Take a Deep Breathe...Bonaire Makes the Impossible (Look Easy)!
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| Bonaire Deepsea Challenge 2016 -where the Freediving magic happened! |
Impossible things are happening in Bonaire´s ocean waters...World Records are being broken, New Guinness World Records are being set, new Corals are blooming and even Cousteau's legacy is taking 3D coral printing newest technology to the Island's waters! Bonaire makes the impossible, look easy!
On September 25 the Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation called for anyone interested to check out the growth of their transplanted corals. The organization which created the Coralpalooza in Bonaire just got a grant from the Dutch Government. They will take restoration of Bonaire's reefs to the next level.
While the Coral Restoration Foundation celebrates with hard work their new funding the International Freediving Community just closed out the Deep Sea Challenge Competition making the impossible happen.
Curacao Chronicle reported on September 14 that Legendary Diver Carlos Coste set two new records during the Bonaire Deep Sea Challenge. The Freediver from Venezuela set a new Continental South American Record dropping 69 meters in just 3 minutes 33 seconds.
“4 days later Carlos Coste broke his own Guinness World Record of 150 meters (Mexico, 2010) for the longest distance freedive in open waters with one breath in a cave to 177 meters establishing his 12th World record of his career, this time in open ocean waters,” Curacao Chronicle reported.
Deep Sea Challenge Bonaire 2016 applauded the vast accomplishments performed by Top International athletes from around the World. Ashley Chapman from the US and Alfredo Roen from Spain were recognized as “Best Athletes” of the event.
“7 National Records, 2 Continental Records, 1 AIDA World Record and 2 Guinness World Records,” Deep Sea Challenge listed the incredible achievements of Bonaire.
“Deepsea School is pleased to announce that this year's Bonaire Deepsea Challenge was a success on many levels. Competition was comprised of four freediving disciplines spanning 6 official diving days. The second annual competition took place just 500 meters from shore in beautiful blue and deep waters off of the Van der Valk Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire,” Organizers reported. Divers dedicated their sport to the Conservation of the Ocean of Bonaire.
But more of the impossible is about to disembarked in Bonaire...Deeper Blue reported on September 23 that Fabien Cousteau -Grandson of Jacques Cousteau will be helping in a new program which will install artificial coral reefs manufactured via 3D printing technology.
“Ocean advocate Fabien Cousteau and Bonaire’s Harbour Village Beach Club will be bringing 3D coral printing technology to the island later this year. Through the new Ocean Learning Center created by Cousteau and located on the resort, the cutting-edge technology will amplify current restoration efforts in place by various groups and help advance reef growth for many species beyond just the coral itself,” Deeper Blue reported.
Cousteau told the press that “3D printed corals can generate real change and establish real growth for reefs. This technology is less labor-intensive than current coral restoration processes, creating a larger impact in a shorter amount of time”.
Nature World News reported that 3D Printed Corals could save the Caribbean Ocean and are the “Answer to Coral Bleaching”.
“Traditional coral reef preservation and rebuilding methods are often time consuming and labor intensive. Cousteau's 3D printed artificial corals could attract baby coral polyps, which would eventually reproduce and grow into new reefs. The reefs will then be able to attract organisms that dwell in coral reefs, such as algae, anemones, crabs and fish, and rebuild a new and diverse reef ecosystem,” Nature World News reported.
But the beauty (beyond impossible) of Bonaire's ocean is not just for the elite and the World famous...its ocean is open to anyone and divers around the World don't seem to get enough of it!
International Diving Press reported on late September that Bonaire was voted Best Shore Dive Destination for the 22nd consecutive time by the readers of Scuba Diving Magazine.
What makes Bonaire the best location? Voters say it is their Protected Ocean Sanctuaries. Bonaire also ranks first in Best Diving Location for Macro, Advanced and Beginners in the Caribbean and Atlantic Region. And Bonaire´s Awards do not end there. They ranked top five for Overall Diving Location and top five for Best Underwater Photography Diving Location.
The Bonaire National Marine Park is the diving star of the Island. It is one of the oldest marine parks of the World! It dates back to 1975 and divers say it is breathtaking. Additionally the entire island of Bonaire is surrounded by protected areas.
