Yesterday we welcomed 14 students from Sea|mester for a Coral Conservation Day at Nature Island Dive
The day began with a lecture by Simon Walsh, co-owner of Nature Island Dive and Director of Coral Restoration for Oceans Forward – a non-profit that supports coral rescue, development and research.
The students learned about the different species of coral found in Dominica, the recent threats to coral health and how it negatively impacts the health of the marine environment.
Following the talk, they jumped right into active conservation tasks: some divers “cleaned” the coral trees in the sea (scrubbing off algae with a toothbrush), while others went on a discovery hunt, looking for ‘corals of opportunity'(1) which were then relocated to the tank.
These two healthy corals (pictured at right) were found partially buried in sand and had a very poor prospect for survival. The students moved the corals of opportunity into the tank.
Still others participated in a presentation by Kianne Benjamin, our coral project summer intern, which detailed the current statistics of our project through our dynamic dashboard (below).
Dynamic Dashboard – Click to visit
Everyone reunited in the coral nursery, where they saw rescued corals in the tanks and learned more about coral rescue and the research we are doing. They also assisted in cleaning the nursery tanks and tagging coral.
A big thank you to Ben Pearce for reaching out to Oceans Forward to organise this fun and educational day!
Coral Project Summer Intern Kianne Benjamin with Sea|mester Students
More About Sea|mester
The Sea|mester experience is designed to provide engaging learning experiences that involve the whole person and have real outcomes in ways that are impossible to replicate in a traditional classroom or everyday living environment. By combining hands-on education, 
formal academics with cooperative living and adventure travel throughout the world, Sea|mester ignites the inherent leadership skills within thousands of students. Read more at Sea|mester.org
(1) Corals of opportunity are detached living coral fragments that have broken off from a larger colony and have a low chance of surviving in the wild, or that would not thrive in their current location , i.e., covered by sand.
Recent Comments