Ep12 - Preserving Coral, Protecting the Future: Shania from The Forever Reef Project

Episode 12 is a conversation with Shania from the Forever Reef Project; a powerful blend of science, conservation and hope for the future of our oceans.

We dive into what the Forever Reef Project is all about, from creating a living coral biobank to protecting and preserving coral biodiversity for generations to come. Shania shares the incredible work happening behind the scenes, what it means to “adopt a coral,” and how this world-first initiative is safeguarding reef species in the face of climate change.

We also chat about Shania’s own journey into marine conservation, the realities of working so closely with the reef, and the small, meaningful ways individuals and businesses can make a tangible impact.

This episode is a reminder that while our oceans face real challenges, there are passionate people doing extraordinary work to protect them; and there’s more hope than you might think.

@foreverreefproject @gbrlegacy

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All the juice straight from the makeup booth. Welcome to the Booth Juice. Welcome back to another episode of The Booth Juice. I am so excited to listen to this guest story today. She is probably one of the most intelligent and passionate people in her field, and I'm so excited to learn more about the world of Carol. So please welcome Shania from the Forever Reef Project. Thank you for being on today here. I am so fascinated by your story and how you got into this world. So would you mind painting a picture for um those listening about what you do, how you got into this field, all of that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Of course. So I did not grow up by the ocean.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

So my curiosity started because the ocean, the reef, it seemed like this fantasy land. It seemed like something that was unreachable almost. Um a fairy tale, if I can say.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

It's like snow for Australians.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Because I grew up in the snow. Yeah. So I'm from Minnesota originally. So kind of landlocked. Wow. We got a lot of snow and it was very cold. Um, so definitely my life growing up, I just adored animals. Um, and that's where it all started is I wanted to see animals everywhere, and I wanted to take care of them, make a difference for them. Um, so yes, growing up in the snow, the second I turned 18, I was like, see ya! Yeah. And I moved to Florida. Um, and that's because I wanted to be a marine scientist. Um, something I always wanted to be, and I finally made it happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

And of course, you it's nicer to be by the ocean when you're studying to be a marine scientist. Well, you've had your time in the snow, so you can move to warmer spots.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

And uh, that was the best decision I ever made. Uh, so I started studying marine science in Florida. My university was beautiful, it was surrounded three sides by water, and we'd wake up in the morning and there would be manatees and dolphins swimming by. And I decided to study abroad. Um, of course, as a marine scientist, it's something that's always in the back of your mind is the Great Berry Reef, the Great Berry Reef of someone to see it. So I just I did it. I chose to fly to Australia for a semester. Uh I never thought that I would still be in Australia. It was supposed to be a semester. So what year was that? Oh, 2017. Oh wow. And I saw the reef and that was it. Yeah. It was, I couldn't believe that something that beautiful actually existed. How is this real? How is this real? How why isn't everybody coming here to see it? Um, I had to go home for a semester, but I I had a big decision to make where um there was one summer where I got an internship to train sea lions, or I could move back to Australia. It was like I had a couple weeks to make that decision, and I remember one day it just hit me and I was like, I have to do it. Like, I just have to do it. So I walked into the uh international office and just signed the papers and did it. And I moved with a one-way ticket to Australia when I was 19.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

So that was the start of chasing that marine science dream that um saved the reef dream. It's like I just had to do it. I also fell in love with a boy while I was over here, so that also helped with the one. Um yeah, and I just finished my degree here. So technically I have a zoology, ecology, and marine science degree.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Incredible.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Um, which is nice. So I got to study the reef, but also study the rainforest a bit.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Uh, and just started getting my foot in the door in the aquarium industry. That was a bit random because I was just trying to get experience everywhere. Yeah. So volunteering in labs, volunteering in university aquarium, um, in zoos, in turtle rehab centers, uh, just trying everything out.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

And the beginning of that industry is it's messy. It's a lot of cleaning.

unknown 4:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Uh, but that started the foundation of what you needed to learn in that aquarium industry. And um maintaining the life support, cleaning it, uh, water chemistry, animal health. Um, so started volunteering. Eventually, my career, I worked at the Cannes Aquarium for like four or five years. I was one of the divers in the tanks feeding the sharks, if you've ever been there and seen that.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Oh, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

So that was really fun. And then my other dream was to see whale sharks. So uh my partner Wyatt and I, we moved to Western Australia for a few years. Nice. And I worked at that aquarium, uh, the Ningalha.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

How was that experience?

