Coral is one of the most curious and fascinating objects in the world! To begin with, red coral has been prized for jewelry since ancient times. But even more interesting is the amount of superstition that has existed concerning coral.

Romans hung pieces of it around their children’s necks to save them from danger. They believed it could prevent or cure diseases. In some parts of Italy, it is still worn to ward off “the evil eye.” And most fascinating of all—coral has actually changed the geography of the world!

What is coral? It is the skeleton of the coral polyp, a tiny, jelly-like sea animal with many small tentacles. The polyp secretes a limey substance of which the skeleton is composed. It is formed like a cup beneath and around the outside of the polyp.

The polyp first attaches itself to a rock beneath the surface of the water, and young polyp buds grow out from it. When the old polyp dies, the living polyps remain attached to its skeleton, and in their turn produce buds. Thus the process of building goes on as new generations of polyps rise above the skeletons of the old.

As layer upon layer of coral is built up, it actually forms reefs and islands in the ocean! These animals flourish in warm or tropical waters. Coral is found principally in the South Pacific, in the Indian Ocean, in the Mediterranean Sea, and in the waters off the coast of Florida, of Mexico, and of the West Indies.

The most important coral formations are called fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls. Fringing reefs are underwater coral platforms attached to a body of land and extending into the ocean. Barrier reefs are not attached to the mainland but rise from the ocean at some distance from shore. And atolls are coral islands, shaped like a ring.

The Great Barrier Reef, which lies off Queensland, Australia, extends 1,260 miles.