I am a sucker for any good place to snorkel so after combing the guidebooks for the best NZ locale, we set off for the marine reserve around Goat Island. The snorkeling was great, though cold, despite our wet suits. Lots of big fish (metre long snapper gliding by your nose) in an assortment of colours and shapes gliding around the kelp beds and reefs. In fact the underwater plants and rocks seemed quite similar to the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, but the fish were way different, bigger and far more plentiful. Unfortunately we did not spring to rent an underwater camera so the pictures are only in our memories. But beyond the fish was the gentleman we stumbled into in the process of renting our snorkel gear. We were driving into the reserve with lots of places to choose as a rental locale. The little sign “Seafriends” at the head of a treed driveway seemed most intriguing (good intuition). In fact it was a marine education centre run by Dr. J.Anthoni, and his family for the past 25 years.
3000 school kids a year come through and beyond our 2 hour snorkel, we spent at least that much time talking with him about his mission and passion in life— to educate the world about the importance of caring for and protecting coastal areas. He is an amateur scientist who has taken thousands of underwater photos over twenty five years of marine life and changing conditions in the area, which he uses to educate and advocate for change at scientific and policy levels while doing the education. His message is that coastal life is not specifically imperiled by over-fishing (though management is necessary) or in particular need of marine reserves, rather it needs people, agriculture and industry on land to stump dumping its pollutants into marine waters.
Dr. Anthoni
With little help from anyone, he has built this Marine Education Centre, which includes small aquariums, neat graphics and passionate conversation. Classes, rotate across three activities in a day: snorkeling, discovering creatures on the rocky shore, and spending time in the Education Centre where they learn the concepts behind their experiences on the coast (not a bad experiential process for an informal educator no wonder the classes keep coming back).
Antonio prides himself on being a maverick and aims to prove the scientific establishment wrong in a number of cases. It was humbling to spend time with one person who has spent a lifetime fighting for a cause. Here and there across New Zealand, there seem to be numbers of somewhat eccentric folks working for a better world. This country seems to give them space to flourish.
No comments:
Post a Comment