There are officially 63 designated dive spots on the West Coast alone.
Deeper Blue explained that shore diving in Bonaire is unique. “Each of the shore dive spots is marked with a painted yellow rock with the name of the dive site. The rock shows the best point to enter the water. In the water will be a buoy that the dive boats can moor to. The island of Klein Bonaire which is just 800 meters from the main island is entirely under the control of the Bonaire National Marine Park. Boats including kayaks are restricted to landing on just one beach as the fringing reef surrounds the island all the way to the shore every where else. There are 26 additional dive sites around Klein Bonaire,” Deeper Blue explains.
The Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation -which just got boosted by new funding from the Dutch Government has plans to invest in programs that will also benefit the entire International diving community.
Besides continuation of its active programs the Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation is working to invest in creating a new restoration site which would be accessible to all scuba divers. The new site would not only work generating awareness but involve tourists in active coral restoration and environmental works. The Foundation wants to involve not only divers but just any kind of tourist.
Those who are long nautical miles from Bonaire can still help, the Foundation says. Their “Adopt a Coral” program is active and they assure will “stay vital to the further development of the Foundation into the future”.
The media described the Coral Nurseries of the Foundation as “World Class”. They have already installed four coral nurseries with a capacity of 9 thousand corals and more than 8 thousand corals have been already transplanted back to the reef. The expansion program will include 4 thousand more corals next year.
“Those nurseries currently consist of 70 trees with a hosting capacity of 9,000 corals, with more than 8,000 corals having been transplanted back to the reef,” Caribbean Journal reported.
Today, the foundation consists of three partners: the Buddy Dive, Eden Beach and Harbour Village resorts, together they set out to positively impact the waters of Bonaire and seem to be having success at it.
Cousteau -working on the same island under a similar goal but in a different program explained, “Coral reefs account for 25 percent of all reef life and 6.7 trillion USD of global economic development. Bonaire is in a prime position to enhance reef growth because it has so many natural, healthy reefs already. Our initiative with 3-D printing will rapidly assist us in revitalizing more stressed or damaged areas”.
The exact locations of Cousteau's artificial reefs are yet to be revealed...
Bonaire is also leading the way in oceanic sports and the Top International Divers who participated in the Deepsea Challenge Bonaire 2016 dedicating their dives to the “Conservation of Bonaire's Ocean” exceeded all expectations.
During the first days of the event Diver Carolina Schrappe from Brazil set a new Continental South American Record in the Variable Weight Discipline. Schrappe reached the depths of 95 meters in 2 minutes 23 seconds. Dutch Champion Jeanine Grasmeijer set a new AIDA World Record for the Free Immersion Discipline. Grasmeijer descended 92 meters with a dive time of 3 minutes 46 seconds breaking by one meter the previous record.
On September 9 during the event Venezuelan Carlos Coste broke his own Guinness World Record “longest horizontal freedive with a single breath in the ocean (open water)”. Diving horizontally for 3 minutes and 5 seconds Coste spanned 177 meters of Bonaire´s ocean waters. He broke the previous record by 22 meters. On the same day the Russian Athlete Marina Kazankova set a new Guinness World Record for the Longest Horizontal Distance Freedive with a Single Breath in the Ocean (Open Water). Going 154 meters in just 3 minutes Russian Kazankova reached a new milestone.
Additionally 7 National Freediving Records were broken in the event. Alex Alvarado from Puerto Rico, Ashley Chapman from the US, Alfredo Roen from Spain and Aurore Asso from France were responsible for making that happen.
“The Guinness World Record attempts were of considerable interest. Spectators lined the finger piers of downtown Kralendijk while the Venezuelan resident of Bonaire Carlos Coste and Marina Kazankova of Russia prepared for their momentous swims. Marina impressed onlookers with a 154 meter swim in a mermaid tail. Coste bested his own record of 150 meter, pushing the distance to 177 meters. The swims were dedicated to conservation of Bonaire's ocean,” Deepsea Challenge Bonaire 2016 organizers communicated.
