As divers we all appreciate the beauty of coral and many of us have gazed with awe at fan corals, the beautiful colours of soft and hard corals, the way soft coral moves in the current and admired the different shapes these beautiful organisms create. 2018 is the International Year Of The Reef and this magazine is a great introduction to the world of coral.
The success of the TV series Blue Planet has helped raise awareness of the destruction we humans are having on the waters around the world. Coral bleaching is a term many of us are now aware of and some of us have seen the way the coral changes appearance, when bleaching has occurred, for ourselves.
Coral reefs provide an important basis for marine life and a healthy eco-system so the work being done by dedicated scientists to help create new reefs, like those in Belize is one solution. The ongoing efforts by members of the Coral Reef Alliance and others to develop sustainable conservation of reefs is now critical. Earlier in 2018 a new initiative was announced by the Australian government to try and save the Great Barrier Reef, the worldโs best known coral reef system.
Letโs hope that with the combined efforts we will be able to halt the destruction of reefs and know that scuba divers of the future will also be able to experience the amazement we have when seeing vast expanse of coral for the first time.
