Matamaka Coral Reef Fish Nursery

The rope nursery which will be catching coral spawn

During the last month I have been working with the kids from Matamaka GPS to set up a coral reef nursery. Two methods are being used to promote coral growth.  The first one being a rope nursery made up of two ropes tied to buoys floating on the surface and bricks at the bottom to keep them tight. These ropes were then tied onto an existing rope which has been in the water for years and has many corals growing on it. Hopefully the new ropes will catch lots of coral spawn and over the time, have coral heads growing on them as well.

 The coral frame with the coral fragments tied onto it

The second method consists of a 1m x 1m re-bar frame on which broken coral fragments rescued from the seabed are tied onto. These fragments will slowly grow onto the frame creating a small artificial reef. This method is a bit more complicated as the frame has to be placed in an area with the right conditions (e.g  light, temperature, water flow, nutrient and sediment load). This isn’t turning out to be the easiest as sometimes the ‘perfect’ spot would be where the fishermen throw their anchors or its too deep for the kids to swim out to. The students will be undertaking monthly monitoring of the nurseries including recording the number of fish, water temperature, colour of the coral, replacing any broken or damaged coral and brushing off any algal growth.  By looking after these projects, the kids will learn how important coral reefs are in providing habitat and food as well as how slowly corals grow after they have been damaged.

But it’s not all hard work...once a week the kids practice their snorkelling skills in the shallow sandy area and lately I’ve been taking a few at a time to the reef just in front of the school which is a lot more interesting in terms of sea life. They don’t stop pointing at every single fish, sea star or anything they see. It’s really rewarding seeing them so happy! I’ve told them it is really important not to stand on the coral or touch it, so a few times already I’ve nearly drowned due to having six kids hanging on to me to stay afloat! But they are getting very good with their fins and snorkels!

The kids of Matamaka getting ready for 

their snorkelling class

The kids also got a chance to be movie stars for a day as Matamaka was the ‘movie studio’ for an IMAX movie being filmed in Tonga about the humpback whales and the people of Tonga. The kids were filmed learning how to snorkel and also tying coral fragments onto the coral frame (which is really good, because it means the project will appear on IMAX theatres all around the world!).

I am very lucky I got assigned this project, working with kids and being in the water most of the day is all I could ever ask for, I love it! Thank you very much to the families of Matamaka and MacGillivray Freeman Films who donated the materials for this project.