Coral reefs across the Pacific are under mounting pressure from bleaching, warming seas and human activity. In Australia, scientists are turning to AI-guided boats and precision coral planting to restore damaged sections of the Great Barrier Reef. Meanwhile, Taiwan is focusing on reducing local threats such as pollution, overfishing and outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish.
00:00Somewhere near the Great Barrier Reef, an AI system drops a baby coral.
00:06It's part of Australia's newest plan to keep its reefs alive.
00:12Abort autonomous boats, a computer signals when to release each coral fragment,
00:18delivering new life exactly where it's needed most.
00:23When we deploy these devices, we deploy this ceramic device with the corals on board,
00:30that gets deployed from the boat, it kind of falls down, it's quite heavy,
00:34so it falls down and generally lands very close within a metre or so of where we want it to land.
00:42The automated technology helps renew reefs damaged by bleaching.
00:46One of the biggest threats to corals worldwide, and one that's only getting worse.
00:52Coral reefs cover a small part of the ocean, yet are home to around a quarter of all marine species.
00:59They play a critical role in the ecological balance of our planet.
01:04But as global warming heats the seas, corals bleach, turning white as they struggle to survive.
01:11The sharp decline was due to the mass coral bleaching event that was driven by the global marine heat wave
01:19that actually affected coral reefs all around the world.
01:22It started in 2023 in the Caribbean and hit the Great Barrier Reef in February, March 2024.
01:30And beyond Australia, corals across the Pacific face mounting threats,
01:35from warming seas and disease to human pressures along the coast.
01:40While climate change, driver breaching, pollution, overfishing, coastal development, tourism pressure, and debris are the most immediate human threats.
01:53And they are also the ones we can manage faster.
01:57Taiwan is a marine diversity hotspot.
02:00Its reefs may cover a small area, but they host a third of the world's reef-building coral species.
02:08But Taiwan's corals are not just battling bleaching and human pressures.
02:13The country experienced an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish just this year,
02:18a coral-eating predator that can devastate reefs.
02:22In contrast to Australia's active, AI-driven efforts, Taiwan's government is focused on relieving pressures,
02:29removing threats to let the reefs recover naturally.
02:33Beyond Australia's AI coral planting, governments are taking many other approaches to protect reefs.
02:40In Taiwan, the strategy is more ecosystem and the management focus rather than higher-tech planting.
02:48The government set up a marine-protect area, limiting harmful fishing and tourism.
02:55Protecting coral reefs means combining strategies.
02:59From AI-guided systems in Australia to hands-on approaches in Taiwan, the goal remains the same.
03:06Safeguarding these key ecosystems before it's too late.
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