Vincent Chalias
Vincent has dedicated his life to studying corals and over the past 25 years has developed a deep understanding of the biology and ecology of the reefs and the life they sustain. He started the first Indonesian commercial coral farms in the year 2000 and in 2016 he started a non-profit organisation dedicated to educating people about coral reefs and training volunteers to conserve and restore coral reefs. His NGO ‘Ocean Gardener’ has now planted over 80,000 corals all over Indonesia and is involved in many different projects all over Indonesia. Vincent was also instrumental in helping to set up SeaTrek’s very own artificial reef and coral racks sited just off Sanur Beach in South Bali.
Vincent has worked in Australia on different coral reef restoration projects as well as Crown of Thorns culling missions, the predatory starfish that has the ability to decimate coral reefs.
He is also an avid underwater photographer and his images abound in many diving and reef aquarium publications. Several times a year he runs courses in coral reef restoration and writes many articles for dive and reef aquarium publications.
Vincent is a very welcome addition to the SeaTrek stable of experts and is very much looking forward to showing our guests the beauty and complexity that exists among the coral reefs of Raja Ampat
