'Ocean on Fire' with Bailey Bass Sparks Hope for Coral Reef Revival

The Avatar: The Way of Water actress Bailey Bass is teaming up with ocean conservationist movement Coral Gardeners and their founder, Titouan Bernicot, for a short film titled Ocean on Fire to support the world’s coral reefs.

Entirely shot in Mo’orea, French Polynesia, Ocean on Fire offers insight into their mission to stop the “underwater fires” that are bleaching coral reefs. The short film follows Bernicot, who sits on a beach with Bass and reflects on his childhood, when he would swim in the ocean, admiring the coral reefs—a fascination that sparked his love for the ocean. This passion eventually led him to establish the Coral Gardeners movement to fight against coral bleaching. He saw how the corals looked then and how they look now, and it’s his goal to make a change.

Rising ocean temperatures are the primary cause of coral bleaching, and Bernicot presents a solution to this problem: restoring vital ecosystems by planting more climate-resilient corals—specifically, 1 million of them. The urgency of this matter is higher than ever following this year’s global mass bleaching event.

Bass and Bernicot began working together earlier this year, and they have already planted 100,000 corals. By now, the number is likely even higher. Bass is no stranger to environmental initiatives; she was the keynote speaker at Capitol Hill’s Ocean Week and also moderated a United Nations event on World Ocean Day.

Ocean on Fire delivers a clear message: despite the dire situation, there is still hope for coral reefs—but we must act now before it’s too late.