narrator: mark van thillo is the captain of the mir, a 100-foot sailing vessel built in 1910 and world headquarters of the biosphere foundation, which he created with gaie alling, an ocean scientist and his partner of 30 years. together, they have been on the leading edge of documenting the dramatic changes in the planet's coral reefs. alling: we started an 18-year expedition around the world, and it was to look at coral reefs. we looked at 49 sites around the world, and we found that 2/3 of the coral reefs in earth were at risk and suffering, in decline. van thillo: we were in the south pacific. we were sailing past the phoenix islands, and we had just heard that "national geographic" had been there a year earlier, and they hailed it as being the most beautiful reef and most amazing place to go. so our crew said, "let's go there, check it out, and we'll take a break and we'll go diving on fantastic reefs." and as they arrived there, they found that almost the entire reef was dead. man: 2004, 2005, the middle of the ocean, the phoenix islands in the middle of the ocean, the nation of k