Asian Diver – March 2018

FEATURE CORAL SOS

In 2006, I moved to the Dominican

Republic and learned to scuba dive.

In front of our resort, at the

introductory dive site, was a coral

restoration project that continues

to inspire me today. Coming from

Canada, I knew nothing about corals,

let alone that you could grow them like

a garden underwater, but from that

moment forward I knewI had no other

choice but to devote my life to the

ocean and protecting coral reefs.

By the next year, I passed my

IDC exam and became a PADI dive

instructor, and since then I have been

fortunate to travel the world teaching

scuba diving,managing dive centres,

By: Nicole Helgason

The Coral Communicator

and promoting coral awareness.

Now, more than ever, corals

are in the spotlight, and the field

of coral restoration and coral

gardening are a beacon of hope for the

future generation.

Corals are the foundation of the

marine environment, providing critical

habitat for fish, protecting coastlines

from erosion, and feeding hundreds

of millions of people worldwide. But

often I have often found that corals,

in particular, the diversity of coral

species, do not get the recognition they

deserve amongst scuba divers.

This observation comes from a

decade of working in the dive industry.

ABOVE: The coral reef in Tela consists of short ridges covered

in lettuce corals and gorgonians

IMAGE: Nicole Helgason