Born of fire, the Gal pagos archipelago evokes
visions of an ecological Eden.

They are volcanic, isolated islands, so they
are unique.

This primordial world is home to some of the
strangest creatures on earth from sea-going

lizards to tortoises the size of rum barrels.

This is a special place where so many strange
animals are living together.

Penguins, mantas, sea lions, sea iguanas.

Altogether in one place.

And this strange ecosystem has very interesting
behaviors.

The islands are engulfed in cold and warm
ocean currents, resulting in this unique diversity

of species.

You get cold water organisms and warm water
organisms all mixed.

Corals are among the warm water species living
in the islands and what is happening to them

may be a harbinger of things to come.

We know now that the ocean chemistry is changing
dramatically and that s because of the industrial

age and all of the carbon dioxide that has
been put into the atmosphere.

Corals are forecast to be impacted severely
by these changes in ocean chemistry.

The isolation of these islands makes them
a perfect laboratory for studying climate change.

The Gal pagos Islands acts as a natural laboratory
because it s naturally exposed to high C02

conditions that provide essentially a window
into the future of what we can expect throughout

the rest of the world s oceans, with the
doubling and tripling of atmospheric CO2.

The other added benefit is that it has experienced
two very strong El Ni o events in the last

three decades.

During El Ni o warm seawater temperatures
cause coral bleaching.

And coral bleaching is one of the primary
concerns of what coral reefs face with climate change.

So by going into the Gal pagos and studying
how these reefs respond to warmer temperatures

under these naturally low pH conditions, we
can gain a window into the future.

What is in store for coral reefs?

Can corals survive in more acidic oceans and
cope with increased water temperatures?