Climate Change: Coral Reefs at Risk as Turtle Cam Reveals Spectacular Footage (VIDEO)

First Posted: Jul 07, 2015 02:08 PM EDT

A "turtle cam" is showing people the true state of the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists with a GoPro teamed up with turtles to give viewers a tour of the reef, revealing a bit more about the endangered status of this location.

The footage itself lasts for about 15 minutes before the turtle manages to shake the camera from its back. And while the footage is beautiful, it also highlights the state of reefs amid a warming climate.

In fact, on Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that abnormally warm ocean temperatures are creating conditions that threaten to kill corals across the equatorial Pacific, north Pacific and western Atlantic oceans. The main threat, in this case, is coral bleaching. This bleaching occurs when waters become too warm and the corals release their zooxanthellae, which allow the corals to photosynthesize and give them their brilliant hues. If the corals don't recover the zooxanthellae in time, they can die and leave behind vast swathes of dead, white coral.

In Australia, half of the national reserve that includes the Great Barrier Reef has died in the last 30 years due to climate change. As temperatures warm with the El Niño of this year and climate change, it's important to bring the plight of corals to the forefront.

"Many healthy, resilient coral reefs can withstand bleaching as long as they have time to recover," said Mark Eakin, NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator. "However, when you have repeated bleaching on a reef within a short period of time, it's very hard for the corals to recover and survive. This is even worse where corals are suffering from other environmental threats, like pollution or overfishing."

Want to see the video of the reef for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.