South Florida's Coral Reefs in Wordle

This code is the link to my latest project for digital Storytelling and it was done through Wordle, which can be linked using this code:
          <a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3145791/Leonor_Alvarez-Perez"
          title="Wordle: Leonor Alvarez-Perez"><img
          src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/3145791/Leonor_Alvarez-Perez"
          alt="Wordle: Leonor Alvarez-Perez"
          style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>

The story I wanted to tell through Wordle is about the coral reefs off the coast of South Florida, which are beautiful, unique, and alive. I love to snorkel and get lost in the silence of an entire world onto its own that exists so close to the surface of the water.

Many people are unaware that the reefs are alive, that they are animals with tiny plants inside them, and that they are unique in the United States and singular world-wide in that they lie in shallow waters. Hence, my inspiration in telling this story is to make people realize their singularity and fragility. I wish to awaken in visitors to our reefs a sense of awe and by extension of protection.

I created this story keeping in mind the beautiful colors of the corals as they undulate in the water and the terrible damage people inflict on them as they attempt to reach out and touch them. Sometimes swimmers try to balance on them with their fins or boaters clunk down anchors between them and chunk pieces off. A common belief seems to be that the coral can repair itself, but the reality is that once it is damaged it remains ailing and often dies. Awareness is one of the foremost factors in the enlistment of cooperation.

The challenge of using Wordle is that the project can be easily lost when you are trying to see how the arrangement looks. However, the highlight is how the essential words of the piece are enlarged and rearranged so that it pops out at you in one piece and tells a story instantly without actually having to read the entire article. Personally, I love to read but sometimes you just want the gist of it and this is the advantage of using Wordle to tell a story.