A brand new movie by Samsung and Seatrees captures the affect and urgency of coral reef restoration by the lens of Galaxy expertise
On the United Nations Ocean Convention 2025 (UNOC)1 in Good, held to mark World Oceans Day on June 8, Samsung Electronics hosted a premiere occasion for “Coral in Focus,” a brand new documentary that brings the worldwide coral disaster into sharp aid. The occasion, held at Ocean Home, featured a screening of the movie adopted by a panel dialogue with main voices in marine science, conservation and expertise.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Quentin van den Bossche, “Coral in Focus” follows scientists, engineers and native conservationists as they confront the pressing threats going through coral reefs — ecosystems that assist as much as a billion individuals and 1 / 4 of all marine life. This work is a part of a broader effort introduced at Galaxy Unpacked in January 2025, the place Samsung unveiled its partnership with Seatrees to assist the restoration of coastal ecosystems with communities in Fiji, Indonesia and the US, leveraging Galaxy digicam expertise to doc and support within the restoration of marine environments.
The documentary spotlights the pressing threats going through coral reefs and showcases how modern expertise and world collaboration can drive significant affect for marine ecosystems.
A Disaster Hidden Beneath the Floor
As ocean temperatures shattered information, greater than 80% of the world’s reefs have suffered from mass bleaching. When corals bleach, they lose not simply their colour however their lifeblood — the algae that feed them. This disaster, largely invisible to the general public, threatens biodiversity, meals safety and coastal resilience. Lengthy-term local weather motion is essential to safeguarding coral reefs, whereas short-term restoration efforts — knowledgeable and supported by modern expertise — might help them stand up to rising ocean temperatures.
A Galaxy Smartphone That Sees Beneath the Waves
Samsung collaborated with Seatrees, a nonprofit devoted to restoring marine ecosystems, and the Scripps Establishment of Oceanography on the College of California, San Diego, a world chief in reef analysis, to pioneer a brand new frontier in coral restoration by exploring new, modern options. Ocean Mode,2 a specialised digicam characteristic created particularly for this partnership, was developed, launched and validated in real-world situations in Indonesia and Fiji. This course of has created a reputable basis for broader scientific use whereas enhancing the general accessibility of this new expertise.
By enabling extra scientists, conservationists and even citizen scientists with the flexibility to {photograph}, map and monitor reefs, Ocean Mode might help restoration efforts scale, and make it doable for anybody to guard extra reefs, in additional locations, with better affect.
Innovation With Measurable Influence
Ocean Mode transforms the Galaxy S24 Extremely right into a cellular marine analysis device, enabling vivid, high-resolution picture seize even in difficult underwater situations. It corrects the extreme blue and inexperienced hues typical of underwater pictures, permitting for a extra correct illustration of coral well being and variety.
The digicam adjusts shutter velocity and leverages multi-frame picture processing to cut back movement blur attributable to water motion or diver exercise, guaranteeing sharp, detailed photos. With its interval taking pictures functionality, the gadget can robotically seize hundreds of photos in a single dive, dramatically enhancing each effectivity and consistency. These photos can then be used to generate 3D fashions of coral reefs utilizing expertise generally known as photogrammetry, giving researchers a strong technique to visualize and research the drivers of the construction and well being of reefs over time.
Over the previous yr, the challenge has delivered extraordinary outcomes. With these coral restoration initiatives, 17 3D fashions of coral reefs have been made with the assistance of scientists and Samsung to investigate the affect of coral restoration efforts and validate the precision of Galaxy units for photogrammetry. In complete, Seatrees challenge companions planted greater than 14,046 coral fragments to revive 10,705 sq. meters of coral reef habitat.
A Premiere With Objective
The “Coral in Focus” premiere at Ocean Home, in partnership with Undertaking Everybody, introduced collectively scientists, storytellers and sustainability leaders for a strong dialog on the position that expertise and world collaboration play in the way forward for coral reefs.
▲ (From left) Alex Heath, Cassie Smith, Dr. Daniel Wangpraseurt, Michael Stewart and Quentin van den Bossche
▲ “Ocean Mode grew to become its personal character within the documentary,” stated Quentin van den Bossche, director of “Coral in Focus.” “This helped us illustrate a few of the complicated, particular challenges that reef conservationists encounter. And displaying the distinction between photographs taken with and with out Ocean Mode helped floor the expertise in one thing visible and even emotional. That is the place the affect of partnerships amongst firms, analysis institutes and nonprofits actually involves life.”
▲ Michael Stewart, co-founder of Seatrees, holds a Galaxy S24 Extremely to indicate Ocean Mode 12 months 1 affect metrics — about 14,046 coral fragments planted throughout three restoration websites.
