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Holey Corals

This coral may look like it was blasted by a shotgun, but these holes are occupied by tiny molluscs that bore into coral skeletons to escape predators. This process, called bio-erosion, is an important part of building coral reef, but too much bio-erosion weakens coral skeletons’ ability to withstand strong currents, waves, and storms. WHOI scientist Anne Cohen examines the combination of stressors that threaten corals, including ocean warming and acidification. She and MIT-WHOI Joint Program students Hannah Barkley and Tom DeCarlo found that acidification increases corals’ susceptibility to bio-erosion. However, when ocean acidification is combined with nutrient pollution, bioerosion rates increase tenfold.(Photo by Hannah Barkley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)