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Corals Week 2023

Celebrate the beauty and importance of coral reef ecosystems.

We're celebrating corals on our social media channels from December 4-8, 2023. We hope you join us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Look for #CoralsWeek.

clownfish with sea anemone
The International Coral Reef Initiative

Get to know the International Coral Reef Initiative — an international partnership to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world. ICRI unites the global coral community and raises awareness of the need to protect coral reefs.

USVI Coral Reef Management Fellow Matt Davies works with Marine Park Coordinator Caroline Pott at The Nature Conservancy's Coral Innovation Hub to prepare coral fragments destined for the St. Croix East End Marine Park coral nursery. (Ashlee Lillis - The Nature Conservancy)
National Coral Reef Management Fellowship

The National Coral Reef Management Fellowship is a two-year program established to respond to the need for additional coral reef management capacity in U.S. states and territories.

Overhead view of an animal with many legs and lots of spikes coming off its legs
A Thorny Issue

Crown of thorns sea stars are large predators that have wreaked havoc on coral reefs in the Pacific. Learn how NOAA supports the effort to remove these sea stars from reefs on Guam.

pink coral with a little fish swimming nearby
NOAA & Corals

Coral reefs support more species than any other marine environment and rival rainforests in their biodiversity. Explore how NOAA is leading U.S. efforts to study and conserve these precious resources for future generations.

The benthic flora and fauna holds quite the diversity at the appropriately named Clam Gardens, inside Kingman Reef part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Photo courtesy of NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program
Don't Give Corals as Gifts

Corals are popular as souvenirs, for home decor and in costume jewelry, yet corals are living animals that eat, grow, and reproduce. It takes corals decades or longer to create reef structures, so leave corals and other marine life on the reef.

diver at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Take Action

Even if you live far from coral reefs, you can have an impact on reef health and conservation. Learn more about what you can do to support healthy coral reefs.