John and Jenny Edmondson These marine biologists are giving new life to the Great Barrier Reef, piece by piece.
“We collect, propagate, grow and plant coral in order to replenish reef sites and enhance the reef’s resilience,” explains John Edmondson, who has worked in Great Barrier Reef tourism for more than 25 years and co-founded the Coral Nurture Program with his wife, Jenny, in 2018.
Joining forces with coral biologist Professor David Suggett and biogeochemist Dr Emma Camp from the University of Technology Sydney, the Edmondsons – both marine biologists – have watched as coral planted four years ago has begun to spawn. “It’s been rewarding to see new colonies grow and become home to small fish,” says John.
To make planting faster, cheaper and more convenient, he invented the Coralclip, a stainless-steel device that clamps coral fragments to the reef so they can take hold and grow. “I wanted an alternative to adhesive, cement or plastics. Coralclips are made here in Queensland and are now used in 17 countries around the world.”
The Edmondsons first met Suggett and Camp when they took the scientists out to search for corals in the mangroves on islands along the reef. “Mangroves have warm acidic water so corals growing in such conditions have developed valuable adaptations. The hope is that these corals can help identify key traits associated with thermal adaptation, which we can then look for in reef corals when selecting coral ‘parents’ for the nurseries.”
To date, more than 70,000 pieces of coral have been planted and 115 coral nurseries established across the Great Barrier Reef. On a tour with the Edmondsons’ Wavelength Reef Cruises (wavelength.com.au) you’ll see some of their work. “We strongly believe that ecotourism plays a critical role in conservation by enabling people to connect with the reef. Our work is also about raising awareness of the policies needed to help the reef by involving the whole community.”