SPEAKER_01 5:03

And that was amazing. Yeah, but that was totally different of how to run an aquarium in the middle of nowhere, yeah. Or you have to be ready for everything, you need to be prepared. Uh so that was another just incredible decision in my career that yes, it was hard, but I wouldn't be where I am today without making that hard decision. Um, so that was fun. I did get to see the whale sharks, so that was exciting. Yeah, um, I ended up managing that aquarium over there. Amazing. And then I just remember one day I was siphoning a turtle tank, and I saw the job description for the facility manager for the Forever Reef project, and it was everything that I've ever trained my whole life to do. So wildlife like education, conservation education, but also managing an aquarium facility. Amazing. And I saw it and I was like, it's a sign, I have to do it. Um, and then we made our way back here where it all began, the Great Berry Reef. So it did feel like coming home a bit.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

And was that that was about a year ago now or further to Mallow?

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, it was um beginning of March last year. So just a one-year anniversary.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Yeah, oh, that's amazing. Oh, um, we were really fortunate to go and take our team to your amazing experience down at the marina. If you haven't been, please go. Um, it's Shania runs about an hour session. You get to learn all about the choral as well as you know, actually go and see what they're doing down there to restore. But I'll let you talk more about it. And that's so what do you actually do down there for people that have seen your posters coming into town? What exactly is happening here?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Um so what's so exciting is that the Forever Reef Project is the first living coral biobanks dedicated to safeguarding the biodiversity of corals on the Great Berry Reef. Meaning we are collecting and storing ultimately every single species for their ultimate conservation.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

It's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

It's amazing that it's here in Port Douglas. Um, this is where the dream all began with Greatberry Reef Legacy, and I think the best part too about having tours, like the one that you came on the other day, is there's a lot of responsibility when it comes to um taking care of these ecosystems, and a lot of that starts with that education side of things. Yeah, absolutely. We need to understand things before we take care of it. So, yep, we're a working lab every part of the day, except for the one-hour tour every day. Yeah. Uh, at 11:45, Monday through Friday. Yeah. Cook in. Oh, we can really come up close and personal with all of those species. Yeah. And it's very special to share.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, so when you're not doing your tours and teaching, you know, the community about it, what exactly is going on in this space? Because I know there's a lot of work that goes into what you guys do.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

There's a lot going on, and that's why it's a good balance at the moment that it's we have got the one tour a day. Eventually we'll have more than that, but uh behind the scenes, maintaining the life support systems, keeping those corals as healthy and happy as possible. Yeah. Uh there's a lot of hands-on work, so um, a lot of maintenance, but also a lot of perfecting and stabilizing the water chemistry.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah. Um that's something I found really fascinating when you started telling, you know, talking about the two R. Yeah. So there's so much that goes into there's so much exactly chemical balance and things, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Especially in a biobank facility. So the idea of the parameters that we try to hit within a biobank is to make these reef systems as stable as possible. Yeah. So we create every single process of the ocean, natural filtration, we mechanically have to make some of it. Um, but it's that chemistry side of things that we perfect. Um, recreating every reef chemistry. So inshore reef, offshore reef. Yeah. Uh but the number one most important thing for stability is maintaining a nice, cool, stable temperature. Um, so my job is yes, running around, making sure that everything's getting done, um, making sure the corals are all staying happy and healthy, but just making sure every single tank is as stable as possible.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

And you've got different tanks but different kinds of not climates, but well, how would you describe them? Just different areas.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

