As coral reef degradation becomes everyday news, Phanor Montoya of Corales de Paz travels to remote islands of the south Pacific to check on their coral reefs. While it may not be a scientific survey to assess the health of coral reefs, an on-the-side job as the marine biologist/snorkel master onboard a small ship expedition cruise from Easter Island to Papua New Guinea provided an important reef survey opportunity for Phanor Montoya-Maya of Corales de Paz. As the Director and Founder of Colombia´s pioneer of diving for coral reef conservation and large-scale coral reef restoration, he turns his travels into self-imposed assignments to address a question that is virtually common to every conservationist and diver – have we lost hope for the future of coral reefs around the world? One of the first stops on Phanor´s expedition was Ducie Atoll, one of the four islands of the Pitcairn Group. Live coral cover at the site visited was <50% and mild bleaching was observed (<25%). April 9 2019. Depth 5 - 10 m. Motu Vahaga in French Polynesia was next. Group. Live coral cover at the site visited was >75% and few to none bleaching was observed (<10%). April 14 2019. Depth 5 - 10 m. “There has been an unprecedented record of recent news on coral mortality, particularly in the last three years where breaking record seawater temperatures have caused frequent and massive coral bleaching events in the Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, and other Pacific islands,” he says. “There is a scientific consensus that we have effectively lost 20% of the worldwide coral reef area known to date, that 75% is heavily threatened by climate change and human impacts, and that the 5% that is still healthy is located mostly in the Pacific. This makes an expedition to the islands
As coral reef degradation becomes everyday news, Phanor Montoya of Corales de Paz travels to remote islands of the south Pacific to check on their
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