Trick of the light.

New research from scientists at the University of Plymouth has now revealed that the light pollution produced by coastal cities at night is tricking coral reefs into spawning outside of the optimum times when they would normally reproduce, which could lead to the reduced likelihood of coral eggs being fertilised and surviving to produce new adult corals. 'Corals are critical for the health of the global ocean, but are being increasingly damaged by human activity', says study author Thomas Davies. In the oceans, the lunar cycle drives a lot of activity, from the nightly migrations of the tiny sandhopper to the mass spawning of coral reefs. [Extracted from the article]