The Blue Planet zone completes your journey as we "zoom out" to look at the vast interconnected global oceans and introduce some of the most beautiful and compelling marine animals from around the world. Remember, 72% of our planet is blue and we rely completely on the ocean for our existence and lifestyle. It's vital that we each do what we can to sustain healthy, living seas around the world.
BioZone showcases the incredible biodiversity in the oceans and the relationships between all living things. These relationships are finely tuned and therefore man's interaction can have a huge impact, not only by wiping out one species but by affecting a whole ecosystem. However, we can be positive and, with relatively small actions, make a big difference to the health and future prosperity of our oceans.
The Great Barrier Reef exhibit is the grand finale of your Aquarium visit. The second largest tank, at 700,000 litres, and definitely the most colourful, the reef is home to over 70 species of fish, more than in any of our other exhibits.
Coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef are incredibly important to the marine ecosystem as they are "hotspots" of biodiversity. The majority of the warmer waters of our oceans contain little life, due to the low abundance of plankton. Coral reefs are diverse habitats that provide homes and support food chains for many species. About one-third of all marine species live on coral reefs - the Great Barrier Reef alone houses over 1,000 species of fish. Without the coral none of these animlas would exist.
Coral reefs are also valuable for humans - they provide fish for communities, protect coastlines from storm surges, harbour compounds that could help in the treatment of disease and, of course, they provide wonderful sites for divers to discover the beauty of our oceans.
Coral is self-sustaining. Due to the zooxanthellae (or algae) within them, corals do not rely solely on plankton or food in the water. As long as there is light and carbon dioxide, the coral will grow. They provide shelter and food for other organisms which, in turn, become food for larger animals, and so on.
Our tank may look beautiful and contains numerous reef fishes, but there are a few things missing. A real coral reef would contain a myriad of invertebrates, including crabs, shrimps, sponges and starfish. However, if we were to put any of these animals in our tank, they would be eaten immediately. Also, there is no live coral in this tank – we use artificial coral as we have fish in the tank that would eat the cora,l and other animals that might damage it when moving about. Also, live coral would struggle to thrive under the lighting and water conditions in an exhibit of this size.
The star of the Great Barrier Reef exhibit is Snorkel, our Loggerhead Turtle. Snorkel was washed up on Sennen Cove beach, Cornwall in 1990; she is around 25 years old. After her rehabilitation, she wasn't released back into the wild due to her ill health. Firstly, her eyesight is very poor and, as she is unable to hunt for food herself, our biologists must feed her squid and fish twice a day.
Secondly, she has problems with her buoyancy. Most turtles swim flat in the water, but Snorkel just can't seem to get her bottom down, so she swims at an angle, with her bottom floating above the rest of her. This would also hinder her ability to hunt for food in the wild.
Coral reefs are under threat from a combination of pressures - increasing sea temperatures, acidification of the world's oceans, overfishing and pressure from tourism. Although large swathes of coral reef have been lost in the last 20 years, other areas are proving surprisingly resilient, and there are numerous scientific and conservation projects that focus on finding ways to help the reef survive and thrive. The National Marine Aquarium is working with partners globally to contribute to reef conservation through raising awareness and finding ways that culturing coral in captivity can assist in understanding these fascinating and valuable animals.
Bacterial cell-to-cell communication is thought to play in important role in the maintaining of bacterial colonies within corals. These colonies help the coral to grow and thrive so it is essential to understand the exact role of such colonies in coral health.
A researcher from Plymouth Marine Laboratory is working with our biologists to investigate the effects of temperature stress on bacterial colonies found on three species of coral held in our coral culture centre in Ocean Lab. The results of the study will contribute to efforts to conserve coral reefs across the world.
In early June each year we celebrate World Oceans Day by cleaning the nearest beach to the Aquarium - why not try to do something yourself, no matter how big or small, even if it's making a pledge to visit the seaside in summer, having a fantastic day and then leaving it how you found it.
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