00:00 The brilliant white of the corals might look pretty, but it is a sign of decay and death.
00:04 Several times a week, members of the Coral Restoration Foundation
00:09 check the condition of the nurseries where they breed corals. When they have reached a
00:14 certain size, they are planted in the damaged reefs to ensure their survival.
00:20 "Our team has poured our hearts and soul into building this nursery over the last two years.
00:26 This is our newest nursery, kind of our baby, our little project. It's really heartbreaking to see
00:32 years and years of work be derailed in the matter of a few days."
00:36 But Bailey and her team don't give up. In exceptional cases, they try to save what they can.
00:44 "So when we're pulling these corals out, we did it from our nurseries,
00:47 through all of the nurseries throughout the Keys. And so we just cut those corals
00:51 off of the coral trees that we have, put them into crates."
00:54 From there, they are placed in large containers that are brought ashore by boat
00:59 to cold storage facilities.
01:01 "Hopefully we can hold them there for the rest of the summer. But the goal is to
01:06 bring them back to our nursery setting at the end of the summer once temperatures cool down.
01:10 They are so stressed and between the bleaching and the temperature and the transport to there,
01:16 it's probably going to be a survival thing for the next three months until we can get
01:20 them back in the ocean." Corals have been bleaching in response to rising temperatures
01:25 for a long time. But this year, the situation is extreme. Because it was so hot so early,
01:32 the bleaching period is very long and many corals will not be alive when temperatures drop again.
01:39 "These animals are hundreds and hundreds of years old and they can die in a matter of days or weeks.
01:46 Coral reefs are one of the most vital and biodiverse ecosystems that we have on this planet.
01:50 Corals themselves are responsible for one in ten breaths that we take. The animal,
01:57 the algae that lives inside of the corals photosynthesizes and produces oxygen for us.
02:02 So they are just as important for us as trees." Although temperatures may drop a bit in the fall,
02:08 it's only a matter of time before they rise again and become life-threatening for corals
02:13 in the boiling oceans. Climate change is no longer a theory here in South Florida.
02:19 Its deadly force can be seen everywhere.