You don't want as much waste or nutrients moving around. Whereas when I'm imitating an inshore reef environment, you do have to recreate that runoff from river systems like sediment, um, lots of algae, lots of food for bigger corals. Um, so just balancing all of those natural processes. And it's amazing because some of the corals that we have on site have actually never been collected before. Um so we're seeing and monitoring some of their behaviors for the first time. And I'm kind of leading the way um for the written records for those species, too.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

That's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

So I like to call myself a coral mother.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

That's so nice. Um, so the obviously, like, it's so important to keep these aquariums at the right temperature. I guess what you're trying to show is like the prime environment for them as opposed to maybe what's happening in the natural world. Can you tell us more? I know like a lot of people that come into the store or come to Port Douglas are very much like, oh no, the reef is dead, or it, you know, it's been bleached or whatever, but they also they throw terms around where they don't really know what they're talking about. And that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Um, it's a bit misunderstood about what bleaching actually is and what the stresses that we're seeing actually mean for the reef. Yeah, the reason why we're creating a biobank is to have an insurance policy for these species. Um, ultimately, yes, collecting them all, but also sharing them with researchers and restoration efforts to make sure that we're doing everything the very best way, getting the answers that we need. And that's because we're seeing change happen on the reef that we've never seen before. Um when you think about coral bleaching and when people ask about it, it's important that we know that bleach coral is not dead coral. Yeah, bleach coral is just showing us that those animals are sick or stressed, reacting to something changing in their environment. And it's not that bleaching isn't normal. Yeah, bleaching is normal, that's the natural stress response that coral has to change, but it's not normal in the frequency in which we're seeing it. Yeah, and that's something I want everyone to understand when they come on tour two is yes, coral can respond to change, but it's formed perfectly for millions of years to at a specific temperature. That's sadly the the way that we're changing the world, and they can't quite adapt to that. Um we've had six mass bleaching events in the last nine years.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

That's huge, which is huge.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, and I think sometimes we don't understand what that means. Yeah, it even looks like we're breaching seven this year in ten years.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

And so, like in comparison to prior to that, you would have not seen bleaching happen anywhere as often.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Not as often, but um there's records that we see it here and there. Yeah, um, there's also a difference between just bleaching versus mass bleaching. Okay. Mass bleaching means uh pretty much over 80% of the greatberry reef bleach, which when you think of an ecosystem that big, isn't it? Yeah, it's that's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Every single mass bleaching event has had to do with temperature.

unknown 13:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

So just unpreceded temperatures. So 30, 31, 32, too many missions. Yeah, and that's exactly it.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

So can you kind of explain your process on how you get these samples and what you do with them?

SPEAKER_01 13:27

You know, in order to so we're pretty lucky being in the marina. Yeah that's where we are. Crystal works if we at marina, if you want to come and say hi. Yeah. Um, because the boat after collections gets to come straight to the marina.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Uh which is amazing. That eliminates stress for those corals because it's our goal again to eliminate stress from their lives.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Um, kind of your last question: what's the difference between parameters in the biobank versus on the reef? Is we're not having them feel that temperature change. Yeah, cool. If you give them everything they need, they will live forever. Yeah, it's pretty cool that we've perfected those means and methods. Um, but yes, we bring them in, they go through quarantine for about two weeks uh to four weeks, depending on the corals and how they're doing. Um, quarantine is kind of like my coral spa time. Yeah. So we give them a bath.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

You just make sure that they're not bringing in any sort of I don't even know what correctly viruses.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yeah, pests, um, things like that. Yeah, cool. Um once they pass quarantine, then we do something called fragging.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

And fragging is when you take that parent colony and kind of cut it up into little pieces. And that's so we have more samples of that species. Yeah. Because our goal is to is to share them.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Yeah. And that's what you see in the aquariums, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

And that's what you'll see in our tanks, is every single fragment is on its own little base. Um, and each base has a microchip in it with all of its information, which is my favorite part.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

So interesting. So then when we were there, something that you can do to help is you can adopt a coral, which is really cool, and it's so simple, and it's I don't know if you can choose, but I think it's like$20 a month or something just to help fund this incredible, you know, initiative. Yeah, but with those microchips in them. So we were generated like a certificate, and then it told us exactly what species of coral that we've adopted, and so we can now go and monitor that ourselves as well, which I think is an incredible concept.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

