Coral Reef Adventure follows the real-life expedition of ocean exploreres and underwater filmmakers Howard and Miohele Hall. Using large-format cameras, the Halls guide us to the islands and sun-drenched waters of the South Pacific to document the health and beauty of coral reefs.

Peter's DVD rating: Despite the hokey plot about a Fijian native asking the filmmakers to find out why "his" reef is dying, this film does manage to offer a few pearls of education, though some facts are simply stated without explanation: "coral reefs have been going strong for 60 million years". Rusi teaches us that we should share the ocean's bounties since "corals share the same stomach" - except corals are acoelomates and do not even have a body cavity, much less an organ such as a stomach. In fact, if you watch David Attenborough's "Coral Seas" from the "Blue Planet" series instead, you can learn that coral polyps actually compete with each other over territory. Another oversimplified soundbite about coral ecology claims that without the Convict Tang to eat the algae, the reefs would die; again the "Coral Seas" offers a more dynamic view of how these fish compete for rerources with other creatures of the reef. This film looks too much like a glorifed vacation shoot: "this is me in a hang glider... me in a lightweight aircraft... me talking to a scientist... me posing with a Potato Cod... me with a cleaner shrimp in my mouth... me with the indigenous people...", and of course "me lugging fancy diving equipment... me in a hospital recovering from the bends...". The climax: will they find the Gray Reef Sharks at Rangiroa Atoll? Don't hold your breath until they reach the famous Tiputa Pass! My ancient classroom computer froze up trying to play disc 2.

8:20	Great Barrier Reef: Giant Potato Cod protected by laws	8:45	Convict Tangs nibble seaweed from corals	9:40	Christmas Tree Worm
9:45	Goby? lives in burrow of near-sighted Bulldozer Shrimp	10:55	Cleaner Wrasse feeds on parasites in mouth of Giant Potato Cod	12:30	Helper algae live inside coral animals, driven out by high temperatures - coral bleaching
16:35	Common Octopus survives by trapping crustaceans with its "tent" (Fiji)	18:00	Silt in river from logging	19:40	Mangrove? roots trap silt
21:35	Coral polyps share "stomach"	23:35	Yellow Damselfish guards eggs before they hatch	23:40	Sea Cucumber filters waste from water
35:25	Reef/island succession leading to an atoll	37:00	Parrotfish males fight over territory (Rangiroa Atoll)	39:15	Gray Reef Sharks (Tiputa Pass)

8:20 Potato Cod	8:45 Convict Tangs	9:45 Goby?
9:45 Bulldozer Shrimp	10:55 Cleaner Wrasse	12:30 coral bleaching
16:35 Common Octopus	18:00 Silt in river	19:40 Mangrove?
21:35 Coral polyps	23:35 Yellow Damselfish	23:40 Sea Cucumber
35:25 atoll	37:00 Parrotfish	39:15 Gray Reef Sharks

Index	Jan 19, 2006	Peter Chen 2.0