Summary

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

brings it to the mouth.

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

protecting shorelines from tidal waves and cyclones.

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

fluorescent chemicals in an attempt to make what is essentially a sunscreen blocking UV rays,

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

some people would rather do that than fix these mistakes.

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

world and can destroy ecosystems.

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.