Intertidal Zone as a bustling neighborhood along the shore, filled with a diverse community of marine residents. While it’s vibrant and lively, it turns out that it’s not the bustling marine hotspot in terms of biodiversity. That honor goes to the charismatic estuaries and enchanting coral reefs. These incredible places take the crown for having the most marine life diversity, like the lively epicenters of an underwater city.

An estuary as a cozy meeting spot where a river and the ocean decide to hang out together. It’s like a partially enclosed bay, providing a safe haven for all sorts of aquatic creatures. The water here is like a nutrient-rich cocktail, courtesy of the river, and it’s just the right depth for sunlight to play peek-a-boo, creating a perfect setting for underwater plants to show off their photosynthesis skills. As a result, estuaries become bustling neighborhoods for a vibrant community of marine life.

A coral reef is an underwater limestone structure produced by tiny invertebrate animals called corals. Coral reefs are found only in shallow, tropical ocean water. Corals secrete calcium carbonate (limestone) to form an external skeleton. Corals live in colonies, and the skeletal material gradually accumulates to form a reef. Coral reefs are rich with marine organisms, including more than 4,000 species of tropical fish.

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