Shifting baselines, coral bleaching and coral recovery in Fiji. Additional scenes of coral reefs and marine life taken in the Solomon Islands. NOTE: The changes on the Suva reef from coral to Sargassum are real, but the cause is largely “reasonable conjecture”, i.e., the loss of herbivores.
Few places on earth captivate our sense of wonder as much as coral reefs. But how stable and enduring are coral reefs? Violent tropical storms frequently destroy fragile coral skeletons, but broken branches quickly sprout new growth. Coral reefs are resilient and adapted to recover from these natural events, but what happens when humans tip the balance? Let me show you two examples in Fiji. For centuries Fijians have harvested marinelife without serious harm to their reefs, but near the capital city of Suva there are may more people fishing. Let’s look more closely at this reef MORE: CORAL Video & Highlights: Coral Reef Resilience