Beaches and the ocean are uncharacteristically empty at the moment.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are still advised to stay indoors and keep our distance from others. Usually, you can barely move for people on the coast, so ocean wildlife must surely be thinking something fishy is going on.
Anyhow, Australian ecotourism company Passions Of Paradise are taking advantage of the relative emptiness by carrying out a great service. They’re diving deep down to plant fresh coral in the Great Barrier Reef.
The Cairns company have allowed four divers and a scientist to set out to the Hastings Reef. This is just one of the 3,000 reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef. As of now, the company has planted more than 1,000 pieces of coral on the coral nursery, using the technique known as coral clipping.
Lorna Howlett, project coordinator and PhD student at the University of Technology Sydney, noted that this is the first time tourism operators have worked alongside researchers in the Great Barrier Reef. Moreover, it is the first time that coral clipping has been used to attach corals to the reef.
“Coral clipping involves finding fragments of opportunity – coral fragments that have naturally broken off – and attaching them back on to the reef using a coral clip,” Howlett told Green Matters.
“We can only use fragments of opportunity found at the site, so Passions of Paradise has installed six frames at the site which can be used as a nursery to grow more corals.”
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It provides support for animals and absorbs energy from waves while reducing the damage of storms. Efforts have been ongoing to protect this great ecosystem.
So, while the ocean gets a rest, Passions Of Paradise are giving the Great Barrier Reef a boost. It’s greatly appreciated we’re sure.