Swiss Coral Reefs - by Ulrike Pfreundt & Marie Griesmar
I recall being part of a series of exchanges with people in the Carribean and discussing the importance of the ocean. They were always surprised when people which are in or coming from landlocked countries spoke up and shared their ideas. Rest assured, many people in landlocked countries also fail to fully understand the vital role that the ocean has for the planet.
Just in case the Covid pandemic has not reminded us that we are all sharing one planet, another issue we either address globally or it just won’t get solved, the ocean has a greater role than just welcoming tourists for recreational purposes during a few months of the year.
The ocean covers over 70% of the surface of the planet, hence you may have heard of the term ‘blue planet’ when it is referred to. The fact is that we are still discovering all kinds of secrets that the ocean is still slowly sharing with us. We are barely discovering the bottoms of the oceans as we still try to map the seabeds.
Within the several things that we do know is that the ocean actually produces the oxygen we breathe. Every other breath you take, whether you are in downtown Geneva, Tunis, Cape Town, Nahodka, Kansas City, Reno, Edmonton, Astana, Asuncion, Prague or Paris, actually comes from the ocean. That’s right. The ocean is producing oxygen for you to breathe.
You may have heard of the ‘Rainforest of the Ocean’ or the ‘Lungs of the Ocean’, in both cases it is referring to the oxygen the ocean is producing for humans to breathe.
The ‘magic’ which produces this oxygen for us to breathe is actually scientifically studied, and ongoingly so, and in case you were wondering why so many people were upset about the bleaching of coral reefs, it was not just because they were a hobby destination for amateur scuba divers testing their photography skills, but because coral reefs actually carry a key role on this planet.
You would be even more astounded if you knew how little of the oceans actually is home to coral reefs. Coral is suffering due to several reasons, the main one being climate change, more specifically the heating of the oceans resulting from climate change.
Yet, while this may be a reason for its weakening and dissapearance, if we know the capital importance of coral reefs, why isn’t more done to preserve coral reefs or create more?
I spent time thinking about this, because I saw creating or saving coral as a solution, while not being perhaps the perfect solution, we are in a climate emergency situation so we should address with every solution we can and scale what works, right? Perhaps I am naive, hopefully, I can remain so for a while longer as I do not see any benefit in being a total doom and gloom character.
I spent enough time hoping and thinking about it until I started to discover people involved in the saving and support of coral. A lot of it came out of the United Kingdom where the research of how to support coral was groundbreaking and impressive. I eventually found people carryng out exercises in coral around the world, from Australia to California, via Israel and Hong Kong, and more.
One group distinguished itself though, perhaps because of its story, which not only addresses the issue of coral reefs, but also the ability for individuals to step up and contribute to the improvement of the planet from wherever they are physically or culturally, or professionally. I will also add, that of all the robotic solutions, AI, drones and the marvels of 3D printing as a solution for people to prototype their ideas, they stood out as very unique in their craft and their ability to communicate universally. This group out of Switzerland is rrreefs.com and I invite you to view their website and follow their work.
Rrreefs is a company out of Switerland (yes, a landlocked country) that was put together by two individuals, Marie Griesmar and Ulrike Pfreundt.
They both share a passion for the oceans and diving, however they come from different backgrounds. They are connected by their interests and passion, and they are both generously sharing their knowledge, their Art and their know-how with the world as they go forward in sharing their solutions for the world of coral. A dedicated exercise built on pure passion.
Their work is in building reefs for the coral. True genius in many ways, and because they are creative, they do not look to reproduce existing shapes and forms, but also look at improving their habitat, another display of the creative genius. Before you ask anything about funding, it is all public information, they crowdfunded their company.
Rrreefs illustrates more than ever that we can all step up and be a part of the solution when it comes to the issues of the oceans and the planet. Ulrike Pfreundt and Marie Griesmar put their passion, their knowledge and their skills forward. I am pretty sure that they stumbled upon many new things and discovered more than they expected along the way, yet they have now blazed a trail we can follow and support. I find them to be a great inspiration for the rest of us.
