Reef Keepers

Reef Keepers follows scientists' journey of care, connection, and defiance as they refuse to let Florida’s Coral Reef – and the communities that depend on it – slip away. Amid record-breaking heat waves, hurricanes, and loss, they aren’t just saving corals: They’re proving that stewardship and grit can turn the tide.

Florida’s Coral Reef, an $8.5 billion ecosystem that protects shorelines, sustains fisheries, and fuels tourism, has lost up to 90% of its living coral in some areas due to extreme heat, disease, pollution, and increasingly powerful storms. As record-breaking marine heatwaves and hurricanes devastate the reef, the burden of its survival now rests on a small group of dedicated individuals who refuse to walk away.

Viewers follow three central figures as they confront repeated loss, burnout, and uncertainty while continuing to care for corals now living largely in land-based facilities. Their work includes evacuating endangered coral during hurricanes, preserving genetic lineages, breeding heat-tolerant species, and hand-planting young colonies onto the reef. Along the way, the film captures the emotional toll of stewardship, grief, exhaustion, and perseverance, alongside moments of awe, collaboration, and hope.

In the aftermath of the 2023 marine heatwave, long-standing competition between institutions gives way to unprecedented cooperation, revealing a model of collective action rooted in care and solidarity. Reef Keepers shows that while humanity plays a role in this crisis, collective care shapes the future of both the reef and those who depend on it.