Discover Coral Spawning a once a year event Its Nature at its Best
On the Great Barrier Reef
Most people do not realize or know the coral on the Great Barrier Reef is actually an organic life form that lives and breeds on the reef system.
Some people believe that it nothing more than a mineral that forms over the sea rocks and shelves over time.
These people are oh so wrong; the beauty of all the different corals and their colours will take your breath away.
They are live organisms that excrete calcium carbonate and proteins that make up their exoskeletons once they attach themselves to a surface.
Being a marine invertebrate they live in these compact colonies that are many individual identical polyps.
With many different species living in different parts of world there are the warm water coral and the cold water coral.
There are hard and soft corals as well that will amaze you when you witness this whole diverse ecosystem.
Depending on the excretion of calcium carbonate as well proteins and just calcium carbonate is what makes the difference of hard or soft coral.
The hard coral is just calcium carbonate which makes the coral ridge.
The Staghorn and Elkhorn are hard coral. Also there is Pillar, Table, Blue, Brain, Tube and the Great Star.
The soft coral is made up of excretions of calcium carbonate and proteins.
The proteins are what make the coral softer.
So with the softer coral they are able to move and wave with the currents of the water making some of the most beautiful sea scenes you’ll witness in your life.
Soft coral are rooted not attached like the hard coral.
With names like Sea Fan and Sea Whips you can just imagine the beauty your eyes will behold. Bubble, Carnation, Gorgonian, Tree and Toad Stool are other names of soft coral.
So bring your underwater camera and capture this beauty.
Some of the coral species will catch small fish or plankton to feed on.
This is done by the coral’s tentacles that have stinging cells that are much like the jelly fish and sea anemone.
Photosynthetic unicellular algae (zooxanthella) feed most of the coral the nutrients that are needed to sustain life.
Many people enjoy the spawning event of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef.
There are different corals that form different reefs but the coral spawning is done in the same way.
The coral release gametes which are both eggs and sperm, they then fuse together during fertilization that form larva called planula.
Coral will release thousands of larva a year to beat the odds against forming a new colony.
This larva floats to the surface and moves to different locations to form new colonies.
Spawning will cause a number of species of coral to spawn and move with the slow shallow tides.
This spawning will occur a few days after the full moon cycle during the months of October and or November. They are diurnal so this spawning occurs at night.
As a guide the coral spawning happens on the Cairns reefs approximately 6 days after the full moon in November – don’t miss it book a Great Barrier Reef liveaboard tour today
There are special boat trips that can be taken to witness the wondrous event.
Though it’s not a guarantee that you’ll see the coral spawning most of the time you will be able to see it.
You can dive or snorkel to view the spawning and in some cases there are presentations with marine biologists to teach you what you need to know about the process and what you’ll witness during the spawning.
This will enhance your scuba diving or snorkeling experience.
Book this special Coral spawning event on the Great Coral Reef and experience nature at its best.
Watch the miracle of this life cycle.
You need to also book a scuba dive or snorkel trip at the same time so you call see and photograph the beauty of the wonderful tiny organism and all the different forms due to this special event of the spawning of the coral.