Jason Momoa is taking his Aquaman role into real life. Photo: Coral Gardeners//Instagram
Jason Momoa, actor, producer, and environmental activist, recently penned an op-ed for The Guardian. In it, he calls for more protections of coral reefs around the world.
Momoa, who you know as Aquaman, Drogo, and maybe, if you’re a certain age, as Jason from Baywatch, was born in Hawaii. Although he was raised mostly in Iowa, he moved back to Hawaii after he finished high school. In the years since, he’s shot to the heights of Hollywood fame, and he’s been using that visibility to make a stand for a variety of environmental issues.
“Where I come from – Hawai’i – the reef isn’t just something you look at,” he wrote in the piece. “It’s part of us. It feeds our families, protects our shores, and lives at the center of our culture. In our stories, coral is one of our oldest ancestors. It’s a reminder that everything in the ocean, and all of us, are connected. Right now, that integral connection is under threat.”
Coral reefs around the globe are in dire straits. Warming oceans are accelerating coral bleaching events, and 2025 was a particularly bad year.
“Our coral reefs are under severe stress,” Momoa explained. “The planet has just experienced the most widespread coral bleaching event ever recorded, lasting 33 months into 2025. Scientists warn that at 1.5C of global warming, up to 90 percent of coral reefs could be lost. Ninety percent. And 1.5C is not lingering in the distance – it’s extremely close.”
But the rapidly warming climate isn’t the only issue that reefs are facing. There’s a slew of other awful things we’re causing in our race to be the most comfortable humans that’ve ever walked the Earth. Our food production, our egregious use of plastic, and our need for more of… well, just about everything, is taking a serious toll.
“Even if the world somehow hits its climate targets, reefs are still getting pummeled by plastic pollution, coastal development, agricultural runoff and overfishing,” Momoa wrote. “They’re so fragile. And when reefs weaken, coastlines get hit harder by storms and rising seas. Homes and jobs become exposed. Cultures and sacred places are put at risk. And the incredible range of underwater life found only in reefs – once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. But I refuse to let coral reefs be a lost cause.”
Hawaiians in particular pride themselves on being stewards of the land. There’s something called kuleana there. In short, it’s a responsibility that’s passed down from the elders to the youth.
“Different languages have different terms for it, but this sense of duty and care is not a new concept. It’s been central, especially to island nations and coastal societies, for centuries,” Momoa explained. “Now, for our environment and especially our reefs, this responsibility extends to every single person on Earth. We all need to remember that we’re part of nature, and taking care of it means taking care of ourselves.”
Read Momoa’s full op-ed on The Guardian.
A boulder star coral in St. Croix, USVI, as it shifted from healthy (May 2023), to bleached (October 2023). Photos: NOAA
