Photo of the day

The importance and wonder of coral reefs is, we think, undeniable. A point of symbiosis between an animal — the polyp — and an algae known as the zooxanthellae, corals can be referred to as “colonies.” Coral polyps are tiny organisms related to sea anemones, and even jellyfish! They create their own skeleton, which forms the structure of coral reefs. The only animals to have built a structure visible from space, corals give protection to their algae, and in exchange this algae gives them energy via photosynthesis.