The waters around Indonesia contain 18 percent of the planet’s coral. Australia has 17 percent and the Philippines 9 percent. French overseas territories have 5 percent, that is, 5,512 square miles (14,280 square kilometres) of coral formations like those carpeting the seabed in the clear waters of the Polynesian archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, above which this catamaran appears to be flying. Tiny algae live in symbiosis with coral and stimulate its calcification. However, coral remains shrouded in mystery, for although the organisms that produce it are known, the mechanisms involved are not. There are local solutions to most of the threats that face coral, such as pollution, damage, and silting; the challenge is to put them into practice. However, the growing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2) in the atmosphere may lead to alteration of the chemical balance of seawater, which at present allows the coral skeleton to form. Having adapted to a 393 foot (120 metre) rise in sea

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