Location: Moorea
Today was our last full day in Moorea before we head over to Tahiti, and we did our best to make the most of it. In the morning, half of us were dropped off onshore to get a presentation from the Coral Gardeners, an organization dedicated to restoring the ocean’s reefs. They spoke to us about how important coral reefs are to our global ecosystem, but sadly, so many are bleaching due to increases in ocean temperature. Especially in French Polynesia, so many people rely on the reef – it provides food, protects the coastline from wave energy and erosion, and supports industries like tourism and fishing.
Fortunately, the Coral Gardeners are doing amazing work to help damaged reefs regenerate. Since 2017, they have planted over 100,000 corals, helping to restore 11 reefs. After the talk, we took a boat out to their nursery site, where we got to see the reef restoration work in action. It was incredible to see so many different coral species in their different stages of growth, as well as the reef that they’re being planted onto, teeming with life. We were able to help with their efforts by diving down with brushes to clean the lines that the corals are growing on. As we brushed, sixbar wrasse (pictured below) swam around us and ate the algae that came off the lines. I hope that this experience inspires all of us to do what we can in our lives going forward to protect the environment, especially the ocean. There is an incredible amount of life and functional beauty that exists underwater, and with work like this, maybe we will be able to continue to appreciate it for decades to come.
The rest of the day was filled with rescue scenarios for those in the course – we practiced responding to an unresponsive diver at the surface, underwater, and how to handle a scenario where there are multiple victims in the water. Everyone has come really far in their abilities, and it’s been awesome to see the group learn how to work as a team to solve problems under stress.
At the Squeeze, we all talked about our favorite little memories from the trip – the ones you’re most likely to forget, but that, in the moment, brightened your whole day. Teaching ourselves new constellations on watch when there was no moon out, nights spent talking out on the martingale net, an especially beautiful sunrise, to name a few.