This past week’s Rose-Becker cafe hosted Professor Drew Harvell. She discussed marine biology, and focused on the fragile ecosystem that is our choral reefs. We watched a short film called Fragile Legacy which lead us through the history of glass modelling of marine life and then her recent studies and travels. Glass modelling is a crucial aspect of the representation of marine life. Many animals have hardy bones or some better material that can be easily preserved so we can put them up in displays in museums, but that is not the case for many marine animals. Jellyfish for instance have very soft bodies, and if you were to preserve them in any chemical solution, it would just look like a big white blob. For that reason, glass is used in order to show the delicate nature of the organism and describe the way that it moves and flows. Some of these glass models will be presented within the Johnson Museum next year.

Another aspect of the documentary was discussing her travels, and the delicate nature of the coral reef ecosystem. The coral reefs and the wildlife within them are constantly being damaged. Some fisherman throw dynamite into the water to kill lots of fish and collect them and in the process are damaging the reefs beyond repair. There needs to be much more government sanctioning and regulation in order to preserve their delicate ecosystem. We wouldn’t want any more rare and exotic species to go extinct than there already have. We have such a beautiful world beneath our waters which still holds many mysteries. Let’s hope we don’t destroy them before we can find them.