A-maze-ing Corals

The skeletons of brain corals are sensitive to changes in ocean conditions. As they grow, the corals assimilate chemical signals from the ocean that reveal changes in the global environment. “Corals look like rocks: They don’t move and they are silent,” said WHOI paleoclimate researcher Anne Cohen. “But they are continuously growing, all the while acting as tape recorders of information we need to track variations in climate.”
(Photo by Anne Cohen, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)