Beneath the Surface: The First Time-Lapse to Record Coral Bleaching

Scientists are constantly capturing the devastating effects of environmental decline all over the world. However, doing so underwater has always proven to be a challenge. In the latest documentary binge watch, a team has successfully shown just how the world below the surface is declining at an advanced rate. 

The newest quarantine must watch is "Chasing Coral" on Netflix. Bleaching is the first sign of death in coral, which has been difficult to document in a time-lapse until now. Attributed to climate change, projections show in 25 years the ocean temperatures will become increasingly warmer, which in turn will not allow the coral reefs to survive. In the Great Barrier Reef, over 29% of the coral died in 2016 alone. This particular bleaching event has been the longest and deadliest in history. 

The team, consulting with coral reef expert Dr. John Charlie Vernon, faced difficult challenges in order to capture the footage. One of the devastating issues was the retrieval day, when they brought up the cameras to review footage. The images had become increasingly out of focus with each take.

This footage can now be viewed almost as a Google map, showing a 360 of the underwater world with the decline over a short amount of time. If you know of underwater footage of the coral bleaching, post in the comments to help others understand what is happening to our underwater world! 

Jennifer Tallerico's picture

JT is known throughout the International Boudoir Photography Industry and the region for her unique approach to Fine Art Photography. Her underwater work as JT Aqua is ethereal based and conceptual. She is an educator, writer and currently teaching workshops for underwater and boudoir.

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1 Comment

Those “projections” aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. I’m “pro climate” and all and I believe we should be responsible stewards of our environment but these click bait environmental headlines and projections have been embarrassingly wrong for the past three decades.