Coral bleaching events are killing reefs globally as ocean temperatures rise. Corals are animals — and their bleaching and death represents ecological and potentially welfare catastrophe.
Whether individual coral polyps experience pain in a morally relevant sense is scientifically uncertain. What is certain is that coral death causes enormous downstream welfare harms — fish, crustaceans, and molluscs that depend on reef habitat are displaced, starved, or exposed to predation without shelter. Reef ecosystems protect marine animal welfare at scale.