Protected by its beautiful hard shell, it clings to the big rocks in the ocean, using the stinging tentacles by its mouth for protection and for feeding. The hard shell provides protection from the smaller fishes. Its stinging tentacles protect it from the lurking predators. The coral stings and kills its prey and grabs it in.

-Cindy Yim

A coral’s beautiful shell may look like just a beautiful shell that does nothing from a top view. What you don’t see is that underwater this beautiful shell is home to a lot of species and it blocks off enemies with authority. What’s interesting about it? Nothing! But when it mates it’s one of the best eye-popping scenes you’ll see in your lifetime. It’s not merely about how it mates. It’s when it mates – corals in the Kaneohe Bay shoot out their sperm and egg cells that look like exploding fireworks on the 4th of July. Amazingly the corals mate on one specific date every year at night.

-Franklin Castillano

Like a day-old banana peel thrown on the ground, the crust coral relaxes on the rock. If global warming happens then it will cause the coral to bleach and spit out its zooxanthellae (type of algae). The coral will possibly die. The zooxanthellae helps keep the coral alive by photosynthesizing, and the coral protects the zooxanthellae. If coral dies then the butterfly fish and other sea creatures that feed on coral won’t have anything to eat. Therefore, the food chain will be affected, which will also affect the human population.

-Trey Parras

Like a Kevlar helmet, the stony lace coral protects the zooxanthellae. Corals have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, a type of photosynthetic algae that provides food and oxygen essential for life and decreases global warming. Without the zooxanthellae corals will die, preventing the growth of new coral reefs and eventually nothing will be able to create waves off shore.

-Nicholas Yamamoto