“Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers, and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why.”
I just watched this documentary, and I was overwhelmed. The dedication of these biologists is pure passion. The cinematography and underwater photography are amazing. I was unfamiliar with the term “bleaching,” I certainly didn’t realize that it happened in months, not years.
The film opens with Richard Vevars explaining that he was an advertising guy who liked diving. One day, he decided he wanted to do something better with his life and set out to document the ocean like Google Maps. When he was young, his favourite sea creature was the Weedy Seadragon. He started to wonder why he wasn’t seeing as many of these creatures as he used to, and, long story short, this documentary was born.
He soon realized that, for most people, what was below the ocean was out of sight and out of mind. This he recognized as an advertising problem. Without a healthy ocean, we cannot have a healthy planet. With the help of Jeff Orlowski (director of Chasing Ice), he set off to reveal this imagery to the world. The film took three years to shoot and includes footage from volunteers from 30 countries.
One of my favourite parts of the movie is when the self-proclaimed coral nerd Zac Rago meets his idol, Dr. John “Charlie” Veron, the coral guru. Zac then gives an extremely emotional presentation on what he saw in the ocean.
In the last 30 years, we have lost 50% of the world’s reefs. This was a huge eye-opener for me, and I will encourage every boater I know to watch this film and tell two friends.
