Scubble Bubbles join the Reef Rescue Network

I recently travelled to Aruba to meet our new Perry Institute for Marine Science Reef Rescue Network partners ScubbleBubbles Foundation.
The Scubble Bubbles started as a school project; one teacher convinced eight students to learn how to scuba dive. Two other students who were already certified decided to join the group. They spent the first year working on skills and enjoying dives around Aruba. Over time they noticed the reefs were changing. Corals were not the same colors they once were, and fish were disappearing. After summer break they watched the documentary ‘Chasing Coral’ and they knew they had to do something. The students started doing research and the teacher reached out to other organizations. They soon realized nothing was being done on Aruba, yet. They spent a year conducting research, raising money, and traveling to Bonaire to get specialized training on Coral Restoration. They brought their knowledge back to Aruba and with approval from Directie Natuur en Millieu and the Minister of Environment started a coral restoration project in conjunction with DePalm Island.
The teacher is Nichole Danser, an incredible woman donating most of her spare time to Scubble Bubbles and marine conservation. She is encouraging students to become scuba divers who are passionate about the ocean and actively play their part in helping to protect it.
During my visit many tasks were accomplished. The first was to create a new Coral Nursery at a second site, located at Serene by the Sea Aruba. This new nursery was kindly sponsored by Aruba Aloe and consists of 5 nursery trees growing 250 fragments of Staghorn Coral, Acropora cervicornis. Scubble Bubbles students built, installed and helped populate these trees with corals that were sourced from a variety of sites around the island to increase genetic diversity. The next task was to reset the original coral nursery at DePalm Island with 48 Acropora cervicornis fragments from 2 different source colonies.
Finally, over two days I certified 24 PADI Reef Rescue Divers and 2 PADI Reef Rescue Diver Instructors; teaching about biology of corals, threats to coral reefs, coral restoration and how to maintain their nurseries as well as outplant the corals back onto the reef.
The Scubble Bubbles are an incredible group of dedicated young people who care about our environment and are taking steps to help make a better future for our coral reefs and ocean inhabitants. We are honoured to have them join the Reef Rescue Network and I look forward to joining them again in 2020 to assist in the outplanting of their corals.
Visit www.scubblebubbles.org to learn more about the amazing work they are doing. Plus follow them on facebook and Instagram @scubblebubbles
Check out my video from the trip
Check out my video from the trip

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