Coral Gardeners of Manta Ray Bay

After a cyclone impacted reefs in the Whitsundays, Reef Ecologic, in partnership with the local community and tourism industry began a reef restoration project. With the creation of coral nurseries, the idea was to grow corals in two high-value tourism sites to assist with natural recovery. The team of scientists have worked with local volunteers in the tourism industry on each trip from the beginning. This trip aimed to get multiple tourism crew involved, with hands-on learning to help plant the corals on their local reefs. The tourism industry crew are local reef champions who showcase their local island and reefs, so it’s fitting that they can assist in the reef restoration and help share the journey with visitors.

 

 
This project is made possible by the Reef Islands Initiative, a program of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, supported by funding from Lendlease, the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, the Queensland Government and the Fitzgerald Family Foundation. This project is supported with funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program.

This project has also been supported by the Australian and Queensland governments, Daydream Island Resort, G Adventures, Planeterra Foundation, Citizen, Explore Whitsundays, Tourism Whitsundays and the Whitsunday Regional Council. Additional support from Aqua Dive, Ocean Rafting, Red Cat Adventures, Prosail Whitsundays and True Blue Sailing.

This film was created by Grumpy Turtle Design 2020.