Eat more algae

Who would have thought that coral have haemoglobin in them – you know that protein that carries oxygen around in our blood?

Apparently it’s the resident microalgae that have haemoglobin genes.

Coral and microalgae have a mutually beneficial or symbiotic relationship, like Mrs Polly Mer and I do with the lovely seaweed growing on the floor of our coastal home.

The seaweed provides us with a lovely carpet and we provide it with nutritious detritus and care.

The microalgae in coral are protected and fed and they, in turn, produce oxygen, remove waste and feed the coral.

When corals are stressed, like when the temperature goes up or oily bilge waste pollutes the water, the algae try really hard to mop up toxic gases with their haemoglobin - but if this doesn’t work they abandon the coral.

This means the corals are deprived of their main source of food and they whiten or bleach – getting ready to die if things don’t improve.

I guess that’s why Miss Coral Bleaching looks so anemic all the time. I must tell her to get some algae into her.

The microalgae are pretty sensitive and fast workers, they start making haemoglobin pretty quickly when they realise the coral is stressing out. Now that we know this we might be able to get the algae to give us a readout on how stressed a coral is in time to reduce their stress levels and help them get on with building reefs.

May your week be stressless 

Mrs Polly Ester