And it's it's amazing, it's pretty exciting. That's something we're really hoping to push this year. Yeah, uh, but I think the adopter coral is so special in the fact that you are now you're part of making it happen. Everyone that adopts a coral is a part of safeguarding biodiversity. Your support is helping us care and maintain the entire collection. Yeah, um, and you will get updates about your coral, about the project. Um, so that little subscription is something that also helps us.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Uh we are a non-profit organization, so everything that we do is all sponsors and supporters just believe in us and they're back with us every step of the way. So thank you for your adoption.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Oh, of course, of course.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

You're a coral mom too.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Yeah, I'm a coral mom. I can't remember the name of it, but I will try and learn it. Um yeah, so you must have a really good group of um how many staff do you have or volunteers? Like two of you to keep it all going.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

One of the best parts about our team is that everything that we do is also run by locals, local scientists, and local volunteers just with that passion to take care of coral and preserve the Great Berry Reef. There's six of us that work for Grapeberry Reef Legacy. Yeah. Two of us are full-time, and the rest is local volunteers that help us. Um, there's a lot of different volunteering things that uh locals can do. So helping with husbandry, cleaning some algae, I call it coral cleaning, get a little toothbrush and help clean their base, um, or the education side of things. So helping with presentation prep, hopefully eventually doing presentations with our team too. And my goal of this year is to push for market stall. Oh, fantastic! That'd be great. Yeah, we're slowly acquiring a little coral merchandise, which is fun. And that's it, it's just the beginning. And there's so much potential of where this project will lead. Yeah, um, not just for our little facility but for conservation for all coral species.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah. So when we were at your tour, you started explaining, you know, the future of this initiative as well, and starting to see that some, you know, more biobanks are being built. Am I correct in saying that?

SPEAKER_01 17:54

So the way that I like to say it is we've kind of perfected the way to keep coral safe and stable, and we want to share it. So we're developing the First Nations Coral Biobank Network. So we're working together with traditional owners in this area to develop a I like to call it kind of an off-grade version of a biobank. Um, something that we'll perfect here. Um, we're working first with our local Urukhandji traditional owners to develop the first hub. Once we perfect this pilot hub, we'll start to expand them along the length of the Great Barrier Reef, um, then to other reefs around Australia, so Ningaloo, and then potentially starting with other reef systems around the world. That's incredible. So it gets to start here, which is really exciting. Um, that also will strengthen the insurance policy for the corals too. So even when you came on site, you've noticed I have a lot of samples of every species. Yeah. And that's because the goal is to share them with every Forever Reef hub that we create. So we've got a lot of work to do, but we're very determined to make it make it happen. So it's exciting for everyone to follow along as that mission comes to life. And that's what I find is working the best so far is spreading the word. Yeah. Everyone that comes, just telling one person, local spreading the word, um, making a post. Yeah. Um, this is the year to spread the word as we start to get up to that 415 species mark. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

So can tell us more about that. So it's 450, 15 or 15?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

15.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Okay, yeah. Hard coral species. How many have you got of that already?

SPEAKER_01 19:31

We're just about at 200.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

That's it. So we're about halfway there. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Uh, and we've done that in 12 diving days.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Wow. That's very like not that many. It's wow. That's an efficient. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

And I have 90 new colonies in quarantine at the moment. So we're getting this.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Let's be a proud coral man.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

I walk in every day. I'm like, hello, baby. That's sorry. They're just amazing ones. Yeah. Give them everything they need, how happy and healthy they are.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Absolutely. Yeah. I just I I really want to emphasize that if you haven't been down there, you really should go. I I took our team or some of our team down there a few weeks ago, and we all came out of it so inspired, and but also felt a little responsibility as well. We've we really felt like you know, yes, this is a great reminder that I think when you grow up here you can not take it for granted, but it's very normal to be on the ocean and all that sort of stuff, and you know, obviously tourism revolves around it and you know, everything. So I feel like as a local, you sort of start to become a little bit, you know, take it a little bit for granted, not intentionally, but I just think it really re-sparked our passion to go. Actually, this is really incredible that we have this at our doorstep, and we really need to be preserving it, not only for our area, but for the health of our planet, you know, like the health of everything, it's all so connected.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

