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Transcript/ScriptCONNECT Restoring Coral Reefs
HEADLINE: Heat Threatens Florida's Coral Reefs
TEASER: Amidst rising temperatures, marine conservationists fight to save Florida's delicate corals
PUBLISHED AT: 04/01/2024
BYLINE: Genia Dulot
DATELINE: Key Largo, Florida
VIDEOGRAPHER: Genia Dulot
PRODUCER: Genia Dulot, Zdenko Novacki
COURTESIES:
SCRIPT EDITORS: AK, MJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:00
VID APPROVED BY: AK, MJ
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.))
((INTRO))
[[Florida's coral reefs are experiencing unprecedentedly high temperatures and these biodiverse ecosystems have declined over the past few decades. Members of a marine conservation organization strive to restore and protect the delicate balance of life in the face of rapid climate change. Genia Dulot brings us the story from Key Largo, Florida.]]
((NATS))
((Jennifer Pollom, Ocean Conservation Foundation; Rainbow Reef Dive Center))
Hi, I am Jennifer Pollom. I am executive director of the Ocean Conservation Foundation as well as director of conservation at Rainbow Reef Dive Center here in Key Largo.
We are just off the shore in Key Largo here, diving in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. And we are on Molasses Reef, which is one of the most beautiful and popular reefs in the Keys to dive. We’ve had unprecedentedly high temperatures down here this summer. We usually have high temperatures, we are in Florida, but it got really hot, really quickly, really early here. And the corals we are finding really are not responding very well. We are seeing a lot of bleaching all over the reef, especially with the branching corals, the staghorns and the elkhorns, which are some of the most important species to have on the reef.
((NATS))
((Jennifer Pollom, Ocean Conservation Foundation; Rainbow Reef Dive Center))
When temperatures get too high, they expel the algae that lives in their cell wall, and that’s what gives them about 90% of their food intake. The algae photosynthesize, and
then the coral uses that for food. When they bleach, they expel all that algae, and that’s why they are white because the algae is what gives it a color. And unfortunately, with the rate at which we saw the bleaching come on, we are looking at a lot of mortality.
((NATS))
((Roxane Boonstra, Coral Restoration Foundation))
Corals, in some way, shape, or form, are older than dinosaurs. They are older than your favorite shark or crocodile. They are actually older than land plants. So, in that 500 million years, they survived multiple natural cycles of warming, and multiple natural cycles of cooling. And in that time, they evolved, they adapted, they acclimated to the environments, they shifted north and south around the world, to form one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on this planet that we simply call coral reefs.
((NATS))
((Roxane Boonstra, Coral Restoration Foundation)) Coral bleaching is actually a natural response from the coral to a warming or a sudden change in its environment. The problem is when that change is too extreme, and/or it happens for too long. And so, in this particular case in 2023, we saw warming starting to happen a full month before the average summer temperatures peaked. And so now, the corals had to work with these extreme temperatures that were unprecedented in our history, and that’s why we are seeing bleaching at such a stronger threshold, because the temperatures are so much higher and for so much longer.
((Bailey Thomasson, Coral Restoration Foundation)) The climate changes. It’s time and time again throughout history. We’ve had natural climate swings, but it happens slow enough for corals to be able to adapt and evolutionize to deal with that. But the fact of the matter is that the anthropogenic factors of climate change that are happening right now are causing the climate to change so rapidly and our waters to warm so quickly, that it’s too fast for corals and many of marine mammals and animals that rely on coral reefs, to be able to adapt to that and deal with it.
((NATS))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateApril 1, 2024 15:27 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
