The documentary Chasing Coral follows the journey of Richard Vevers, a former “ad man”, as he uncovers the beauty and demise of coral reefs. His love for the ocean began at 16 when he first started diving and this particular quest initiated when he noticed that is favorite creature, sea dragons, were disappearing. This inspired Richard to create the non-profit The Ocean Agency. In an effort to bring about awareness to changes occuring in the ocean Richard and the non-profit created the project XL Catlin Seaview Survey. This project used 360 degree photographic technology to bring Google Street View underwater, creating an interactive platform that allows everyone to explore the wonders of our coral reefs. Unfortunately, the team realized that
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Around 93% of the heat trapped by the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean and because of this areas of water are seeing positive temperatures anomalies sometimes 5 degrees hotter than the average range. Ocean life is extremely sensitive to any temperature changes, coral itself will be affected by as little as a 2 degree celsius deviation from the normal range. This may not seem significant but these changes have been attributed to some of the largest cases of coral deaths in history. These physical changes are known as coral bleaching, which is a step in the process of a coral’s death. The first mass bleaching incident occured in 2000, the second in 2010 and the third was predicted to occur in 2015 giving Richard and his team the perfect opportunity to capture the event on camera. The team had a limited time frame in which they could construct an underwater camera device and have them installed before the heat wave hit. Therefore, they were unable to test their cameras and this resulted in some unfavorable …show more content…
The most impactful evidence came from their time in Australia, which they used for a bulk of their presentation at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii. This type of documentation is crucial because ecosystems like coral reefs are vital for a significant portion of the world’s population. It is estimated that 500 million people utilize coral reefs as a source of their food supply and income. Of course, humans are not the only one that rely on coral reefs. According to the film 25% of all marine life rely on coral reefs, mainly as a nursery. The warming of the oceans is a problem for everyone and as stated in the film it is due to climate change. Humans need to enact policies to reverse our affects in an effort to prevent the oceans from getting any warmer. Otherwise, the population may face dire consequences and not just with the coral reefs. Hopefully this film brings about awareness of this issue and encourages viewers to make positive changes in their
Around 93% of the heat trapped by the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean and because of this areas of water are seeing positive temperatures anomalies sometimes 5 degrees hotter than the average range. Ocean life is extremely sensitive to any temperature changes, coral itself will be affected by as little as a 2 degree celsius deviation from the normal range. This may not seem significant but these changes have been attributed to some of the largest cases of coral deaths in history. These physical changes are known as coral bleaching, which is a step in the process of a coral’s death. The first mass bleaching incident occured in 2000, the second in 2010 and the third was predicted to occur in 2015 giving Richard and his team the perfect opportunity to capture the event on camera. The team had a limited time frame in which they could construct an underwater camera device and have them installed before the heat wave hit. Therefore, they were unable to test their cameras and this resulted in some unfavorable …show more content…
The most impactful evidence came from their time in Australia, which they used for a bulk of their presentation at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii. This type of documentation is crucial because ecosystems like coral reefs are vital for a significant portion of the world’s population. It is estimated that 500 million people utilize coral reefs as a source of their food supply and income. Of course, humans are not the only one that rely on coral reefs. According to the film 25% of all marine life rely on coral reefs, mainly as a nursery. The warming of the oceans is a problem for everyone and as stated in the film it is due to climate change. Humans need to enact policies to reverse our affects in an effort to prevent the oceans from getting any warmer. Otherwise, the population may face dire consequences and not just with the coral reefs. Hopefully this film brings about awareness of this issue and encourages viewers to make positive changes in their