Protected coral reefs may not be the ones that need protection
![Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wt_coral_free.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
More than half of the world’s coral reefs sit within a half-hour travel time of human settlements, a new study finds. But protected reefs, such as Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific, tend to be farther from people.
Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Flickr (CC-BY 2.0)