Ellen DeGeneres Lightly Tells Australia Off For Not Saving The Great Barrier Reef
"It’s critical that we protect this amazing place, and we’d like your help.”
In case you haven’t heard, the Great Barrier Reef is basically fucked. This week, it was reported that due to coral bleaching caused by climate change, almost a quarter of the reef is dead, leading to a “major environmental catastrophe”. This means that the structure of the reef is on the edge of collapse and can no longer provide the same amount of food or shelter for sea life. Eventually, this will result in a total transformation of the ecosystem.
Even though some scientists say that it’s too late to save the reef, there are others who think if we act quickly, the damage can be minimised. One of these people is Ellen DeGeneres, who has advocated support for the ‘Remember The Reef’ campaign. Coinciding with the release of her film Finding Dory, DeGeneres recorded a message to Australia about her love of the Great Barrier Reef, “home to my favourite fish, Dory”.
“And as you may remember – but Dory probably doesn’t – she’s a blue tang and has many other amazing species that live in the Great Barrier Reef with her,” DeGeneres says. “It’s critical that we protect this amazing place, and we’d like your help.”
DeGeneres urges Australians to support the Great Barrier Reef Foundation by visiting RememberTheReef.com, which features lots of Finding Dory-themed information pamphlets and directs people to donate money to rebuild ecosystems in the upper catchment of the reef. Sure it’s all very heavily Disney-branded, but if it helps stop the destruction of the the Great Barrier Reef, maybe that doesn’t matter so much?