absolutely. there is still hope. the water conditions are actually cooling down somewhat and on a day like this we have some overcast conditions. that helps because it decreases the amount of heat stress building up on the reef. as far as this bleeelieves fron we hope it moves northwards. the next few weeks will really tell that story. reporter: next north to miami to see the impact there. you may be thinking why does the coral reef matter so much to us? they are part of an interconnected ecosystem. it acts as a habitat for marine wildlife, so any impact on the coral will have an impact on the entire water ecosystem. and something a lot of people may not realize. it s not just ocean life that relies on our coral reefs being healthy. they are mother nature s natural barriers against hurricanes and storm surge. they provide this amazing structure that is key for breaking wave energy. they help to protect the beaches and coastal properties. reporter: and on this second dive there
Bleaching up up through the keys and now into miami dade. it was just a remarkable moment to stand next to these century old giants, right? i mean, how else do you describe it. but it was very eye opening to see this array of a mixture of completely dead coral, bleached coral and healthy coral. so i saw hope but i also saw a tough situation and i can see what heat stress really does to these animals. they re sensitive and i witnessed it. it was humbling. is there still hope? absolutely. the water conditions are actually cooling down and on a day when we have overcast conditions, it all helps. as far as this bleaching front going, we hope that it doesn t continue to increase and move north
But it was very eye opening to see this array of a mixture of completely dead coral, bleached coral, and healthy coral. i saw hope, but i also saw a tough situation, and i can see what heat stress really does to these animals, they re sensitive, and i witnessed it. it was humbling. is there still hope? absolutely there s still hope. you know, the water conditions are actually cooling down somewhat, and on a day like this we have some overcast conditions, that all helps because it decreases the amount of heat stress building up on the reef. as far as this bleaching front going we hope it doesn t continue to increase and move northwards but the next few weeks are really going to really tell that story. reporter: next, heading north to miami to see the impact on the reef there. you may be thinking why does the coral reef matter so much to us? they are part of an interconnected ecosystem, it acts as a habitat for marine wildlife. any impact will have an impact on the entire water eco
it was just a remarkable moment to stand next to these century-old giants, right? i mean, how else do you describe it? but it was very eye opening to see this array of, mixture of completely dead coral, bleached coral, and healthy coral. so, i saw hope, but i also saw a tough situation. and i can see what heat stress really does to these animals. they re sensitive, and i witnessed it. it was humbling. is there still hope? absolutely. there s still hope. you know, the water conditions are actually cooling down somewhat. and on a day like this, we have overcast conditions. that all helps because it increases the stress building on the reefs. i hope that as far as this going, it doesn t increase and move forwards. the next few weeks will tell the story. next we headed north to miami to see the impact on the reef there. you may be thinking, why does the coral reef matter so much to us?