Disease outbreaks are also contributing to the death, of course. But probably we can learn a lot about the disease ecology of the organisms by studying this. When people were first exploring the oceans, one of the great threats to a mariner going across the ocean was, of course, low lying, submerged coral reef. Andu sailing across the ocean late at night would have been very treacherous around these tropical reefs. So they used to put people out on watch for sounds as they were listening for turtle shells and so on. Though there are now numerous back then, prior to large scale exploitation, that early warning system still works today.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the simple animals which informed Charles Darwin's first book, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, published in 1842. From corals, Darwin concluded that the Earth changed very slowly and was not fashioned by God. Now coral reefs, which some liken to undersea rainforests, are threatened by human activity, including fishing, pollution and climate change.
With
Steve Jones
Senior Research Fellow in Genetics at University College London
Nicola Foster
Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth
And
Gareth Williams
Associate Professor in Marine Biology at Bangor University School of Ocean Sciences
Producer Simon Tilllotson.