Organizers also set a new first-for-history for the event. It was the first time a Freediving International Competition Event was filmed in 360 degree Format. The 360 footage released online is amazing! Views of the boat, horizontal dive attempts, security swimmers, divers and the clear skies and clear ocean waters mimetize with Freediving athletes going for it in Mermaid looking outfit technology.
The event was small -far from being the event of a massive sport out to please millions and crowds but greater equally important athletic accomplishments were achieved. Freediving is still a sport and disciple not fully made aware to the World -and perhaps it is better that way, however, top brands and amazing people make up the spirit of this sport.
“In it's infancy, the second annual competition was already attended by some of the World's Most Elite Athletes. The island of Bonaire beautifully received high level athletes from around the World...Notable performances from the event included dives such as Jeanine Grasmeijer's of the Netherlands who broke the AIDA (International Association for the Development of Apnea) Free Immersion (FIM) record to 92 meters. Jeanine forfeited the rest of the competition, satisfied with her new accomplishment. This marks Grasmeijer's second world record in the discipline,” organizers explained.
Carlos Coste of Venezuela after breaking another record emerged to cheer for his country,
"Everything is Possible!" the legend said wet out of the ocean.
Alfredo Roen from Tenerife Spain surpassed his own National Record by reaching 102 meters in Constant Weight and become the Winner of the competition.
Ashley Chapman US Freediver set not one but 2 National Records for the United States at 84 meters in Constant Weight and Free Immersion winning the competition as the most complete Athlete in 4 disciplines.
Aurore Asso, from France set a New National Record with 54 meters diving in Constant No Fins!
“This year Bonaire proved to be the imminent location for serious freediving. With deep blue waters, plenty of marine life, support from the island's best businesses, and a beautiful community of people Bonaire is sure to host many more events such as this one. The Deepsea Challenge is poised to grow bigger and better looking into the coming years. Plans include more involvement for spectators and live video feeds of the event,” Professional Freedivers in charge of the organization said.
For the rest of us “common divers” Bonaire dive sites are more than plenty. Deeper Blue assures that the list of “best sites” is too long to list but still they make an effort and go for it to reveal some gems of the Caribbean.
“The site 1,000 Steps -which is really only 64 steps but most divers say it feels like a thousand is suitable both shallow and deep divers. Star coral formations rise like buildings from the sea floor while Barracuda and Turtles swim by the reef stations filled with rainbow reef fish. Those who have been to 1,000 Steps say that the best change to spòt elusive Whale Sharks is there,” Deeper Blue says.
Tori´s Reef -for the advanced divers, the Double Reef -notorious for the wreck diving of Hilma Hooker and dive sites Alice in Wonderland and Angel City as well as Karapata -where visibility reaches excellency are among the top listed “must-dive-sites”.
“We could continue this list with dozens of other sites that are outstanding. Take a look at the Marine parks dive map and select your own choices for your bucket list dive destination Bonaire,” divers of Deeper Blue end it.
Divers thinking about Bonaire can also take the PADI “Coral Restoration Diver Speciality Course”. The new PADI course designed to train volunteers in underwater conservation actions.
The Coral Restoration Foundation Bonaire which started in 2012 with the original support of Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire is happy to receive newly trained volunteers. The Foundation’s main goal is to restore coral reefs on Bonaire and increase awareness of it. They work to “attract International attention and increased production of corals and the development of at least four snorkel accessible sites to increase visibility”. They believe that dive related funding is a way to become economically stable and continue investing in the ocean.
The Foundation has witnessed first hand the damages caused in the reefs of Bonaire.
“Since 1980, populations of staghorn and elkhorn corals have collapsed throughout the Caribbean from disease outbreaks with losses compounded locally by hurricanes, increased predation, bleaching, elevated temperatures, algae overgrowth and other factors. Today there are areas that have been largely transformed into rubble fields with few, isolated living colonies facing local extinction,” they explain.
In the 2006 NOAA’s listed elkhorn and staghorn coral as “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act.
Coral Nursery, Restoration Sites and Management are the main pillars of the Foundation.
“Criteria for selecting a coral restoration site are: existing wild populations, depth, water quality, bottom type, size of the area, space competitors, predator abundance, wave exposure, origin of parent colonies, current/historical presence of Acropora, human activities/impacts, number of out planting sites, how much to out plant,” the Non-Profit Organization explains.
