Date

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Speaker

Location

Parking:
On site and free.

Time

Cost

Title

The Coral City

Topics

Coral reefs are one of the biggest structures created by any living thing, bigger than any building in the world, even the pyramids. Remarkably simple animals, called corals, have worked generation after generation, for thousands of years to construct coral reefs and islands. Creating calcium carbonate homes for themselves, they built the structure of the reef, which remains after they die.

The focus of this presentation is how a coral reef functions - the jobs of individual residents and how they collectively create a sustainable community. We will explore how corals construct the structure of this city under the sea.

But this is also a story about humanity and the places where we live. Coral reefs are, in many ways, like cities even though there are certainly many differences at many different levels of organization. Yet by viewing coral reefs in the context of a city we can more easily see how they operate in ways that neither undermine their own survival nor that of others elsewhere; in other words, how the variety of species collectively enhances the survival of the entire community.

During this multi-media presentation we shall explore life in the coral city in greater depth. Ours will be an adventure of discovery. You will leave having a much better idea about how a coral reef functions and, based on this knowledge, you will better understand how we might live a bit more gently on our planet.

About the Speaker

Dr. Murphy is a Marine biologist, photographer and writer and the Vice President for Science and Education of the Ocean Futures Society