So Much Change, So Little Time | Sea of Hope: America's Underwater Treasures

We are just beginning to understand that loss of grouper and parrot fish has a domino effect, and kills the reef. It's happening so fast; it doesn't take an old-timer to remember the good old days. In just my short lifetime of 19 years, I've been able to see immense change in at least the one habitat that I've been able to dive on since I was four with my dad.

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The way I remember it is this absolutely magical place, these immaculate reefs, such vibrant color no matter where you went, a treasure trove of fish and incredible ecosystem. But now, going back the last three years, it looks like a pile of rubble after a building was demolished in New York City. It's all gray and white and crumbled, and the fish are gone. And that's only in-- and that's just in the United States. In 12 years, yeah.

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The waters around Buck Island are an oasis in a fast-expanding wasteland fueled by climate change and overfishing. I would love to have seen what you saw here as a boy. The fish population was very diverse, very large, very colorful. But you know, even my benchmark was nothing in comparison to my father's benchmark. You went, ah! You should have seen it when I was a boy. You know, these are small fish compared to when he was growing up. The corals need the fish, the fish need the corals. You take the fish away, the corals are stressed. Expanding the refuge to embrace the devastated reefs outside of the monument will give the natural systems a chance to recover.

People say I came from a different planet. I did. The planet was so different when I arrived.

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90% of the big fish are already gone, but the great news is we can turn the corner. We can restore.

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