Lost at Sea

[Corvette Way]

As I read the book "The Enchanted Braid," I could hear the passion that Mr. Davidson shares for the coral reefs. He explains the corals vividly with many details. He has connected with the reefs and the animals in them, as I hope we do when we visit them. It's obvious that Mr. Davidson is entranced by there beauty, and upset when they are destroyed.

In the book, chapter "Animals, Plants, Vegetable" deeply perplexed me. How can something not be classified in one group? Sure, it fits characteristics for all three, but when something doesn't fit in one group, shouldn't it be made into a different group? In this chapter, he also discusses the places where the Coral reefs can be found. On page 18 Mr. Davidson states "Living coral reefs are found in clear, warm, mostly tropical waters of more than one hundred nations throughout the world." "James Dana noted that "the temperature limiting the distribution of corals in the ocean is not far from 66 (degrees) F." I understand these characteristics, but am confused by the fact that Corals grow in the Bermudas but not in the Galapagos Islands. If you look at the link, you see that the islands lay very close to the equator which has a very ideal setting for Corals. On page 22, Mr. Davidson states "...or corals reefs are the very soul of the sea." Can you agree with this? What makes them the "soul of the sea?" Yes they are great habitat for many species, and can fix the calcium levels in water, but wouldn't the sea animals adapt and thrive without them. Hopefully we will never know.

In the next chapter, Mr. Davidson explains Charles Darwin's theory of Coral evolution. This explains how coral grows on volcanic rock. It then goes on to explain how scientists have drilled to find evidence that this is true. They found evidence of this when scientists and drillers drilled 4,610 feet deep under a coral and found what was presumably basalt under layers and layers of limestone. I pose the question to you, why would something buried 4,610 feet under layers of limestone affect something that is on the surface? How does this affect the coral, and why does it matter? The chapter never goes on to explain it to me, but I have no evidence that it doesn't affect the coral.

Later in the same chapter, it tells how the government used Enewetak Atoll as a place to test on of the first Hydrogen bombs. This, I'm sure, will lead to controversy, but thats my middle name! I believe that nuclear testing was acceptable on Enewetak Atoll. Sure, you destroyed corals and ruined a beautiful thriving island, but nuclear testing is an important thing. If we don't test it, we could let it get out of hand. How many nuclear power plants are around us? Well, there's one in Nebraska that would affect us if something went wrong, but we don't complain because its a cheap, efficient way to obtain power. Of all the nuclear things that go on around us, we need to test the capabilities of them, and agree not to use them in the wrong way. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island both had meltdowns and cause many problems with the residents around there, but we didn't flip about it. At least this testing was in the middle of no where, and only affected the sea. What the book does not explain, is after a nuclear blast, the vegetation grows back ten fold, such as in Hiroshima. People just assume that everything was destroyed because there is a "mile wide and over two hundred feet deep" (page 35) crater that is left. It never states anything about the rest of the island, or how many lives the nuclear testing saved.

Now, don't let the last paragraph mislead you. I do not agree with destroying parts of the Earth just to settle a conflict between nations. There's better places to test those type of bombs, and more appropriate ways to use the resources of Earth. I feel corals should be protected and held near and dear to the heart, because of the species that benefit from them. Living in the midwest we do not learn much about these kind of organisms, but I think they should be more openly taught about in the classroom. This would also cut down on the "Coral Bleaching." If more people understood corals and how we are destroying them, maybe we could make them last longer. They are the "soul of the sea" and should be treated as such. Lets just hope corals don't get lost at sea.