“A key focus of the coral restoration efforts is having the ability to monitor what’s working and what’s not. And that begins with capturing high-quality photos of our supported reefs,” stated Michael Stewart, co-founder of Seatrees. “Our native companions have actually appreciated Ocean Mode as a result of it has improved their potential to seize higher-quality photos with Galaxy telephones to make the 3D fashions created by the scientists at Scripps extra correct.”
“Cellular expertise is a strong technique to join communities with ecosystems they could by no means bodily encounter however are deeply tied to by local weather, biodiversity and cultural heritage,” stated Daniel Wangpraseurt, Ph.D., affiliate analysis scientist on the Scripps Establishment of Oceanography. “Smartphones at the moment are able to taking high-resolution imagery to assist generate extra correct 3D fashions. Additionally they maintain distinctive potential to extend the tempo at which we share this data with individuals all over the world who could by no means get to expertise a coral reef themselves.”
▲ “By means of our partnership with Seatrees, we noticed how Galaxy expertise might play a job not simply in accountable sourcing however in supporting coral reef restoration,” stated Cassie Smith, Senior Supervisor, Company Sustainability and U.S. Public Affairs at Samsung Electronics America. “The documentary tells that story fantastically — displaying what occurs when like-minded companions, engineers, scientists and native communities come along with shared objective and the appropriate instruments.”
▲ Attendees of the “Coral in Focus” documentary premiere included Swati Thiyagarajan, award-winning documentary filmmaker, environmental journalist with the Sea Change Undertaking and affiliate producer and manufacturing supervisor of the Academy Award-winning “My Octopus Instructor”; Titouan Bernicot, founder and CEO of Coral Gardeners and Nationwide Geographic Explorer; and Beverly Camhe, author, producer and leisure government.
“It’s important for the non-public sector to be concerned and assist get impactful options off the bottom,” stated Lefteris Arapakis, co-founder of Enaleia. “We want all events working collectively to guard and scale ocean conservation efforts. I’m particularly enthusiastic about Ocean Mode — instruments like this make our work extra environment friendly and assist us create better affect.”
“It was a ravishing movie, and I like the way it left us with a way of hope and one thing we might do about the issue,” stated Dana Habib, affiliate on the Institute for Built-in Transitions.
▲ Panelists and attendees talk about the “Coral in Focus” movie and challenge.
The dialogue was moderated by Alex Heath, Managing Director, U.S. Head of Social Influence & Sustainability at Edelman. The occasion additionally featured 3D reef fashions generated from photogrammetry knowledge created with Galaxy S24 Ultras used within the area.
Exploring Ocean Conservation at UNOC
Along with the premiere of “Coral in Focus,” Samsung representatives spoke on two panels hosted by the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO-IOC) on the UNESCO-IOC “Past Borders: Ocean Futures” pavilion. First, Generation17 Younger Chief José Francisco Ochoa spoke in regards to the significance of digital expertise and neighborhood partnership through the panel “Showcasing the Range of Ocean Literacy Practices Across the World,” the place he shared insights on how Generation17 elevates his work to advance ocean literacy.
Samsung additionally participated in a panel dialogue titled “The Position of Corals in Unlocking the Secrets and techniques of Biodiversity,” highlighting its dedication to marine conservation. Cassie Smith, Senior Supervisor of Company Sustainability and U.S. Public Affairs at Samsung Electronics, introduced how Galaxy expertise, together with Ocean Mode, serves as a device to assist marine ecosystem safety by environmental monitoring, knowledge assortment and neighborhood engagement. The panel was a part of a full day of programming held throughout UNOC that promotes ocean literacy and consciousness of ocean preservation.
A Continued Dedication to Ocean Well being
The collaboration with Seatrees builds on Samsung’s broader dedication to ocean well being. Since 2022, the corporate has included over 150 tonnes of recycled fishing nets into Galaxy units. Now, with Ocean Mode, Samsung is redefining the position of cellular expertise in local weather motion — increasing analysis capabilities, elevating consciousness and making the invisible seen.
To observe the total documentary and entry extra details about the initiative, go to the Samsung x Seatrees partnership touchdown web page.
1 Held each three to 5 years, UNOC serves as a world platform uniting governments, scientists, companies and civil society to advertise ocean motion and implement Sustainable Improvement Objective 14: Life Beneath Water. The 2025 convention in Good emphasizes scaling science-based options to guard marine ecosystems and guarantee a sustainable future for the world’s oceans.
2 Ocean Mode was completely developed for this challenge and is just accessible to taking part companions.