Black Coral: Price Of Style
People Love the color black. Black dresses, black and white balls, Johnny Cash, black pearl jewelry and a black pearl necklace. Black is debonair. Black is cool. Except if the black is black coral. Black coral has been harvested to an alarming degree. It can be found in the Caribbean waters off of Mexico and Belize. These countries are beginning to protect the coral, but it is still being poached and decimated.
Ambergris Caye is is part of a string of barrier islands protecting main land Belize. It is filled with Mango groves and beaches shielded by a reef. Arriving at the airport in San Pedro, crossing the tarmac and walking into town with the smell of salt air and the warm humid breeze, it is easy to relax and feel like a piece of paradise has been found. But out in the ocean, by the reef, a war is raging. The coral reef is a fragile ecosystem. Belize has the second largest reef system in the world behind the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. This attractsvisitors, especially divers. A lot of visitorssnorkel and dive to explore the reef. Not everyone can appreciate the delicate world they are entering. Even cautious divers can cause damage. Moving beneath a ledge can leave air bubbles that are abrasive to the habitat. Careless divers and people with snorkels can easily bump up against the reef causing damage.
A greater danger to some corals, black coral being one of them, is commerce. This ebony coral creates stunningjewelry. It is elegant and striking. Black coral is also threatened. In Belize there are regulatory agencies that permit coral to be harvested by some commercial merchants. They are supposed to only pick up the dead coral that has fallen and lying on the bottom. While many of the merchants are conscientious and respectful of the reef, there are still violations occurring. Most traders concur that preserving the reef is in their best interest. A rare commodity is a more valuable product and claims a better price.
In Mexico, many of the commercial divers justify their harvest by saying that there are vast beds deeper down. The current surveys don't back this up. It has found few beds with questionable health. Not to mention, different depths provide different habitats. Collecting shallow coral overwhelmingly alters a specific habitat. While black coral tends to be a deeper living coral, it is still an essential component of the reef eco-system.
One of the best ways to preserve black coral is to decrease the demand for it. Purchasing black coral is like buying poached ivory- it comes at a devastating price to the environment. Knowing the origins of any thing may take some effort, but the effort could be saving a valuable natural wonder. Jewelry is a meaningful gift, a lovely thing to wear, but it can come from resources that are less threatened then black coral.
Ambergris Caye is is part of a string of barrier islands protecting main land Belize. It is filled with Mango groves and beaches shielded by a reef. Arriving at the airport in San Pedro, crossing the tarmac and walking into town with the smell of salt air and the warm humid breeze, it is easy to relax and feel like a piece of paradise has been found. But out in the ocean, by the reef, a war is raging. The coral reef is a fragile ecosystem. Belize has the second largest reef system in the world behind the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. This attractsvisitors, especially divers. A lot of visitorssnorkel and dive to explore the reef. Not everyone can appreciate the delicate world they are entering. Even cautious divers can cause damage. Moving beneath a ledge can leave air bubbles that are abrasive to the habitat. Careless divers and people with snorkels can easily bump up against the reef causing damage.
A greater danger to some corals, black coral being one of them, is commerce. This ebony coral creates stunningjewelry. It is elegant and striking. Black coral is also threatened. In Belize there are regulatory agencies that permit coral to be harvested by some commercial merchants. They are supposed to only pick up the dead coral that has fallen and lying on the bottom. While many of the merchants are conscientious and respectful of the reef, there are still violations occurring. Most traders concur that preserving the reef is in their best interest. A rare commodity is a more valuable product and claims a better price.
In Mexico, many of the commercial divers justify their harvest by saying that there are vast beds deeper down. The current surveys don't back this up. It has found few beds with questionable health. Not to mention, different depths provide different habitats. Collecting shallow coral overwhelmingly alters a specific habitat. While black coral tends to be a deeper living coral, it is still an essential component of the reef eco-system.
One of the best ways to preserve black coral is to decrease the demand for it. Purchasing black coral is like buying poached ivory- it comes at a devastating price to the environment. Knowing the origins of any thing may take some effort, but the effort could be saving a valuable natural wonder. Jewelry is a meaningful gift, a lovely thing to wear, but it can come from resources that are less threatened then black coral.
About the Author:
Connor R. Sullivan recently purchased some black pearl jewelry for his wife on a cruise. He gave her a black pearl necklace which was stunning.
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