The Florida Reef
This is the Florida Reef (Coral Reef) located from the Florida Keys to the St. Lucie Inlet in Martin County. Florida is the only state in the United States to have extensive shallow coral reef formations near its coasts The reefs in Florida came about around 5,000 to 7,000 years ago; just after the last ice age. There are three types of reefs: Atolls, Fringing, and Barier reefs. The Florida reef is closest to a Barier reef. The corals benefit from the sugars and oxygen that the plants provide through photosynthesis. The plants gain nutrients from animal waste and are protected within the coral tissues. The Florida Reef has about 45 species of Stony corals. It has around 37 of Octocorals. Octocorals look like shrubs.