[Coral-List] city analogy for coral reefs: see "City of Coral" on NOVA, March 1983
Les Kaufman
lesk at bu.edu
Fri Nov 27 12:51:37 EST 2009
Hi everybody.
I haven't been following this thread closely, but I did "coin" this
phrase with Neil Goodwin for the 1983 Nova film of that title ("City
of Coral"). I put "coin" in quotes because these phrases sort of
float around and who knows who really thinks them up first. I do
know I was inspired by the classic 1960 book by Marston Bates, "The
Forest and the Sea" though I don't remember if he actually used the
city analogy. I wouldn't be surprised if you find it's lying around
in Darwin's musings, either. It is an obvious analogy.
Oh, by the way, I also invented the Internet.
We made "City of Coral" for NOVA, and it first aired on PBS (WGBH
Television) on March 8, 1983. This is how WGBH blurbs it:
"City of Coral
NOVA takes a spellbinding voyage through one of the world's most
fascinating and colorful ecosystems: a coral reef, where the line
between plants and animals is blurred, "rocks" move, eat and fight,
fish farm, and weak animals borrow the shields and weapons of
stronger ones."
You can still get a copy from WGBH I think. I have an old 3/4"
videotape but it's scratchy, and there's nowhere around here to play
it. Nobody even recognizes what the square box with the tape wound
up in it even is any more. And the show was created on 16mm
film...remember that?
We shot the film mostly in Teague Bay and Buck Island National
Monument, St. Croix. I shot additional footage at Discovery Bay
Marine Laboratory, Rio Bueno, and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Neil Goodwin
produced and directed in collaboration with John Borden, I wrote,
handled field logistics, wrangled crabs and corals, and shot a bit of
it.
The footage is of some historical ecology value as the reefs were in
better shape than now, though the film was made after the initial
decline of Caribbean reefs had begun (Hurricane Allen, Diadema
plague, I think the first white band, etc.).
I am also pretty sure that "City of Coral" contains the first footage
of a predator engulfing a puffer and thinking better of it when the
puffer inflates explosively in its mouth. I can tell you there was a
fish tank and an algae scraper involved so you'll have to decide for
yourself it was too Disney to count. Howard and Michelle Hall did
something slicker with a swellshark and an angel shark in California
for one of their early Omni films.
Les
Les Kaufman
Professor of Biology
Boston University Marine Program
and
Senior PI
Marine Management Area Science
Conservation International
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