And that's what I find so far is one of the best parts, too, is even just reconnecting locals with hey, this is this is right here. Yeah, just a reminder. Just a reminder how lucky are you to be right next to the most biodiverse reef system on the planet. Yeah, um, there's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yeah, which I was also um fascinated by a few of those facts too, because I think I knew them, you know, growing up, but then being reminded of them as an adult, you know, to go, hey, you do live on the biggest reef in the world. And that's incredible in itself.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

It's mind blowing, really, when you think about it. Yeah. I even had a school group the other day, and I said, All right, who's been to the reef? And they all raised their hand. And on the back of my mind, I'm if I was a little kid and I had that in my backyard, it's crazy. Or even uh, what do you want to be? And you grow up, and they all raise their hand, they wanted to be a marine biologist. Oh, yeah. It's just a completely way of different way of life and experiencing the world. But that's where it starts, is the next generation, definitely. Seeing them make those connections.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Um, and that's why it again it's so special that everyone needs to come in and have a look. Uh, but just even re like firing that spark again is I had a couple in their 90s come in and they left, and they said, Thank you, it has made our entire life knowing that Coral is alive. And just moments like that. Like that's where it all starts.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

And when it comes down to taking care of the reef and making better choices, it's it does start with that connection. Yeah, absolutely. It really does. But also reminding everyone how powerful we are all together.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

That's something that I think a lot of people forget.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

I do think that, yeah, it because it is on such a massive scale, it can be quite daunting because you're like, how do I save the planet, essentially? And where do I even begin? And is anything I do even going to make a difference? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

But it's yeah, it's really cool to see that you know your team is just showing an example of you know it feels like a heavy topic, but there's also a lot of privilege and responsibility to communicate it the best way.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Um I like to say, again, how how powerful we are all together. The butterfly effect is definitely real, yeah. Where one small decision can lead to huge outcomes. Yeah. Um but we've done it before with big problems in the world. Yeah. Um, we've saved whales, we've saved national parks, uh, and something like climate change, it seems daunting. Like it's something that we have no control over.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

But we know exactly what's causing climate change. We know exactly how to lower emissions, and that it does just start with us understanding what those decisions lead to. Um, I think the biggest thing that we can take away is it is our voices that are so powerful in the leaders that we support.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

In supporting nonprofits and scientists that are working really hard, um, and supporting better brands that are making more conscious decisions. If we slowly all start to lead in the right direction, then we can really make a difference. Yeah. Absolutely. Not just for the reef, but for the whole planet.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

So you've been at the Forever Reef project for about a year now. Is there anything major that you've seen, you know, observing these corals, you know, having them?

SPEAKER_01 24:51

So I'm constantly watching their behavior. Yeah. Um, all the time. Corals will fight each other, so it's very it's very important that they're in the right spot where everyone sits in the tank is very thought out about how much space is between them, what light they're in, what flow they're in. Uh, but because we're monitoring them so closely every day, we do get to see and notice those subtle changes that you might not see on the reef. Uh, we've had a few species change color, change their pigments. Um, that's also because we have some of the most bidiverse tanks in the world. Yeah, there's a lot of that Susan Belly algae moving through. Uh so changing color. We've also had some species that are completely different species start to merge and grow together.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Uh so things that we've just never seen or had answers to. So there's a lot of note-taking, making sure we're monitoring what's going on and how they're responding to things. Um, even it's the craziest thing, because people forget corals are animals.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Even within the same species, I have corals that are the same exact species, different colors, but have different behaviors. So remember, it's kind of like a if you're pet, you have two dogs that are the same breed, but think about different behaviors, like they can be different and respond to things differently. Oh wow, that's so interesting. It's pretty fun to just watch that every day.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah, you must like associate personalities to them.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