Supported by the location government and working within the Marine Parks they develop a large scale reef restoration program and engage all sectors in ocean key issues.
The Cousteau 3-D Artificial Coral Project assures that Bonaire is a perfect location to work coral restoration programs.
In his own words...“Bonaire is in a prime position to enhance reef growth because it has so many natural, healthy reefs already. Our initiative with 3-D printing will rapidly assist us in revitalizing more stressed or damaged areas”.
3-D Coral Reefs first stated in hands of the Australian Organization Reef Design Labs. They created and continue creating these structures which act as an alternative form of protection for coral polyps and other marine species.
Structures are printed out of a sandstone material which have minimal carbon footprint. 3D Artificial Coral Reefs are not small branches or fragments of coral they are massive meter height, long and width spanning coral mimicking structures. They look and feel and act like real corals. Today the company wants to install a fully operating 3D artificial printing system on a inter-oceanic vessel to be able to print insitu on any ocean area of the World.
“Better at imitating real coral, the 3D-printed reefs will have the same shape, texture and chemical makeup that attract free-floating baby coral polyps. Creating a lush, colorful coral garden, these reefs will sustain other aquatic life such as algae, anemones, octopus, crab and more,” Eric Ewoldt, Executive Director of Harbour Village of Bonaire told the media.
“We are pleased to use advanced knowledge of prominent sea issues to make Bonaire an example for the Caribbean and other areas of the world. We know 3D printing efforts have worked in Monaco and the Gulf States among others. With the development of our Ocean Learning Center, now is the perfect time to launch this technology in Bonaire,” the Executive Director added.
Fabien Cousteau -carrying the legacy of Jacques Cousteau will work with the Island of Bonaire together to design and print artificial corals that are identical in size, shape, texture and even chemical makeup of the native corals.
“There are many places in the World now where reefs when I was a teenager were a fireworks display of life and now they are basically a desert, overgrown with algae and devoid of animals,” Cousteau told Florida Key News. “It’s a sad statement because about 70 percent of the biodiversity in the ocean depends on coral reefs.”
“Essentially we will be able to print rock in quotations,” Cousteau kicked it.
Sounds easy...looks easy...but it is everything far from it…
The impossible is made possible at Bonaire...
On September 25 the Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation called for anyone interested to check out the growth of their transplanted corals. The organization which created the Coralpalooza in Bonaire just got a grant from the Dutch Government. They will take restoration of Bonaire's reefs to the next level.
While the Coral Restoration Foundation celebrates with hard work their new funding the International Freediving Community just closed out the Deep Sea Challenge Competition making the impossible happen.
Curacao Chronicle reported on September 14 that Legendary Diver Carlos Coste set two new records during the Bonaire Deep Sea Challenge. The Freediver from Venezuela set a new Continental South American Record dropping 69 meters in just 3 minutes 33 seconds.
“4 days later Carlos Coste broke his own Guinness World Record of 150 meters (Mexico, 2010) for the longest distance freedive in open waters with one breath in a cave to 177 meters establishing his 12th World record of his career, this time in open ocean waters,” Curacao Chronicle reported.
Deep Sea Challenge Bonaire 2016 applauded the vast accomplishments performed by Top International athletes from around the World. Ashley Chapman from the US and Alfredo Roen from Spain were recognized as “Best Athletes” of the event.
“7 National Records, 2 Continental Records, 1 AIDA World Record and 2 Guinness World Records,” Deep Sea Challenge listed the incredible achievements of Bonaire.
“Deepsea School is pleased to announce that this year's Bonaire Deepsea Challenge was a success on many levels. Competition was comprised of four freediving disciplines spanning 6 official diving days. The second annual competition took place just 500 meters from shore in beautiful blue and deep waters off of the Van der Valk Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire,” Organizers reported. Divers dedicated their sport to the Conservation of the Ocean of Bonaire.
But more of the impossible is about to disembarked in Bonaire...Deeper Blue reported on September 23 that Fabien Cousteau -Grandson of Jacques Cousteau will be helping in a new program which will install artificial coral reefs manufactured via 3D printing technology.
