coral and fish conservation
The great thing that can be seen before you even get to the racks is the cloud of fish around them. These elegant longfin spadefish refused to leave their new territory the whole time we were working on the racks!
Doesn’t look like much from a distance but if you look closely you can see the little coral fragments twsited into the ropes. A method adapted from traditional seaweed farming to allow us to efficiently and biodegradably hold the baby frags until they are doing well on their own. Then we can easily place them out “in the wild” where they can continue to help bring back the reef.
First stop was to check on the older soft coral frags that we have placed a couple of months ago. These beauties seem to be doing pretty well. Again thanks to the training from Vincent @Ocean Gardener!
So far so good on the placement of one of the Acropora frags on to a conrete bell. The chain is a test modification to allow for easier attachment of the growing coral fragments. The green algae, that we later cleaned off, is a reminder of how important it is to have herbivorous fish to keep the algae to a minimum and allow the corals to have the light they need to grow.
A plump Acropora frag in it’s temporary home.
You can see the delicate little white feeding arms tucked inside these polyps ready to come out and grab plankton when it is ready to feed.
A successful soft coral frag using the cotton rope system.
About Corals from a Coral's point of View
We are not Rocks!!
Yes, we know our deceased family members who weren’t as lucky as us can look like a rock but those are just their left over foundations. We most definitely are not rocks!
We absolutely like to look pretty!
Some people think our patterns and colors look similar to rocks and crystals but we are alive and have delicate little bodies so please don’t stand on us.
March 2019
Installation of 3 soft coral racks & 1 hard coral rack by Ocean Gardener sponsored by Rip Curl Sanur and various Sanur hospitality businesses.
August 2019
Additional 2 coral racks installed sponsored by SeaTrek.
JULY 2021
One new coral rack installed by SeaTrek using rope method.
Latest Actions and Future Plans
Exciting News! On Dec. 12, with a record attendance of Coral Champion Volunteers, two additional racks of corals were added to our Sanur Beach Project: One rack is thanks to the generous donation of a coral conservation supporter and the second is a thanks to our past guests who entered the SeaTrek photo competition. Future Actions starting this weekend are, beginning the process of 3d mapping our project so that we can monitor the growth of the corals and show off how amazing corals are. We will also continue the fragmenting/ propagation of soft corals that will, once they are ready, make the short trip across the Wallace line to Nusa Penida where they will pitch in to stabilise a damaged area and start the process of reef recovery. For pictures and more coral and Sea Life information please go to our Snorkeling and Life In the Sea blog: Snorkeling – Life in the Sea Archives – Seatrek Sailing Adventures (seatrekbali.com)