Chasing Coral

Destruction of Corals due to climate change is breathtakingly presented in this painstakingly told TV show. This is one of a kind reality show which moves any sane human being. Accidentally found this on Netflix. My best TV show (90 minutes) till date!

Another sad but true reality. Can you explain to your grand children what you do when the coral still exist in this world?

This important documentary serves as a wake up call to deniers of man made climate change and also to those who just don't see the need for concern. It takes the time to teach us about basic coral anatomy, their reliance on zooplankton, and then chronicles the surging ocean temperatures and the direct correlation with the death of entire swaths of reef. This film will make you cry as it makes you come to grips with the reality of climate change. Watch it, and then share it with others too, to help educate those too distracted to understand the calamity we're witnessing.

While it doesn't go into ocean acidification, that is where I'd challenge the viewer to explore next. It's not a counter theory, but rather the two are interrelated.

Whether you have spent vacation time snorkeling, watched the National Geographic channel, or even paid a bit of attention during high school science class, you likely have some level of understanding of what a vital ecosystem coral reefs are to Ocean life. Director Jeff Orlowski has a track record of important environmental documentaries with his 2012 Chasing Ice. Both of these movies have been well received at Sundance and other film festivals, as well as by scientific experts.

Mr. Orlowski was contacted by underwater photographer Richard Vevers once the Vevers team recognized the accelerated breakdown of corals as the ocean water temperature rose slightly. The film takes us to such places as The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Florida Keys, American Somoa, Hawaii, Bermuda and the Bahamas. The obvious message is that concern exists around the globe, not just in one particular locale.

The film does an excellent job of defining and explaining the importance of coral, and once Zach Rago is introduced, the energy and passion jump significantly. A charming, self-described "coral nerd", he is also an extremely knowledgeable and committed scientist dedicated to saving this ecosystem that he worships, and he understands the important role it plays to all life.

Little doubt exists that those involved fully believe carbon emissions are to blame for the warming waters resulting in coral bleaching and finally coral death. They also believe that by reducing said emissions, there is still time to prevent the total global coral destruction predicted for the next quarter century.

If the film has any misguided moments, it would be related to the screen time spent on the challenges and frustrations associated with underwater time-lapse photography, especially from a hardware standpoint. As viewers, we are far more interested in the coral endangerment and the photography shots that do exist … especially some of the stunning before/after looks as coral reefs are quickly destroyed.

A trip to the Coral Convention provides us a glimpse at how research and information is shared by those who are working on this and other environmental issues. With limited resources, it's crucial that access to information is available to those who need it. Finally, the film leaves us with a reminder that forests, reefs, and other ecosystems are all vital to our lives; and while the current path is quite saddening, there is optimism that we have time to stop the damage if we act now.

Chasing Coral should be an eye opener for everybody, but that would only work if everybody watched it, especially influent people that have to take big decisions. For people that continue to deny global warming is going on. Unfortunately those influent people, like are so-called 'world leaders', could not care less about all this, because greed, destruction and world domination is their only goal in life. The documentary starts slow, with some good footage but also some blurry archive footage. It's all interesting to watch though. But the best part, if I can say best in this case, is the ending, and i's not that colorful anymore. We, the humans, the so-called smartest specie on earth, are in fact the parasites of our planet, destroying everything at high speed. If the coral reefs are bleaching it's all our fault, and if this eco system dies in the next decades it will be our fault as well. The end of the documentary wants to give us a bit of hope, but honestly I don't believe in it. We are doomed to go from bad to worse, as greed and selfishness are the only goals of us humans. So Chasing Coral is a good documentary, but a sad and emotional one. It should be mandatory in schools or for everybody to see, so that maybe we would change our attitude, but that's just wishful thinking. The future generations will pay the price for our neglect and destruction of our once lovely planet.