Page 62 - Coral Reef Teachers Guide

Coral Reef Teacher’s Guide Benefits, Threats, and Solutions

Craig and DeeVon Quirolo travelled to the is- Bay Islands
land to provide the equipment and train local Conservation Association Youth Program, lo-
divers to install thirty reef mooring buoys at cal divers, and visitors. Posada del Sol’s Dive
the island’s most popular dive and snorkel Shop certified some of the divers,and all were
sites. Sandra Bazley of Pelican Divers coor- provided with a presentation on coral reefs
dinated the community project which in- by REEF RELIEF. The project also involved
volved dozens of volunteers, students, and special presentations to the crew and guests
the sup- port of local resorts and businesses at Bayman Bay Resort and to local citizens
who donated boats, fuel, lodging, meals, and at Savan- nah Bight, during which Professor
supplies. Two types of permanent moorings Ruth translated into Spanish. The professor
were installed. First the mantas, anchor-like also offered to manage a video library that
assemblies w i th a l o n g r o d , w e r e j a ck REEF RELIEF donated to the community. The
h a m m er e d i n to a r e a s o f r u bb le bot- buoys are now maintained by the dive shops at
tom to which the line and float was attached. Posada del Sol Resort and Bayman Bay Resort.
Next, stain- less steel U-bolts were installed Com- ponents are provided with funding from
in areas of fossilized bottom. A hydraulic drill the REEF RELIEF Guanaja Fund, supported
was used to core out two holes and the stain- through a generous donation by the Richard
less steel U-bolt was cemented into the ocean Munroe Foundation. A bilingual education-
bottom. After allowing the cement to cure, al brochure on the buoys and how to pro-
the buoy down-line, float, through-line, and tect the reef has been produced to encourage
pick-up line were attached. The assembly of reef-friendly activities at Guanaja’s coral reefs.
the float was accomplished by splicing the
indi- vidual parts together in a manner that ABACOS, BAHAMAS
permited parts of it to be replaced as they The fastest growing area of the Bahamas is the
wear out. Abacos and Reef Relief has begun a multi-year
A party to splice lines for the buoys was held collaboration
that included students from Professor Ruth’s

Figure 3-15. Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park is home to a relatively healthy and biodiverse coral reef.
(Photo: Dean Homayouni)

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