What are coral reefs? Where are they located?
Coral reefs are Earth’s largest biological structures, consisting of millions of coral communities, each comprised of tiny interconnected corals. They generally sit on continental shelves and submerged bases of volcanoes in water up to 150 feet deep. They thrive in warm sea temperatures and cannot survive water temperatures colder than 60 or 65 degrees Fahrenheit for even a few weeks. There are three general types of reefs—fringing reefs grow seaward from rocky shores of islands and continents; barrier reefs parallel shorelines and islands and are separated from land by shallow lagoons; atolls are ring– or horseshoe–shaped coral reefs and coral islets surrounding a lagoon. The coral reefs discussed in this report are located along the Western Atlantic and the continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico and around Caribbean and Pacific Islands. The Western Atlantic and Caribbean shallow–water reefs described in this report are off the State of Florida, the Commonwealth of Puerto Ri
