One of the summer's most anticipated films, "Finding Dory," could make waves outside the movie theater.
Some scientists fear the movie may increase the removal of wild clownfish like Nemo or blue tangs like Dory from coral reefs for the sake of making them household pets.
The demand for clownfish increased after the 2003 release of "Finding Nemo" and over one million clownfish are removed from reefs in the wild each year, according to a group of marine biologists, aquaculturalists, and science educators with the Australian non-profit Saving Nemo.
Additionally, the habitats in which these fish live are becoming more and more limited as coral bleaching becomes more common, bringing the fish closer to extinction.
The non-profit is working to save Nemo by breeding clownfish in nurseries to meet the demand of aquarium stores so the fish don't need to be taken from the wild.
It leads to some pretty adorable Instagrams from the nursery.
One of the main takeaways from "Finding Nemo" - to protect our oceans - seems to have been lost on some fans. Things got so bad that in 2012, the Center for Biological Diversity sent a petition to the National Marine Fisheries Service requesting the orange clownfish and other reef fish be added to a list of endangered species. That request was later rejected in 2015 after investigation by NOAA.
But now the sequel "Finding Dory" could not only put clownfish at risk, but blue tangs, too. The film partially follows Nemo and his friends as they reintegrate into ocean life, and the movie's main star is the forgetful blue tang Dory who is trying to discover her past.
Unlike clownfish, blue tangs are difficult to breed in captivity so none are. This means any pet owner looking to add a blue tang to their tank would be responsible for the fish being removed from its natural environment.
Saving Nemo has started a project to raise awareness and hopefully gain attention from the voice of Dory, Ellen DeGeneres. They're asking supporters to take part in the Million Kisses Campaign where people take a picture of themselves make a fish kiss face, post it to social media, and tag DeGeneres and friends to participate as well.
DeGeneres previously made her opinion on the captivity of wild fish clear in an interview about the upcoming film with Yahoo! Movies.
"I think that fish should be in the ocean," she said. "We have to protect our oceans, and we should. Hopefully that discussion starts with this film too because we really do have to protect that environment."
