Marker 32 is a
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
located within the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary in the Florida Keys. It includes the Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America and the third-largest coral barrier reef in the world. It also has ex ...
. It lies to the south of
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, and is between
Western Sambo reef and
9-Foot Stake reef. Unlike many reefs in the Sanctuary, it is not within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA).
The reef is close to
navigational marker 32.
Gallery
Image:Pillar1_Marker32_2010.jpg, A large colony of pillar coral
Pillar coral (''Dendrogyra cylindrus'') is a hard coral (order Scleractinia) found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Dendrogyra''. It is a digitate coral -that is, it resembles fi ...
(''Dendrogyra cylindrus'') at Marker 32 reef, June 2010
Image:Pillar2_Marker32_2010.jpg, A small colony of pillar coral
Pillar coral (''Dendrogyra cylindrus'') is a hard coral (order Scleractinia) found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Dendrogyra''. It is a digitate coral -that is, it resembles fi ...
at Marker 32 reef, June 2010
Image:Barracuda_Marker32_2010.jpg, Large barracuda
A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...
at Marker 32 reef, June 2010
Image:Nassau_grouper_Marker32_2010.jpg, Endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
Nassau grouper
The Nassau grouper (''Epinephelus striatus'') is one of the large number of perciform fishes in the family Serranidae commonly referred to as groupers. It is the most important of the groupers for commercial fishery in the West Indies, but ha ...
(''Epinephelus striatus'') at Marker 32 reef, June 2010
References
NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Maps, Florida Keys EastNOAA Navigational Chart 11441
{{Corals
Coral reefs of the Florida Keys