Year after year the negative impacts of humanity continue to be felt by Earth, its ocean, and all of its creatures. These negative consequences include altered ecosystems, a warming planet, rising sea levels, melting ice caps, pollution, and acidification of the oceans. Although these harmful impacts are alarming, there is still hope for a better future. In 2022, people from all around the world banded together to save the ocean in a number of different ways.

 Many ocean researchers, activists, and organizations made a splash in 2022. Of the innovative initiatives they led, many focused on finding answers to the problems caused by climate change. These projects included the research and implementation of environmental protection, restoration, and a variety of ocean-based carbon removal methods. The establishment of The International Blue Carbon Institute, which aims to protect and restore coastal environments in order to ensure their carbon absorption potential, is just one example of these beneficial projects. Another positive example is the adoption of new laws and regulations in the U.S. that will contribute to the reduction of overfishing and boost research and restoration efforts for a number of marine species. Additionally, activists and organizations that advocate for ocean conservation have helped contribute to the growing awareness of the issues our planet faces today. By supporting Aeon for Ocean you have also helped to contribute to the beneficial improvements taking place in our oceans and the rest of the world!

The Christmas tree worm is an aquatic invertebrate that inhabits tropical coral reef systems across the globe. While these marine invertebrates, or animals without bones, are distant relatives of your everyday backyard earthworm, the Christmas tree worms can live much longer--up to forty years! The Christmas tree worm is also limited in its mobility, unlike its terrestrial counterpart. They use their bodies to burrow into the coral to hollow out a home. The tube shaped burrow grows along with the coral, but the worms will only grow to be a couple centimeters in length. The majority of the worm is hidden within the tube, where it will stay for the remainder of its life. When the Christmas tree worm gets hungry it projects two “crowns” out from the tube into the open waters. The crowns look like small Christmas trees sticking out of the coral! These crowns have ciliated, branch-like extensions called radioles that facilitate the filtration of nutrients like dissolved oxygen into the worm’s respiratory system. The radioles also capture food, such as plankton and other microorganisms. The coral provides a home for the worms along with a way to anchor themselves to their home and grab food from the ocean.

The relationship between the coral and the Christmas tree worm is mutually symbiotic because both animals benefit. As mentioned above, the coral provides a home for the worm, while the Christmas tree worm provides essential protection for the corals from predators. When the worms fan out their Christmas tree crowns, predators are unable to reach the coral. It’s pretty lucky for the coral that the Christmas tree worms have chosen them for their homes because the worms have proven to be excellent deterrents. For example, certain starfish eat coral at a rapid rate, but when the Christmas tree worms are living in the coral and extend their crowns, the starfish are unable to eat it. The Christmas tree worm population is not a concern for conservationists at the moment, but their ability to protect coral may prove to be important in the ecological preservation of the world’s precious coral reefs.