the algae, like a plant, carries out photosynthesis and utilizes those nutrients. when the water gets too hot, the algae are producing so much oxygen because their rate of photosynthesis increases with temperature, that the oxygen they produce is sort of toxic, there's too much, so they become expelled. if the w water gets hotter still, the coral turns white. it's bleached, lost its algae, and the coral may die. so the plants see it as a place to live, and they just begin to grow there. if we don't have fish to eat them and to eat the algae, then it's like w weeds overgrowing your prize vegetables in your garden. in the last 25 years, we've seen a big shihift from what we ththk of as coral reeeefs to algal meadowows. narrator: since 1974, phil dustan has documented the demise of the once vibrant coral reefs along the florida keys and the cariribbean islands.s. dustan us photographphy, transect measurements, a species checklist, and continuous water temperature monitoring. on bali's menjangan reef, dustan worked with coral reef sentist carol milner. milner: the biod