Coral Reefs

What are corals and coral reefs?Corals are animals, and their skeletons create reefs. The corals have microscopic, single-celled plants living in their tissues. The plant cells, or algae, give the coral extra nutritious compounds. The algae's energy prompts the coral to secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton. When many living and dead skeletons fuse over time, a coral reef is formed. Reefs are the largest structures made by living organisms.What's wrong with the reefs?Mostly, humans are what's wrong.

Showing winning colors; Artist: Monica Wooden's painting of swimming fish wins a national poster contest, which comes as no surprise to her teacher.Monica Wooden loves to make art. Since the third grade, she has been a member of the art club at Cherry Hill Elementary School in Baltimore. And for the past five years, the sixth-grader has looked forward to Gayle Maxwell's art class above all others at school. Maxwell says her enthusiasm shows in her work.So Monica's art teacher wasn't the least bit surprised when the 11-year-old won a national poster design contest earlier this month with her painting of fish swimming among brightly colored corals.

Showing winning colors; Artist: Monica Wooden's painting of swimming fish wins a national poster contest, which comes as no surprise to her teacher.Monica Wooden loves to make art. Since the third grade, she has been a member of the art club at Cherry Hill Elementary School in Baltimore. And for the past five years, the sixth-grader has looked forward to Gayle Maxwell's art class above all others at school. Maxwell says her enthusiasm shows in her work.So Monica's art teacher wasn't the least bit surprised when the 11-year-old won a national poster design contest earlier this month with her painting of fish swimming among brightly colored corals.

Jean-Michel Cousteau swept into the National Aquarium gala like he was Somebody. He wore a shimmering burgundy jacket and relayed tales of his flight from Fiji in a flowing French accent. Partygoers responded accordingly. They clustered around him and laughed with gusto at his every quip.Indeed, Jean-Michel Cousteau is Somebody -- an environmentalist, developer, writer, filmmaker. But most of all he is the son of a much bigger Somebody: Jacques-Yves Cousteau.The renowned underwater explorer and co-developer of the aqualung, who died this summer, cast a towering shadow in which Jean-Michel spent most of his life.

Anyone who listens to the new Congress has heard of "unfunded mandates," whereby supposedly evil federal regulators force states to pay for things they may not even need or want -- like an environment.But how about a "funded nonmandate"?Mike Hirshfield thinks we've got a dandy example right here on the Chesapeake Bay -- an example legislators could learn from in their zeal to slash regulations and budgets.I had asked Hirshfield, until recently the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's senior scientist, to reflect on his experience spanning 14 years with CBF, in state government and doing academic bay research.

Firm re-creates nature, now eyes new marketA maker of artificial trees, cacti, rocks and coral reefs -- whose work is seen in theme parks, resorts, malls and casinos -- is looking to sell its products to average homeowners.Larson Co., based in Tucson, Ariz., recreates nature from materials such as steel bars, epoxies, liquid latex and polyurethane foam. The company now is offering a line of home products replicating redwood ceiling beams, saguaro cactus-ribbed spas and stone fireplaces.Homeowners who want "that special texture, that endangered wood, that rare wood that you can't find anywhere else -- we've got it," says Harold Schifman, the company's president and chief executive.

Neon educational panels near the Atlantic coral reef exhibit explain to visitors how reefs are formed -- and how they are being destroyed.Aquarium officials hope that the knowledge will transform curious visitors into concerned visitors -- who will then participate in something called Project ReefAction.The project, which has research, educational and fund-raising components, is part of the aquarium's efforts to extend the parameters of its mission beyond merely delighting and educating the public.

Three county students -- including two from Atholton High School -- have been named semifinalists in the 52nd Westinghouse Science Talent Search.Atholton students Bryan Townsend and Lee Epstein, and Centennial student Mark Lewis are awaiting word on whether they have won any of 40 scholarships, worth more than $205,000, in the country's oldest nationwide high school science competition. Top prize is a $40,000 scholarship. The announcement of the 40 finalists is expected today.This year, 300 high school students were named semifinalists out of more than 1,600 who entered science projects.

Suppose 1.5 million people were coming over to see your fish collection but you had already drained the biggest tank for repairs and sent the fish packing.Faced with just that situation, the National Aquarium in Baltimore has hired a stand-in act called "ImaginOcean" to entertain visitors while its Atlantic Coral Reef and Open Ocean ring tanks are undergoing $12.7 million in repairs.The $500,000 laser light show fills the spiral walkways of the empty ring tanks with birds and fish hatched in a computer hard drive.

'IMAGINOCEAN' OPENSEnter a "fantasea" world where neon fish swim and aquatic plants sway on circular walls. "ImaginOcean," the National Aquarium's laser-generated aquatic show, makes its debut today with an opening-day program geared to children.The first 25 children to arrive will participate in opening ceremonies, and the first 600 youngsters receive a fluorescent necklace. For all kids, there will be face painting and costumed characters to enjoy from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. All visitors receive an ImaginOcean magnet.

