Turn the ‘sun’ on, it will grow
When Kevin Pockell grew up as a surfer and lifeguard on the California coast he loved to scuba dive. He also loved to see what was growing and alive on the ocean floor. This affinity of aquatics transferred many years later into his new life – coral collector extraordinaire.
Today he has the largest coral collection between Seattle and Chicago – and he grows most if it in his own tanks in Spokane.
“Well,” he says modestly, “in L.A. and California, there are some really big collections.”
Pockell started collecting in the ‘70s “with fresh water, and in ‘85, I switched to salt water,” he said. “From ‘97 to ‘03, I kept collecting at home and growing coral at my house.”
Craig Tsuchida is impressed with Pockell’s work. Tsuchida, professor of biology at Whitworth College, specializes in marine invertebrates – jelly fish, sea anemones and coral. “Growing your own coral is really hard work,” he said.
“The lights are especially difficult,” he said. “Corals are particular. They require very specialized lighting.”
Pockell discussed this recently at Aquatic Dreams, his specialized salt water aquatics store, in Spokane Valley, where he’s turned his hobby into a full-time opportunity.
“See,” he said, pointing toward the top of a tank with lights glowing dimly above his carefully placed rows of bright coral. Every color of the rainbow was present. “The lights are simulating sunrise and they stay like this for about an hour and a half. Then they brighten to simulate more sun.”
Sun, Tsuchida said, provides nutrition to coral. Without it, they would die. “Corals get nutrition two ways,” he said. “Each coral is made out of many polyps. One way, since corals are animals, is that each polyp on a coral will eat small plankton. The other source of nutrition is algae cells” as coral take in sunlight. Algae that live in the corals receive the sunlight and, like a houseplant, make their own food.
Tsuchida said that although coral is found all over the world, the water of the Washington and Oregon coasts are too cold to build big, reef-building corals. Though Pockell has never been to the South Pacific, he is particularly attracted to the coral found around Fiji and Tonga.
Today he owns a piece of one of the most-rare corals – the Oregon Blue Tort, or Acropora Tortuosa. “This stuff sells for about $100 an inch and it is very slow growing – maybe an inch ever four to six months
With that coral, imagine how many years it would take to create a reef in the ocean.
“If you give corals enough years, they make these huge reefs that other animals depend on, Tsuchida said. The reef becomes the home for fish and shrimp and worms that attach to it or live inside of it.”
Coral reefs can be likened to rainforests, because, Tsuchida said, “They are one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. A lot of plants and animals depend on it either for a home or for something to eat.”
To Learn More: www.reefbuilders.com