The 25 minute CNN documentary “Race to Save the Reef” is a must-see — but be prepared to be stunned at times and hopeful at others. Aerial footage shows how mammoth the coral reef area is – the size of a small country and home to over 1000 species of aquatic life. Striking underwater visuals give you an exact view of how fast the reef is dying. And even though efforts to save it are well underway, all spokespersons are cautious in predicting the success to save the reef. We hear from such experts as John Veron – known as the “God Father of Coral,” who has been researching coral since the 1960s. Other Australian experts include Prof. Sean Connolly of James Cook University, scientists from the Australian Institute for Marine Science and a middle school class working on a “Saving Nemo” project. Everyone in the documentary connects climate change to burning fossil fuels, the warming ocean waters and the bleaching of the coral to carbon dioxide – all claiming the life of the coral reef acre by acre.
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Abby Luby March 15, 2023
2 Responses
In response to your post, it’s sad to say but coral reefs bleach themselves when they become stressed and expel their zooxanthellae, a photosynthetic algae, and lose color and become white and skeletal. Coral can become stressed from natural causes: Hurricanes, El Niño, and diseases.Local threats to coral reefs include overfishing, destructive fishing, coastal development, pollution, reckless tourism. The bleaching of coral is also due to certain global effects such as rising water temperatures and growing levels of CO2 in the water.
Humans are 90% of the reason coral reefs are endangered. They are dying. All over the world. When a coral becomes bleached, it has a limited time to go back to a state where they can find new zooxanthellae and regain color, but because of how horrible this planet is, almost 60% of them never do, which causes them to die.
We have known and have heard for decades how the corals reefs are being destroyed, but the attempt to keep this from happening has been minimal. There are natural phenomenons affecting the growth and preservation of the coral reefs that we can’t control, but on the other hand there are things we can do to help preserve these precious entities. We have to educate the world about the importance of the coral reef and how we can all contribute to keeping them alive for other generation to appreciate.
The preservation of these coral reefs has to start with education, we already know that they are being destroyed, now we have to concentrate on keeping that from happening.
Thanks for your comment Hanss. Perhaps you can also comment on what the steps are that we need to take to save the coral reefs and what education will help that cause