Red Coral Dress

"No water, no life. No blue, no green." - Dr Sylvia Earle

The finger coral is one of over 600 coral species that make up the Great Barrier Reef. Coral are animals, made up of tiny polyps that form a 'colony' which then functions as a large single organism. These polyps are related to jellyfish and anemones. 

According to an article by the BBC Oct 2020, The Great Barrier Reef has lost more 50% of its coral since 1995. A lot of these species are the hard structural coral, like the Finger Coral, which provides home and safety for much of the marine life in the reef. There have now been 3 mass bleachings of the reef - 2016, 2017 and 2020. 

Warming ocean temperatures has affected the reefs ability to regenerate after bleaching as many of the adult corals have died and there are now fewer baby corals. Warmer waters has also increase the number of contaminants and algae which makes it harder for coral to survive. Global temperatures have already risen by about 1C since pre-industrial times. The UN has warned that if that rise reaches 1.5C, 90% of the world's corals will be wiped out.

Jess has drawn the Finger Coral here in vibrant red and magenta shades, shaping the coral into an abstract heart, symbolising hard coral as the heart and spine of coral reefs, and once they are gone the reef is gone. 

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