2012 • 29' • French
Director(s): Hervé Corbière • Producer(s): Grand Angle Productions & Bleu Lagon • Coproducer(s): France Télévisions • Format(s): HD
Coral is the basic animal of the coral atoll: without coral there’s no atoll; without an atoll there’s no coral, etc., etc. With global warming, coral has become weaker all over the world, has turned white and, on certain barrier reefs, has even died. And yet coral is essential to the survival of atolls. The coral barrier forms a natural protection against assaults from the sea, cyclones, storms and erosion. It is also a vast underwater forest where thousands of species find shelter. An aquatic fairyland that delights divers worldwide. Within the calm waters there’s no shortage of endemic species, from here and from nowhere else. To protect the coral is also to protect the wild life that lives there. And, poetry aside, coral is also the larder for all those living along the shore, who are able fish there. When damaged, coral can also cause short-term harm such as ciguatera, more commonly known as “the scratch” because of the itching that it causes. When attacked, coral scars over, producing algae that is ingested by fish, which then pass on “the scratch” to the whole population, leading to a ban on fish consumption, which in turn is a disaster for the islanders!
