Planetary Coral Reef Foundation News
December 2006

               
                              Happy Holidays!
From all of us at PCRF, we wish you a joyous holiday season and Happy New Year! As 2006 draws to a close, we have much good news to report and are excited to share our progress. Thank you so much for your support!

         

PCRF Charters New Research Vessel, SV Infinity
In September we moved our crew to the SV Infinity – a beautiful 120’ ketch that sails faster and is approximately 60% larger than our previous vessel, so our research team can travel more efficiently between our monitoring sites. Infinity will enable us to expand our research and outreach, accommodate more students in our apprentice program and host guests interested in an eco-tourist adventure/diving experience.

Partnership with Raffles Marina on Conservation
In October PCRF Chairman Abigail Alling signed an agreement with Francis Lee, the President of Raffles Marina  (Singapore's premiere marina), for long-term cooperation on conservation initiatives such as the  creation of Marine Parks – sanctuaries for reefs and other ocean life. Raffles Marina is generously providing a home port for the SV Infinity, and PCRF will now base its operations not only in the US and on board the Infinity, but also in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

PCRF Moves US Headquarters to Los Angeles
We recently moved our headquarters to LA, consolidating our New Mexico and West Coast offices. Our core team is now well poised to work together to expand our media, education and outreach efforts.

PCRF At Sea – Reefs at Risk and Signs of Hope
During the past year we have conducted critical coral reef studies in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Indonesia. Although we found these reefs still at risk, we are pleased to report signs of hope for reef restoration. In November, we studied a reef in Tioman previously devastated by dynamite fishing, a site that was just beginning to recover during our last visit there in 2001.  Now part of a protected Malaysian Marine Park, it is flourishing and blooming!

 

We also collaborated with Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, one of the world’s foremost scientists based at the University of Queensland, on the monitoring of coral bleaching along Australia’s NE Great Barrier Reef.  We observed minimal bleaching of the reefs we studied and were lucky to encounter minke whales who joined us for several days at sea! You can learn more about all the reefs we monitor at pcrf.science.org, our growing global database, free for anyone in the world to access and use for coral reef stewardship. 

PCRF's Images in An Inconvenient Truth
We continue to publicize our discovery of massive coral mortality in the Phoenix Islands due to global warming. Former Vice President Al Gore is now using our images in his presentation and in An Inconvenient Truth. We are honored that PCRF receives a credit in the film. In addition, The Canary is Dead, our short Phoenix Islands film, was voted to the #1 position by viewers on Mr. Gore's Current TV website for broadcast. Link TV also aired a story about PCRF and the Phoenix Islands on its Earth Focus program this year.  All of these efforts are contributing to a growing public awareness of the enormous threat climate change poses to the future of coral reefs worldwide.

  
                   Dead Reef                                        Healthy Reef

Join the Voyage! - Visit PCRF's New Online Hub
As this newsletter goes to press, we are launching Join the Voyage, an education/outreach hub on pcrf.org to inform and inspire people of all ages to take action to make a difference. Here you can open virtual portholes and journey with us through the beauty and challenges facing the underwater world. You can dive deeper and deeper into the realm of coral reefs, learn more about the vital role they play in the health of our oceans and just what’s at stake if we don’t act now to protect them. We invite you to Join the Voyage and find out why it’s up to each and every one of us to start making a difference today.

Make A Difference Now - Help Us Keep the Voyage Going & Protect Coral Reefs!
You can help keep our ship out at sea and support our efforts to Save Coral Reefs by making a tax-deductible contribution to PCRF today. Your gift will make it possible for us to create new marine conservation programs in Southeast Asia, increase our coral reef monitoring and education/outreach activities aboard the SV Infinity and expand our Join the Voyage hub so more and more people around the world can link together to make a difference in the future of our oceans and coral reefs.

Thank you again for your generous support!
For more information, visit pcrf.org

Click here to Donate Now!

PCRF is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization

Planetary Coral Reef Foundation
P.O. Box 201
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272