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The documentary Chasing Coral began by talking about what coral is and how it works.
A coral is an animal, not a plant, however it uses also photosynthesis through a symbiotic
relationship. A coral is made up of thousands of polyps on top of a skeleton, each of those made
up a mouth and tentacles. During the day, underneath the transparent flesh of the coral is a type
of micro algae which works in a symbiotic relationship with the coral. The micro algae uses
photosynthesis to create energy which it share with the coral in return for the protection in
provides. During the night, the tentacles of each polyp come out and have small stinging cells to
be able to catch microorganisms and other possible bits of food floating by in the water and
Oceans are an incredibly important part of our global ecosystem. They absorb 93% of the
excess heat bounced around the atmosphere from greenhouse gasses, effectively helping to
maintain a steady global temperature for the rest of life on Earth, and without them, the global
temperature would be 122ºF. The worlds oceans are also a source of food and income for 500
million people across the planet. Coral reefs are a large part the extrinsic values of the ocean with
the more complex the reef, the more life that can be supported. 25% of marine life relies on coral
reefs at some stage in their lifecycle with some species spending their entire lives there. Without
coral reefs the majority of the human population would be malnourished due to lack of protein
and some medications to fight cancer wouldn’t exist or be possible. They are also responsible for
However, these coral reefs are being damaged by the rise of oceanic temperatures. In just
the last 30 years, 50% of the worlds coral has been lost due to a 2ºC rise in temperature because
of human impact on climate change. This two degree change causes a catastrophic stress
response from the coral. After this temperature change, the micro algae that coral relies on stops
working, so the coral forcefully ejects it from it’s system as a foreign body in an attempt to save
itself as if it were a virus. However, the coral, having now lost it’s main source of food, then
starves to death after turning bleach white. This white color comes from being able to see the
coral skeletons through the naturally clear tissues. It’s then after this that some coral will release
however this cannot save it and this is the final stage of death for coral. With current projections
of oceanic temperatures, it is predicted that within the next 30 years, all coral reefs will be
completely dead.
Reflection
My reaction to the documentary was, in short, horror. I already worry constantly about
what we as a human race are trying to do to save our planet and how we aren’t doing enough. It’s
horrible knowing that some people think “this doesn’t effect me” enough to just not care and
some people are just in complete denial. They don’t realize that what we are doing to the Earth
will kill us, and fast enough that we won’t have the technology to just “abandon ship”. To think
I would love to do scientific research in the field, in fact it’s what I plan to do with my
life and my career. I want to be a part of the people who are pushing to fix what we’ve broken.
However, I feel like the film has definitely given me an insight to how tough it can be
emotionally to work in this field when you come in with an attachment to the environment, and I
worry that that could be an especially difficult challenge for me, but I’m willing to push through
it if it means doing something that will help out this beautiful planet that we call home.
Climate change, at least from what humans have done to it, has had a large-scale impact
on water quality on specifically the worlds oceans. The anthropogenic increase in global
temperature has melted glaciers increasingly quick, decreasing global salinity of the worlds
oceans. The rise also affects the evaporation rates of the worlds oceans and the increase of
temperature has a deep effect on life there as seen through coal bleaching. The increased
evaporation immensely effects the amount of surface freshwater available to drink around the
Seeing the before and after images of coral didn’t really scare me as much before I
understood what it was. The way I knew coral before was as these white fragile pieces of what
feel like rock that can be in any shape and size. I even have two pieces in my room. I didn’t
realize that was it’s skeleton, that coral was an animal, that the white color I was seeing in the
after photos was the death and destruction of something that was once so beautiful and alive and
thriving. I felt sad instead of amazement for the first time when I looked at the coral skeletons in
my room at home.
The extrinsic values of coral reefs are immense. They contribute to essentially all life on
Earth, and are really the source of it. Not only that, but they allow for tons of species of aquatic
life to survive and thrive, which effects everything else too. Intrinsic values of a species,
including coral reefs, trickles down into everything, which makes them almost one thing in a
way.