The ocean is the blue heart of the planet.
It shapes climate and weather, generates most of the oxygen in the atmosphere,
and is home for most of the Earth's great diversity of life.
But in a few decades, our actions have taken Earth's natural systems,
our life support system, close to the breaking point.
We have taken the ocean for granted through most of our history,
but we can't take it for granted anymore.
As a scientist with thousands of hours exploring the ocean,
observing the creatures who live there and being observed by them,
I am a witness to the greatest time of change in human history.
In five decades of photographing coral reefs,
I realized I had captured coral through the lens of time,
and this gave me an incredible ability to go back to an exact same spot,
for instance, on Opal Reef and the Great Barrier Reef and photograph
the effects of back to back coral bleaching.
It is a picture that bears witness to the effects of global climate change.
What's more important is that in a single frame,
I can show what was a healthy, robust reef
and what is now a cemetery.
It's a picture that I hope that wakes people up.
As the oceans go. So do we.
Coral reefs are very important for marine life,
despite they occupy only 1% of the ocean floor.
They sustain more than a quarter of marine species.
They give income, food and coastal protection
to more than 500 million people all around the world.
As an international partner of the Reefugia project,
our team feels proud
of the strong collaboration we have established with our colleagues
at the Natural History Museum in London.
We have been able to truly work together
and share expertize and resources to better understand the ecology of resilient coral reefs.
Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to climate change,
so it is urgent to find reefs that can cope better
with global warming and increased water temperature.
And as corals do not grow according to country borders,
we need to join efforts to understand
the challenges and find ways to protect these reefs.
Over our time in the sea,
we have seen evidence of overfishing,
an increase in ocean pollution,
habitat loss, habitat destruction,
climate change on nearly every assignment, whether we start out to document it or not.
We also see resilience.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards bring the magnificence of the ocean
into our consciousness and brings into our homes the impact of humans.
The Natural History Museum is looking for solutions,
with many others striving for a future where people and planet thrive.
Through global partnerships, increased awareness, science and personal actions,
there is hope for recovery where damage has been inflicted.
You, I, we, all can do something to protect the blue heart of the planet.