Planetary Coral Reef Foundation

                 December 2008 Newsletter

                                          Happy Holidays!

From all of us at PCRF, we wish you a joyous holiday season and New Year! As 2008 draws to a close, we send our profound thanks for your support and are excited to share all the progress you have made possible. (Photo to the right: crew of SV Infinity - July 2008.) 

PCRF Embarks on Marine Conservation

Initiatives in Indonesia                                         

We are pleased to report that PCRF has been invited to carry out marine conservation work in the Anambas Islands of Indonesia.  Located in the South China Sea, approximately 150 nautical miles from Singapore, these islands are remote and unknown except for their proximity to valuable oil reserves which are being tapped by international companies.

Overfishing and dynamite fishing are posing enormous threats to marine life in the Anambas Islands.  The indigenous peoples inhabiting these islands live simply - most live in houses on stilts over the water, and many have little or no electricity.  They depend largely on the marine environment for their food and livelihood.  Preserving the reefs is a matter of survival for them.

At the invitation of the "King of Banda," Pak Des Alwi, we also returned to Banda Island, Indonesia to discuss a strategy for establishing the island as a World Heritage Site.  Banda's rich history and spectacular underwater landscapes (dense schools of black snapper, full sized groupers, turtles, mandarin fish and glorious corals and sea fans) make this an especially unique opportunity. 

In support of these initiatives, Raffles Marina and friends in Singapore again hosted the crew of SV Infinity in August and pledged to support our efforts to expand PCRF's work in Southeast Asia.  We will be returning in the New Year to develop a marine conservation and community outreach program in the Anambas Islands that will include reef restoration and protected areas, fisheries and wastewater management as well as the preservation of endangered species such as sea turtles.  

Coral Reef Monitoring Update

PCRF trained 12 new apprentices in coral reef research and monitored reefs in two critical locations this year. Our first study site was in the Solomon Islands.  We returned to a place we have studied three times before because we wanted to assess the impact of the April 2007 earthquake and tsunami on the reefs there.  Sadly, we discovered the reefs in the Solomon Islands suffered significant devastation which is directly affecting the lives of the island peoples, many of whom make their livelihood from the reefs. (Photo to the left: exposed reef due to the 2007 tsunami.)

PCRF is the only organization that has extensive previous data from this specific location, and therefore scientists and conservationists have a keen interest in our studies. We presented our results at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Florida in July. As with all our data, we have also posted our Solomon Islands studies online free of charge to encourage collaboration and direct environmental action.

PCRF Graduates: Lindsey Feldman, Katie Olds and Tanya Ribakoff delivering posters at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Florida

Our second study took place off the coast of Tioman Island in Malaysia.  We returned there to investigate the impact of increased tourism and development on the health of the reefs since our previous studies in 2001 and 2006. Unfortunately, our data confirmed that rapidly expanding tourism in the area has adversely affected these reefs and they are at serious risk.  Click here to see the results of the studies.

National Geographic Book Highlights PCRF's Phoenix Islands Study

National Geographic tells the story of PCRF's discovery of massive coral mortality in the Phoenix Islands due to global warming in their recently released book for schoolchildren called Animals on the Edge.  You can order the book at your local bookstore or online at National Geographic Books.

4

Studio of the Sea's mission is to produce films about the state of our oceans, the beauty and decline of coral reefs and the life of island cultures around the world. We urge you to take a moment to screen our latest film, Whaling Wall, featuring dwarf minke whales off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia who were extraordinarily friendly even though whaling continues around the world. (Just this year, the International Whaling Commission agreed that 1,052 minke whales could be taken by Norwegian whalers and 750 minke whales by the Japanese.)

One of the highlights of the last year was a visit to Waterfall Bay in Vanuatu where the women create an enchanting musical celebration with water.  You can watch their performance online in Gaua Water Music, one of two Studio of the Sea films recently selected for the Expo Zaragoza 2008 Water Sustainability Event in Spain. During the coming year, we will be producing more films about ocean wonders and challenges.  In an effort to reach as many people as possible, we will also expand our distribution to wider audiences on sites such as YouTube where we have recently posted six of our films. 

Join the Voyage with PCRF in Google Earth!

You can now journey with Google Earth to all of our expedition and coral reef monitoring sites thanks to the efforts of Stanford University graduate and PCRF Research Associate Kitty Currier.  Please click here to visit this Google Earth-Ocean demonstration project and embark on a virtual odyssey through the oceans of the world with PCRF!

Kitty's exceptional work was recently recognized by Google Earth Outreach when they awarded PCRF a grant to use their software to develop a geo-referenced program illustrating our data from 49 reef studies.  Digital Globe also awarded PCRF Quickbird Imagery in support of this program. Included in this demonstration project will be the 360 degree imagery of reefs we filmed using Immersive Media's special 11 lens camera as well as our Studio of the Sea films.

PCRF Launches Capital Campaign for New Research Vessel

Our two year charter of the SV Infinity was successfully completed in September and we returned the boat to its owner in Thailand.  We are now actively searching for a new vessel to continue our work at sea and have embarked on a capital campaign to secure a boat that PCRF will finally own! We welcome your participation in this campaign in any way and at any level.  If you would like to join us in our efforts to locate and secure a new boat, please contact Mark Van Thillo.

Support PCRF  - Help Us Make a Difference and Save Coral Reefs!

You can make a difference in the future of coral reefs by making a tax-deductible gift to PCRF today. Your contribution will help us establish our marine conservation programs in Indonesia, acquire our new research vessel, expand our innovative research, education and outreach efforts and bring people together to preserve the world's coral reefs.

Click Here to Donate Now!

Thank you again for your generous support!
Please continue to Join the Voyage!

PCRF is a non-profit, 501(c) (3) organization
P.O. Box 201
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272