Which of the following predicts what might happen to a coral reef if protists disappeared? many animals would lose the shelter of the kelp forests that make up coral reefs. whales, such as baleen whales, that eat protists would starve. an algal bloom would occur, and the decomposition of dead protists would remove oxygen from the water. coral animals would suffer from lack of food and the reef would be destabilized by a lack of calcium carbonate.