated. If the oceans are considered a soup of life, the underwater forests, the coral reefs and the sea beds are the dumplings in the soup. These “dumplings” are huge “vitalistic” aggregations.
Whilst we are exploring the landmass of the earth, the oceans hold many secrets that are relatively inaccessible. This under- explored frontier of waters of the worlds surface has a volume of 42 million billion cubic ft or 286 million cubic miles. This calculates out to be 460,000,000,000 ounces of gold or over 100 times the gold held in the world’s vaults. Thus, the oceans are an enormous collection of metals, minerals, and chemical substances that sustain life. The seas contain many factors that are produced by its own living organisms.
An analysis of sea water shows variable results depending on the site of collection. However, it contains a striking array of organic compounds derived from plant and animal life. These compounds include organic acids, sterols, carotenoids, various free enzymes and variable amounts of macro and micronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins). Aggregations of life forms in the oceans, such as coral reefs, concentrate these complex compounds. It is easy to appreciate that the coral reefs are composed of, or exposed to, all nutrient classes known to man.
The sea rich in salt (sodium chloride) and every natural element known to man is present at one or other location. The contents of the sea are determined to a major degree by its residents, but oceans have many citizens who live in different geographical locations with distinct climates. Thus diverse ecology in the sea mirrors the diversity of life that is encountered on landmasses of the earth.
Author, Scientist, Lecturer
Bob Barefoot
For more information on the details of coral calcium and how it can assist you in attaining a healthy life see a listing of my books on Coral Calcium, Vitamin D and the benefits of mineral and vitamin supplementation.