Coral Reefs - Disney Animals

Coral reefs are so rich in life that scientists call them the “rainforests of the sea.” Guests can see our artificial Caribbean coral reef at The Seas with Nemo & Friends at Epcot.

Coral Reefs in the Wild
Corals are tiny animals called polyps that are related to sea anemones and jellyfish. The polyp uses minerals in the water to create a hard exoskeleton to support and protect its body. Living coral reefs are diverse ecosystems built by large colonies of tiny coral polyps. Coral reefs not only support a vast array of marine organisms, but they also help provide natural protective barriers that guard against coastal erosion.

Most coral reefs are found in the warm, shallow oceans located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn near the equator, and places like Florida and southern Japan. The largest coral reefs grow in Australia, the Caribbean, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific—including the Hawaiian Islands.

The Walt Disney Company is passionately committed to the protection of coral reefs and their aquatic habitats.

Threats to Coral Reefs
The main threats to corals are directly or indirectly caused by greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Acid Reigns
Ocean acidification happens when carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are absorbed into the ocean, creating carbonic acid. This has altered sea water chemistry and disrupted the calcification process of shell-producing organisms like coral polyps, oysters and sea urchins.

Heating Up
Ocean warming due to rising global average temperatures can cause coral bleaching—an entire reef may turn white as the corals expel the symbiotic algae that live inside them.

Reef Rehabilitation
As a part of its efforts to save wildlife, the Disney Conservation Fund and Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment team (ASE) are collaborating with experts in the Caribbean to invest in comprehensive research and taking action to create coral nurseries, limit harmful human contact around existing reefs and promote reef rehabilitation and ecosystem resilience.

An Urchin Request
The near-extinction of the long-spined sea urchin in the northern Bahamas has caused local coral reefs to be greatly diminished. These important urchins feed on a certain type of algae that—without their aid—would cover the corals and block out the sunlight that corals need to grow.

To restore the reefs, scientists from Disney’s ASE team are translocating these crucial sea urchin grazers—and transplanting living coral fragments, too—from coral reef nurseries.