Carole Clay Shewbridge, a speech pathologist and early-childhood educator, died of ovarian cancer Saturday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Monkton resident was 60. Born in Baltimore and raised in Towson, she was a 1965 Towson High School graduate. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at St. Mary's College and had a master's in speech pathology from Loyola College. She joined the Baltimore County Department of Education in 1970 and taught at the Rolling Road School until moving to Hawaii for a year in the mid-1980s.

COCONUT ISLAND, Oahu -- What was intended as a noble scientific experiment in the 1970s has turned into a modern-day plague for the delicate coral reefs surrounding the University of Hawaii's research station here. A professor scoured the seas for the heartiest, fastest-growing algae to help poor nations develop a seaweed crop for carrageenan - the gelatinous emulsifier used in products ranging from toothpaste and shoe polish to nonfat ice cream. Maxwell Doty succeeded, in one regard.

Diabetes Procedure helps some forgo insulin A few diabetics have been able to give up their daily insulin shots after getting transplants of pancreas cells, according to the broadest study of this experimental treatment. But for most patients, the results fell short of the cure researchers have been seeking. Nearly half of the 36 patients who received the cell transplant achieved insulin independence by one year after the treatment. The benefits were mixed for the others, and about three-quarters of the whole group relapsed and needed insulin injections again.

THE OCEAN Warmer waters stressing reefs The extremely warm ocean waters fueling the record hurricane season are severely stressing coral reefs throughout the Caribbean and might kill 80 percent to 90 percent of the structures in some areas, scientists reported this week. These colorful undersea landmarks -- homes for tropical fish -- are turning white, or bleaching, in an area extending from the Florida Keys to Puerto Rico and Panama because warmer than usual water has persisted for months.

Using eerie blue lights and modern formulas for ancient seawater, Justin Ries has re-created the oceans of 120 million years ago in 10 gallon tanks in an East Baltimore lab. The graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University is trying to figure out why prehistoric generations of coral reefs died off for 85 million years -- and then bounced back. The water in Ries' tanks looks no different from what flows out of most faucets, but its appearance is deceiving. That's because Ries has replicated the chemistry of the ancient seas by adjusting the amounts of magnesium and calcium -- two key ingredients for life.

Coral reefs across the Caribbean have suffered an 80 percent decline in cover during the past three decades, a far more devastating loss than scientists had expected, according to a study released yesterday. "It's depressing," said marine biologist Isabelle Cote, one of the authors of the study, which appeared in this week's Science. "We all knew that we had a bad situation on our hands. But nobody expected it to be this bad." The researchers gathered information from 65 previous studies of 263 sites and analyzed it to construct a regional picture.

What are corals and coral reefs?Corals are animals, and their skeletons create reefs. The corals have microscopic, single-celled plants living in their tissues. The plant cells, or algae, give the coral extra nutritious compounds. The algae's energy prompts the coral to secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton. When many living and dead skeletons fuse over time, a coral reef is formed. Reefs are the largest structures made by living organisms.What's wrong with the reefs?Mostly, humans are what's wrong.

Jean-Michel Cousteau swept into the National Aquarium gala like he was Somebody. He wore a shimmering burgundy jacket and relayed tales of his flight from Fiji in a flowing French accent. Partygoers responded accordingly. They clustered around him and laughed with gusto at his every quip.Indeed, Jean-Michel Cousteau is Somebody -- an environmentalist, developer, writer, filmmaker. But most of all he is the son of a much bigger Somebody: Jacques-Yves Cousteau.The renowned underwater explorer and co-developer of the aqualung, who died this summer, cast a towering shadow in which Jean-Michel spent most of his life.

Showing winning colors; Artist: Monica Wooden's painting of swimming fish wins a national poster contest, which comes as no surprise to her teacher.Monica Wooden loves to make art. Since the third grade, she has been a member of the art club at Cherry Hill Elementary School in Baltimore. And for the past five years, the sixth-grader has looked forward to Gayle Maxwell's art class above all others at school. Maxwell says her enthusiasm shows in her work.So Monica's art teacher wasn't the least bit surprised when the 11-year-old won a national poster design contest earlier this month with her painting of fish swimming among brightly colored corals.

Showing winning colors; Artist: Monica Wooden's painting of swimming fish wins a national poster contest, which comes as no surprise to her teacher.Monica Wooden loves to make art. Since the third grade, she has been a member of the art club at Cherry Hill Elementary School in Baltimore. And for the past five years, the sixth-grader has looked forward to Gayle Maxwell's art class above all others at school. Maxwell says her enthusiasm shows in her work.So Monica's art teacher wasn't the least bit surprised when the 11-year-old won a national poster design contest earlier this month with her painting of fish swimming among brightly colored corals.