“Ocean advocate Fabien Cousteau and Bonaire’s Harbour Village Beach Club will be bringing 3D coral printing technology to the island later this year. Through the new Ocean Learning Center created by Cousteau and located on the resort, the cutting-edge technology will amplify current restoration efforts in place by various groups and help advance reef growth for many species beyond just the coral itself,” Deeper Blue reported.
Cousteau told the press that “3D printed corals can generate real change and establish real growth for reefs. This technology is less labor-intensive than current coral restoration processes, creating a larger impact in a shorter amount of time”.
Nature World News reported that 3D Printed Corals could save the Caribbean Ocean and are the “Answer to Coral Bleaching”.
“Traditional coral reef preservation and rebuilding methods are often time consuming and labor intensive. Cousteau's 3D printed artificial corals could attract baby coral polyps, which would eventually reproduce and grow into new reefs. The reefs will then be able to attract organisms that dwell in coral reefs, such as algae, anemones, crabs and fish, and rebuild a new and diverse reef ecosystem,” Nature World News reported.
But the beauty (beyond impossible) of Bonaire's ocean is not just for the elite and the World famous...its ocean is open to anyone and divers around the World don't seem to get enough of it!
International Diving Press reported on late September that Bonaire was voted Best Shore Dive Destination for the 22nd consecutive time by the readers of Scuba Diving Magazine.
What makes Bonaire the best location? Voters say it is their Protected Ocean Sanctuaries. Bonaire also ranks first in Best Diving Location for Macro, Advanced and Beginners in the Caribbean and Atlantic Region. And Bonaire´s Awards do not end there. They ranked top five for Overall Diving Location and top five for Best Underwater Photography Diving Location.
The Bonaire National Marine Park is the diving star of the Island. It is one of the oldest marine parks of the World! It dates back to 1975 and divers say it is breathtaking. Additionally the entire island of Bonaire is surrounded by protected areas.
There are officially 63 designated dive spots on the West Coast alone.
Deeper Blue explained that shore diving in Bonaire is unique. “Each of the shore dive spots is marked with a painted yellow rock with the name of the dive site. The rock shows the best point to enter the water. In the water will be a buoy that the dive boats can moor to. The island of Klein Bonaire which is just 800 meters from the main island is entirely under the control of the Bonaire National Marine Park. Boats including kayaks are restricted to landing on just one beach as the fringing reef surrounds the island all the way to the shore every where else. There are 26 additional dive sites around Klein Bonaire,” Deeper Blue explains.
The Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation -which just got boosted by new funding from the Dutch Government has plans to invest in programs that will also benefit the entire International diving community.
Besides continuation of its active programs the Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation is working to invest in creating a new restoration site which would be accessible to all scuba divers. The new site would not only work generating awareness but involve tourists in active coral restoration and environmental works. The Foundation wants to involve not only divers but just any kind of tourist.
Those who are long nautical miles from Bonaire can still help, the Foundation says. Their “Adopt a Coral” program is active and they assure will “stay vital to the further development of the Foundation into the future”.
The media described the Coral Nurseries of the Foundation as “World Class”. They have already installed four coral nurseries with a capacity of 9 thousand corals and more than 8 thousand corals have been already transplanted back to the reef. The expansion program will include 4 thousand more corals next year.
“Those nurseries currently consist of 70 trees with a hosting capacity of 9,000 corals, with more than 8,000 corals having been transplanted back to the reef,” Caribbean Journal reported.
Today, the foundation consists of three partners: the Buddy Dive, Eden Beach and Harbour Village resorts, together they set out to positively impact the waters of Bonaire and seem to be having success at it.
Cousteau -working on the same island under a similar goal but in a different program explained, “Coral reefs account for 25 percent of all reef life and 6.7 trillion USD of global economic development. Bonaire is in a prime position to enhance reef growth because it has so many natural, healthy reefs already. Our initiative with 3-D printing will rapidly assist us in revitalizing more stressed or damaged areas”.
The exact locations of Cousteau's artificial reefs are yet to be revealed...
Bonaire is also leading the way in oceanic sports and the Top International Divers who participated in the Deepsea Challenge Bonaire 2016 dedicating their dives to the “Conservation of Bonaire's Ocean” exceeded all expectations.
