Saving Nemo - Our Favorite Clownfish's Story Part II

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Saving Nemo: Pixar's 2003 hit minus the fun animation


Saving Nemo 

Director: yours truly
Leading Actor: nemo & his many relatives
Leading Actress: the great barrier reef as a whole
Producer: none, because I'm not getting paid here, am I?

Well, it's been a busy few months, but I'm back to wrap up this exploration of the Great Barrier Reef with none other than the reef's mascot itself: Nemo. 
Everyone knows the childhood classic, Finding Nemo, an animated adventure starring a clown fish trying to find his way home. An underwater adventure, colorful fishies, talented voice actors, and of course, amazing animation, what isn't there to love?

This is Saving Nemo, your favorite clown fish's story part II. Or is it part III? I've never seen Finding Dory so I wouldn't know. Essentially, this is Finding Nemo without all the awesome qualities I listed above, because it you wanted those things, there's a 90% chance that either Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime has got you covered. 

Anyways, dim your lights, grab some popcorn, and get ready to shed a few tears. 

Because this is America, there's a conspiracy theory about Finding Nemo that gained some serious traction. According to these conspiracy enthusiasts, Nemo actually never survived, and Nemo's father's (Marlin) journey to find him was just a journey of discovery. Basically, Nemo never existed. The evidence? 'Nemo' means 'nobody' in Latin, so we get Finding Nobody as the translation of this innocent children's movie's title. Yeah, that took a moment for me to process too. It's pretty dark.

And you know what else is pretty dark? The declining population of our world's clownfish, of course. I hate to be a preacher or one of those vegan enthusiasts (NOT ALL VEGANS but you know what I mean), but this is a wildlife blog, what did you expect? And this article's name? Come on...you knew it was coming. We're going to learn all about saving Nemo. Forget about the suspiciously dark name choice of our favorite clown fish. Let's discover the world of clown fish, so we don't get a repeat of what happened to Marlin. 

There are over 30 species of clownfish in the world, some that live in domestic tanks, and others that live in coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef. As a whole, clown fish are not listed as endangered or even threatened; they're actually Least Concern. However, populations all over the world are declining due to three main factors: climate change, ocean acidification, and the pet trade. 

With the exception of pets, all clownfish live in coral reefs, which as we know, are delicate ecosystems that are severely impacted by climate change and ocean acidification. Habitat loss is a leading reason for the loss of clown fish in the Great Barrier Reef. Rising temperatures overall cause coral bleaching, killing the anemones that are the clown fishes' main home and symbiotic relationship. Additionally, ocean acidification impedes a clownfish's ability to identify sounds and smells, which allows them to navigate their environment and predators. 

Recently, major coral bleaching events have affected over 90% of the Great Barrier Reef's corals. This follows the heat wave of 2016 that killed over 2/3 of the reef's corals. Loss of coral not only correlates with declines of aquatic wildlife populations but also loss of diversity in variety in these species. There are currently over 30 species of clownfish, but as their habitat conditions change, will all of them be able to adapt? 

Clownfish (and other fish species) have the advantage of fast reproduction. Although there is only one breeding female in one school of clownfish, each female can lay over 1000 eggs every few weeks. These hatch just after a few days. But, if there's anything that Finding Nemo has shown us, it's that these eggs can be lost just as quickly as they appeared. 

Since ocean acidification occurs when there's an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, prevention of acidification often starts with climate change efforts. Life's not a movie, and the millions of clownfish in our oceans aren't guaranteed a happy ever after. Read this series to learn how more about how we can help these efforts in our regular daily lives, because we've yet to see how Saving Nemo ends. 

Stay tuned for the next series of my exploration of earth. 




https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/animals/clownfish
https://oceanconservancy.org/wildlife-factsheet/clownfish/
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/fish-populations-collapse-great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-australia-a8294751.html
https://earth.org/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-2022/

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