• 3 days ago
These special forces veterans are now on a new mission: to rebuild coral reefs.

Meet the divers from Force Blue ...

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Transcript
00:00We were serving our country, we're just serving our planet now.
00:11And that's where it's most vital right now, is this is where the fight is.
00:27The government spends a tremendous amount of money training us, you know, being the
00:31best of the best.
00:32So one thing that we can do is that we're very good divers.
00:36We bring a tremendous asset to the environment.
00:49As you plant that coral, you go back, grab another piece, there's already a marine life
00:54there, enjoying that piece that you just planted.
00:59You get to see firsthand the impact that you're making to our marine environment.
01:13We're all mission oriented guys.
01:15And when that mission no longer exists, then that's problematic for a lot of veterans.
01:22They have a tendency to gravitate towards that black hole, that alcoholism, maybe drug
01:27addiction.
01:28For us as veterans, it's not just about preserving the ocean, but it's also about preserving
01:32and restoring ourselves.
01:41The majority of those dives are in the middle of the night, two o'clock in the morning,
01:46extremely dark, visibility is very low, you can maybe see your hand in front of your face.
01:51Then I transitioned to becoming a member of Force Blue, and the very first dive that
01:56I did, it was transcending to take in the colors, the marine life, the coral reefs,
02:03everything.
02:04It really changed my view of being in the ocean.
02:08Almost as corny as it sounds, I became one with the ocean and one with the marine life
02:13because it really drove home the fact that regardless of the species, this is our one
02:18planet.
02:42So we've come full circle from unfortunately impacting our coral reefs in a negative aspect
02:47to impacting them in a truly positive aspect.
02:4925% of all marine life rely on our foreshore and seabed, and that's a lot of marine life.
03:19So if we lose them, all the animals, the food webs, the keystone species that are connected
03:26to our coral reefs are at risk as well.
03:30Corals also play a part in the air we breathe because a third of all oxygen comes from our
03:35oceans and corals are an important ecosystem that's connected to that process.
03:49Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease actually started here in Miami, Florida.
03:55What's particularly alarming about this disease is when you first see it present on a coral
04:00colony, it can consume and kill that entire colony in days or even weeks.
04:19When we went down, we got to see coral that we had planted two years ago.
04:28I mean, it just grows so much.
04:31I mean, little pieces, which are huge now, and just to see the marine life just enjoying
04:37it, it's truly wonderful.
04:49If you see this big Navy SEAL or this big Army Special Forces guy starts talking about,
04:55you know, climate change or impacts on the ocean, you know, people, whereas they may
05:02never listen to a political opposition, now have a tendency to listen towards a veteran.
05:07Leading by example is a huge thing in the military.
05:09My daughter knows that, and I hope that as I lead by example for her, she can care for
05:14our oceans.
05:15And then when she eventually gets married and has children, she can teach them as well.
05:19So let's take care of that planet for generations to come.