Journey into the Deep Sea - VR | National Geographic
We live on this incredible, unfamiliar blue planet. The ocean is this magical, complex, beautiful place, but almost nobody sees it. [Music] The ocean protects us; it feeds us. Yet few can see how beautiful and powerful that it can be. What we don't see, we don't connect with, so we need to look so that we can change that.
[Music] The diversity of life in the ocean is like no terrestrial place on earth. Biodiversity is the collection of life in all its shapes and forms. We depend on biodiversity for clean water and air, for food and medicine, and for the overall resilience of our planet. At the heart of all of this diversity in the ocean is one of the most amazing ecosystems on our planet: coral reefs.
[Music] When you look at a coral reef, what you see is really cathedral-like. It's a huge structure. Corals compete for space, so they grow side by side, one on top of the other. That now creates space for other organisms to live in. Sadly, biodiversity in our oceans is declining rapidly. We're losing species before we even discover them. On coral reefs, higher than normal ocean temperatures are causing the corals to turn white and die. Sustained high temperatures stress out the coral animals enough to expel their symbionts, which are a type of specialized algae that live in the coral tissues and provide food for their coral host.
When these algae are gone, you can see through the clear coral animals to their white calcium carbonate skeleton; hence the term bleaching. So, the major threats to coral reefs are those associated with climate change, and so the responsibility to protect coral reefs is not limited to the people that live right beside them. We need to raise our voices for more sustainable practices and walk the talk when it comes to our individual choices regarding sustainability as consumers.
[Music] Scientists have been carefully observing coral reefs for decades. These ongoing monitoring programs have measured dramatic declines. Living coral cover has decreased by about 50 percent in the last 50 years. [Music] Much of this change occurred during the global bleaching event from 2015 to 2017, which was unprecedented in scale and severity.
[Music] So for me, as a scientist, witnessing firsthand the coral bleaching in 2016 was really life-changing. But it wasn't until I saw it with my own eyes, being out at sea, and traveling hundreds of miles every day and seeing the same image of devastation time after time—that's when it really hit home how disastrous this event really was. What people need to know is they are a part of nature, and as part of nature, they depend on coral reefs. Education is everything, and we failed to educate people that they are deeply indebted.
What I find most hopeful is our youth and their position towards climate change. While many of our national leaders still choose to conveniently ignore the harsh realities of climate change, young people generally seem to get the issue, accept it as a fact, and want to tackle this global threat. The ocean is something that can protect itself; it just doesn't have a voice.
I think the thing that gives me the most hope for the future and for our planet is the expansion of the global movement. It's really beautiful to see these kids completely transform and get ready to take on these global problems. [Music] Coral reefs are miraculous places. Life in these ecosystems can reproduce and persevere in amazing ways. Corals can replenish themselves through mass spawning events each year when billions of gametes are released after sunset and around the full moon. The resulting larvae can drift with the water to settle and grow new corals on degraded reefs. There's tremendous healing power that's built into the genetics and the evolution of coral reefs, and if we give them half a chance, they can recover.
The ocean grants you that kind of magical feeling that the land cannot really offer you. If we take it in a romantic way, the ocean is going to remain my first love. [Music] When you see the beauty and magic of the ocean as closely, how could you not want to protect it? Well, I truly believe that the ocean doesn't divide us, that it's a way of connecting all of us.
It's not too big a problem, and we can solve it. We've managed systems from the brink of extinction. We can do anything; we just have to allow ourselves to begin and get busy. You and I start today; that will make a difference. And if we talk to 10 other people who will start today, that will make a difference. We will, and we can start a movement.
[Music] There's so much magic on this blue planet; you just have to look for it and take people along with you. The ocean's too good not to share. [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]