The Chagos Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean is part of the largest coral atoll in the world. The biodiversity underwater is enormous. Together with a team of researchers, marine biologist and Terra-X presenter Uli Kunz explores nature above and below the water. Far from any continent, scientists are looking for answers to crucial questions: How healthy are coral reefs where there is hardly any human influence? Which species are found: in the water and on land? And what are the consequences of climate change even in such a remote island paradise? The research in the Chagos Archipelago has great significance for other regions of the world as well. Because almost everywhere, corals are under heat stress. More than half of the reefs are severely endangered – and researchers are trying to help the corals. Marine biologists from Saudi Arabia and Germany are working together on new therapies for corals in the Red Sea. The approaches work in the lab, but will the researchers be successful in the open ocean? Can their approaches slow down – or even stop – coral mortality?
WRITER & DIRECTOR: Claudia Ruby PRESENTER: Uli Kunz CAMERA: Torbjörn Karvang, Phillip Mall UNDERWATER-CAMERA: Ulf Marquardt, Christian Howe, Uli Kunz EDITOR: Johannes Hiroshi Nakajima, Fabian Reisch SOUND:Johannes Maschmann MUSIC: Paul Rabiger COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Ricarda Schlosshan (ZDF), Marita Hübinger (ARTE)
