reef Keepers
As obstacles rise, so do the keepers of a fragile underwater world. This is the story of the people healing Florida’s coral reef—and finding resilience in themselves.
about the film
In Florida, where water is life, a tight-knit group of coral conservationists fights to restore the reef that has protected the shoreline for generations.
Reef Keepers is a documentary film that follows three scientists' journey as they refuse to let the reef—and the communities that depend on it—slip away. Amid record-breaking heat waves, intensified hurricanes, and the emotional weight of loss, they aren’t just saving corals. They’re proving that stewardship, inventiveness, and grit can still turn the tide.
Reef Keepers is currently in production through 2025, with an anticipated release in early 2026
The Florida Coral Reef is worth an estimated $8.5 billion. But the reef has lost almost 90% of its Living Corals in the past 40 years.
The Florida Coral Reef has experienced dramatic losses due to lethal diseases, bleaching, hurricanes, pollution, and record-smashing marine heat waves, most notably in 2023. Today, more corals live in land-based labs and artificial coastal nurseries than on the reef.
Conservationists across the state have set aside their differences to band together in a common cause—to keep enough corals alive to one day restore the reef that has protected and sustained Florida for millennia.
It’s a massive undertaking, too big for any one person and too long for one lifetime. But one thing is clear: No one is giving up.
Reef Keepers explores how three conservation scientists are tackling these challenges with Floridian moxie and determination and shows how we all have a part to play in the future of coral.
about the reef
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