During the first days of the event Diver Carolina Schrappe from Brazil set a new Continental South American Record in the Variable Weight Discipline. Schrappe reached the depths of 95 meters in 2 minutes 23 seconds. Dutch Champion Jeanine Grasmeijer set a new AIDA World Record for the Free Immersion Discipline. Grasmeijer descended 92 meters with a dive time of 3 minutes 46 seconds breaking by one meter the previous record.
On September 9 during the event Venezuelan Carlos Coste broke his own Guinness World Record “longest horizontal freedive with a single breath in the ocean (open water)”. Diving horizontally for 3 minutes and 5 seconds Coste spanned 177 meters of Bonaire´s ocean waters. He broke the previous record by 22 meters. On the same day the Russian Athlete Marina Kazankova set a new Guinness World Record for the Longest Horizontal Distance Freedive with a Single Breath in the Ocean (Open Water). Going 154 meters in just 3 minutes Russian Kazankova reached a new milestone.
Additionally 7 National Freediving Records were broken in the event. Alex Alvarado from Puerto Rico, Ashley Chapman from the US, Alfredo Roen from Spain and Aurore Asso from France were responsible for making that happen.
“The Guinness World Record attempts were of considerable interest. Spectators lined the finger piers of downtown Kralendijk while the Venezuelan resident of Bonaire Carlos Coste and Marina Kazankova of Russia prepared for their momentous swims. Marina impressed onlookers with a 154 meter swim in a mermaid tail. Coste bested his own record of 150 meter, pushing the distance to 177 meters. The swims were dedicated to conservation of Bonaire's ocean,” Deepsea Challenge Bonaire 2016 organizers communicated.
Organizers also set a new first-for-history for the event. It was the first time a Freediving International Competition Event was filmed in 360 degree Format. The 360 footage released online is amazing! Views of the boat, horizontal dive attempts, security swimmers, divers and the clear skies and clear ocean waters mimetize with Freediving athletes going for it in Mermaid looking outfit technology.
The event was small -far from being the event of a massive sport out to please millions and crowds but greater equally important athletic accomplishments were achieved. Freediving is still a sport and disciple not fully made aware to the World -and perhaps it is better that way, however, top brands and amazing people make up the spirit of this sport.
“In it's infancy, the second annual competition was already attended by some of the World's Most Elite Athletes. The island of Bonaire beautifully received high level athletes from around the World...Notable performances from the event included dives such as Jeanine Grasmeijer's of the Netherlands who broke the AIDA (International Association for the Development of Apnea) Free Immersion (FIM) record to 92 meters. Jeanine forfeited the rest of the competition, satisfied with her new accomplishment. This marks Grasmeijer's second world record in the discipline,” organizers explained.
Carlos Coste of Venezuela after breaking another record emerged to cheer for his country,
"Everything is Possible!" the legend said wet out of the ocean.
Alfredo Roen from Tenerife Spain surpassed his own National Record by reaching 102 meters in Constant Weight and become the Winner of the competition.
Ashley Chapman US Freediver set not one but 2 National Records for the United States at 84 meters in Constant Weight and Free Immersion winning the competition as the most complete Athlete in 4 disciplines.
Aurore Asso, from France set a New National Record with 54 meters diving in Constant No Fins!
“This year Bonaire proved to be the imminent location for serious freediving. With deep blue waters, plenty of marine life, support from the island's best businesses, and a beautiful community of people Bonaire is sure to host many more events such as this one. The Deepsea Challenge is poised to grow bigger and better looking into the coming years. Plans include more involvement for spectators and live video feeds of the event,” Professional Freedivers in charge of the organization said.
For the rest of us “common divers” Bonaire dive sites are more than plenty. Deeper Blue assures that the list of “best sites” is too long to list but still they make an effort and go for it to reveal some gems of the Caribbean.
“The site 1,000 Steps -which is really only 64 steps but most divers say it feels like a thousand is suitable both shallow and deep divers. Star coral formations rise like buildings from the sea floor while Barracuda and Turtles swim by the reef stations filled with rainbow reef fish. Those who have been to 1,000 Steps say that the best change to spòt elusive Whale Sharks is there,” Deeper Blue says.
