A coral reef before and after bleaching

Our CEO Dr. Erika Woolsey collected this footage from the same reef in southern Japan about a year apart. She left the island of Iriomote in June 2016, just as the reef began to bleach, and returned in July 2017. Most corals in shallow regions had died from the bleaching event, caused by sustained, higher than normal water temperatures. Notice how bright and golden the living corals were, compared to the muted grays and greens of the dead corals.
We know that coral reefs can recover from catastrophes like this. However the time to recovery has become longer than the time before another bleaching event. We therefore need to tackle global climate change- reduce emissions, push for unified legislation- to save beautiful reefs like this one for future generations.