greg asker asner is on a mission to save coral reefs. understanding how quickly things are happening can only be done from the sky. from satellite technology, researchers scan the depths creating these technicolor pictures of the ocean floor. every image is stitched together to make the allen coral atlas, showing conservationists areas that are resilient and the reefs that need life support. you're kind of like a reef doctor. >> yeah. you're getting the diagnosis. it's kind of like an mri of the reef from up here. they've survived heat events. they've survived pollution. they've survived against all odds and that gives me a lot of hope because we're learning from those areas. >> reporter: the question became how could they use these resilient strains of coral to repopulate dying reefs? by keeping that ecosystem healthy, it insures other organisms like the sea sponge thrive. >> the corals will come into this massive nursery and they'll be the parents of millions and millions of offspring that are going to go back into the ocean. >> report