Tori´s Reef -for the advanced divers, the Double Reef -notorious for the wreck diving of Hilma Hooker and dive sites Alice in Wonderland and Angel City as well as Karapata -where visibility reaches excellency are among the top listed “must-dive-sites”.
“We could continue this list with dozens of other sites that are outstanding. Take a look at the Marine parks dive map and select your own choices for your bucket list dive destination Bonaire,” divers of Deeper Blue end it.
Divers thinking about Bonaire can also take the PADI “Coral Restoration Diver Speciality Course”. The new PADI course designed to train volunteers in underwater conservation actions.
The Coral Restoration Foundation Bonaire which started in 2012 with the original support of Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire is happy to receive newly trained volunteers. The Foundation’s main goal is to restore coral reefs on Bonaire and increase awareness of it. They work to “attract International attention and increased production of corals and the development of at least four snorkel accessible sites to increase visibility”. They believe that dive related funding is a way to become economically stable and continue investing in the ocean.
The Foundation has witnessed first hand the damages caused in the reefs of Bonaire.
“Since 1980, populations of staghorn and elkhorn corals have collapsed throughout the Caribbean from disease outbreaks with losses compounded locally by hurricanes, increased predation, bleaching, elevated temperatures, algae overgrowth and other factors. Today there are areas that have been largely transformed into rubble fields with few, isolated living colonies facing local extinction,” they explain.
In the 2006 NOAA’s listed elkhorn and staghorn coral as “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act.
Coral Nursery, Restoration Sites and Management are the main pillars of the Foundation.
“Criteria for selecting a coral restoration site are: existing wild populations, depth, water quality, bottom type, size of the area, space competitors, predator abundance, wave exposure, origin of parent colonies, current/historical presence of Acropora, human activities/impacts, number of out planting sites, how much to out plant,” the Non-Profit Organization explains.
Supported by the location government and working within the Marine Parks they develop a large scale reef restoration program and engage all sectors in ocean key issues.
The Cousteau 3-D Artificial Coral Project assures that Bonaire is a perfect location to work coral restoration programs.
In his own words...“Bonaire is in a prime position to enhance reef growth because it has so many natural, healthy reefs already. Our initiative with 3-D printing will rapidly assist us in revitalizing more stressed or damaged areas”.
3-D Coral Reefs first stated in hands of the Australian Organization Reef Design Labs. They created and continue creating these structures which act as an alternative form of protection for coral polyps and other marine species.
Structures are printed out of a sandstone material which have minimal carbon footprint. 3D Artificial Coral Reefs are not small branches or fragments of coral they are massive meter height, long and width spanning coral mimicking structures. They look and feel and act like real corals. Today the company wants to install a fully operating 3D artificial printing system on a inter-oceanic vessel to be able to print insitu on any ocean area of the World.
“Better at imitating real coral, the 3D-printed reefs will have the same shape, texture and chemical makeup that attract free-floating baby coral polyps. Creating a lush, colorful coral garden, these reefs will sustain other aquatic life such as algae, anemones, octopus, crab and more,” Eric Ewoldt, Executive Director of Harbour Village of Bonaire told the media.
“We are pleased to use advanced knowledge of prominent sea issues to make Bonaire an example for the Caribbean and other areas of the world. We know 3D printing efforts have worked in Monaco and the Gulf States among others. With the development of our Ocean Learning Center, now is the perfect time to launch this technology in Bonaire,” the Executive Director added.
Fabien Cousteau -carrying the legacy of Jacques Cousteau will work with the Island of Bonaire together to design and print artificial corals that are identical in size, shape, texture and even chemical makeup of the native corals.
“There are many places in the World now where reefs when I was a teenager were a fireworks display of life and now they are basically a desert, overgrown with algae and devoid of animals,” Cousteau told Florida Key News. “It’s a sad statement because about 70 percent of the biodiversity in the ocean depends on coral reefs.”
“Essentially we will be able to print rock in quotations,” Cousteau kicked it.
Sounds easy...looks easy...but it is everything far from it…
The impossible is made possible at Bonaire...
