What it is
Jeff Orlowski's documentary follows a team of divers, scientists, and photographers as they document coral bleaching events in real-time. Using custom time-lapse cameras deployed in the ocean over months, the film captures the third global coral bleaching event (2014-2017) as it unfolds. The footage of vibrant reefs transforming into white, dead structures over weeks is both scientifically precise and emotionally devastating.
Why we picked this
Climate change is abstract until you watch it happen. Chasing Coral makes ocean warming visceral in a way no graph or report can. The film won the Sundance Audience Award and an Emmy, reaching audiences who would never read a marine biology paper. The emotional impact is real: multiple conservation organizations reported spikes in donations and volunteer applications after screening events.
Key takeaways
- The 2014-2017 global bleaching event affected 75% of the world's tropical reefs, killing an estimated 30% of coral worldwide.
- Coral reefs support 25% of all marine species despite covering less than 0.1% of the ocean floor, making them the most biodiverse marine ecosystem.
- When ocean temperatures rise just 1-2 degrees Celsius above the summer maximum, corals expel their symbiotic algae and bleach within days.