- [Narrator] The islands of Bermuda.
Shipwreck capital of the world.
Home to more than 300 known wrecks, countless others lay undiscovered beneath the shifting
sands.
Its dangerous ring of reefs ended so many voyages across the Atlantic, early sailors
called it "the Devil's Isle.”
- [Philippe] All these people saw Bermuda as this awful place to avoid because you couldn't
navigate near it.
Pretty much every breaker has a shipwreck next to it, or some piece of a shipwreck,
because that's the areas that most shipwrecks first encountered Bermuda and essentially
came to their tragic ends.
- [Narrator] Once laid to rest on the seafloor, these wrecks were reborn as new habitats for
life on the reef.
Now, coral and fish communities thrive here, including the iconic parrotfish.
This nationally-protected species grazes algae off the reef, fostering new coral growth and
contributing to the distinctive composition of Bermuda's sand.
- [Samia] All of the beaches in Bermuda are of coralline origin.
So those beautiful pink sandy beaches, that all come from corals.
- [Philippe] All our sand is a byproduct of life.
This whole island, this whole space, the part that we live on is life itself.
- [Samantha] Bermuda is made up of coral reefs.
So, if you look at the Bermuda platform, we're standing on coral reef structure here now.
- [Narrator] Covering 280-square-miles, Bermuda’s extensive reef platform is essential for its
tourism and fishing industries.
More crucially, these reefs that once terrified mariners of old, are now paramount to Bermuda’s
safety.
They are all that protects the islands from the open ocean.
- [Samia] The role of coral reefs as a coastal barrier is huge.
In Bermuda, it has been estimated that the corals on the south shore, for example, dissipate
up to 85% of the waves that are generated from storms or hurricanes, 85%.
That's a lot.
- [Philippe] If that reef system goes away, if those breakers go away, we're going to
have high seas, a highly dynamic ocean ecosystem bashing onto what is essentially a sand limestone
island.
That is literally what keeps us from disappearing.
- [Narrator] Today, the reef, and its shipwrecks, are subject to the accelerating impacts of
a changing climate.
But, Bermuda is in a unique position to meet those challenges.
- [Amy] Bermuda’s really a remarkable place in that it’s kind of a hope spot.
Our corals are slightly more resilient, in part, because they've done a really good job
managing them.
They protect the parrotfish and so, there's a lot of thought put into how to take care
of reefs and restoration efforts.
- [Narrator] Gathered together in this tiny tropical haven, local Bermudians and international
scientists strive to better understand and protect the islands and reefs they call home.
- [Narrator] How is climate change amplifying the impact of the open ocean on this small
island nation?
And what can we learn about resilience from the life that thrives at ocean's edge?
Show Open/Underwriting Spot: Major funding for this program was provided
by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve and protect America’s underwater
resources.
Additional funding was provided by Trish and Dan Bell and by the Parrot Family Endowment
for Environmental Education.