I tried to name them all, but it got out of hand.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

There's a lot of coral in there.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

So now with the adopted coral, I'm I'm asking everyone to name it because then we can have help naming it. That's a great idea. Oh, fantastic. And what's really special about the way that we collect their DNA and get the genetic sequencing too is that some of the corals, because they've never been collected, are being sequenced for the first time. So we're actually finding new species. We have discovered three new species so far, and there's potentially more to come. Wow. So that's have you been able to name them? Not yet. Um, I've got to find it myself, maybe. Yeah, absolutely. Um but that's I think the best part. We're always learning, always adapting, um, always noticing new things. Um, and their growth rates are incredible too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

What you were saying, like when we visited, uh, there were some that were only in there for a few months and they were huge.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Huge, growing over their bases. Yeah, some of them are doubling in size faster than every six months. So again, it just shows us that if you give them their ideal conditions, how much energy they have for growth and for their own health.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Yeah, absolutely. So it's amazing to see. So that must make you so excited about you know what's to come. Do you think you know what makes you tick the most? What are you so excited about?

SPEAKER_01 27:52

That is one of the most exciting parts is we're the smartest we've been in science right now. Uh we've perfected aquarium husbandry over the last 40 years. We know exactly what to do, we know exactly what we're looking for, um, or how to react to changes in the tanks, um, or how to research these things in the best ways. Yeah. But we don't have all the answers. Yeah. And I think the most exciting thing is within the next few years, we will get those answers, and we'll get to work together to act upon those types of things. We are in that period right now where it's the it is the time, it's kind of crunch time where um we're all working really hard to get those answers. But I think that's the most exciting thing is um how lucky are we to have the biobank as the insurance policy. Absolutely. And then we get to use these samples to act upon those answers that we get in the future.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

And it makes me excited for the next generation as well, because um, you know, I obviously grew up here. I went to a reef guardian school, an employee school, and there was a lot of, yeah, um, you know, this was a long time ago now, but you know, like we I do remember, you know, picking rubbish up off the beach and stuff. So it's really cool to see that that next generation has somewhere local to really, you know, absorb all of this information and perhaps make better choices. Absolutely growing up.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

And I've already seen it with when the kids visit, how their eyes light up when they make those connections or when they see it move a certain way. Um, and that's not something that everyone gets a chance to see. Yeah. So it really opens the door to experiencing coral in in a whole new way. Yeah. Um, and actually pushing those decisions. Because we've we've had a few reef guardians visit, and it's it's so nice after the tour. After they have a look, we go through what are what are some things that you can do? And they always have the answers, they always know. They're like, I recycle, I shut off the lights, yeah, um, I spread the word, yeah. Um, and that's where it all all begins.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Oh and you should be so proud of all the work that you are doing.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Oh, thank you so much. No, thank you, really. Very special to share. Yeah, very exciting.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

You've inspired our team, and I I think I've probably said it to every customer that comes in. Have you been down there? Here's a flyer, go, go, go! Um, because yeah, I I yeah, you you lit that spark in me as well, and I hope that I may imagine that's what everyone feels when they walk out of your tour.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

So thank you so much. Uh it's definitely yes, a joy to share, and we're really lucky that we we have that opportunity. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us today.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Thank you, Rain. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Of course. Um, if people are looking for the Forever Reef Project, where can they find you?

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Good question. So we have our Instagram, Forever Reef Project, we have our Facebook, Forever Reef Project and Great Verif Legacy. Yeah, so socials for now. Uh, but if you want to just book a tour, you can online on our website www.foreveref.org. Yeah. Uh or you can come straight to the marina. Ring the doorbell. I'm there every day, Monday through Friday. Uh, and the tour is Monday through Friday, 1145. And you're always welcome to book on. Yeah. And every every ticket we sell goes straight back to the project in taking care of the choral.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

So do you subscribe? Please go and check it out. Um, but thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you guys for listening. Um, please spread the word, and yeah, we will have more episodes in your ears very soon. But have a wonderful day and go and do something good for the planet. See ya.