Corals ain't just beautiful, they're the smell of the sea, say scientists SCIENTISTS says coral, not just alage, produces the distinctive ``smell of the sea. SCIENTISTS have shown for the first time that it is coral, not just alage, that produces the distinctive ``smell of the sea. In world-first research, Australian Institute of Marine Science investigators also have found that coral itself may play an important role in regulating local climate by encouraging clouds to form. They have discovered that the coral _ not just the algae that lives with it - makes an important sulphur-based molecule which gives the characteristic and tangy smell of the ocean. It is derived from the compound dimethylsulphoniopropionate, known as DMSP. Chemist and research co-author Cherie Motti said DMSP molecules were abundant. ``In fact we could smell it in a single baby coral," Dr Motti said. ``This is the first time that an animal has been identified as a DMSP producer." Dr Motti said the compound was produced in planktonic plants which ensured the smell was evident even in cold oceans were no corals existed. ``You also get big algal blooms in open oceans and they also produce it," she said. ``You get this smell of the ocean wherever you get plant activity. We know it is quite extensive and probably impacts on cloud formation along the eastern coastline and ultimately influences climate regulation in those areas. Lead author Jean-Baptiste Raina said that previously it was assumed that large concentrations of DMSP emitted from coral reefs came solely from algae. Production increased when corals were subjected to water temperatures that put them under heat stress. DMSP and its breakdown products acted as antioxidants that protected coral tissues from environmental stress, including that caused by high solar radiation. Dr Raina said the sulphur-based molecules also served as nuclei for the formation of water droplets in the atmosphere and helped to create clouds. If coral numbers declined there could be a major decrease in the production of DMSP and this, in turn, would impede cloud formation. ``Cloud production, especially in the tropics, is an important regulator of climate because clouds shade the earth and reflect much of the sun's heat back into space," Dr Raina said. ``If fewer clouds are produced, less heat will be reflected which ultimately will lead to warmer sea surface temperatures." He said the Great Barrier Reef was a major hotspot for the emission of sulphur aerosol particles. ``The Reef is the largest biological structure on the planet and the release of these particles along its 2600km length could constitute a major source of cloud condensation nuclei," the paper says. It was published in the scientific journal Nature.