After 23 years in the classroom as a special-education teacher, Point Loma resident Lisa Morse will soon take on an enviable job on the beach in the Bahamas. Through the Reef Relief movement and grassroots community-based efforts, Morse will make history in May by holding class in the sand.
Her trip is the first of its kind and Morse hopes to increase public awareness about the importance of coral reef ecosystems and plans to bring valuable information home to implement the Reef Relief program on the West Coast.
Morse, who teaches at Morse High School, said she has always been an avid swimmer and ecology minded. She originally planned to go to Costa Rica on her own. The trip fell through, however, and she began searching for another way to help, encountering Reef Relief by doing research.
Reef Relief is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting living coral reef ecosystems through local, regional and global efforts. The organization that helps communities prevent damage from anchors through the creation of reef mooring-buoy programs and coral monitoring surveys and helps establish coral nurseries and educational programs that encourage sustainable living near the reefs.
For the last 15 years, Reef Relief has been headquartered at the Reef Relief Environmental Center in Key West, Fla. but is now in the Bahamas. The historic Captain Roland Roberts House, where Morse will stay, now provides a headquarters for Reef Relief programs there.
The Architectural Preservation Foundation (APF) of New Plymouth has offered Reef Relief a five-year lease at a cost of $10,000 per year to establish an environmental education center at the Roberts House. The classic Bahamian two-story house features a visitor center open to the public, operated by the APF.
Exhibits and information about Green Turtle Cay are available for the general public to increase awareness and support for the protection of coral reefs. A classroom is set up for regional student education activities, and the upstairs and rear structures on the property provide office space and lodging for visiting scientists, other educational organizations, and interested parties.
“The establishment of the Captain Roberts House will enable Reef Relief to expand coral reef educational programs in the Abaco area of the Bahamas, an area that is growing fast,” said Morse. “The increasing activity on land and in the ocean is affecting the coral reefs here, and education is the key to ensuring the health of the marine environment in the future.”
Morse believes it is important to understand that reefs are formed very slowly by tiny animals called coral. Each animal is tinier than a pinkie nail and grows about one centimeter per year. The reefs of today were formed over hundreds of thousands of years and would take just as long to grow back, if they grow back at all.
“This is why Reef Relief has set up a nursery in the Bahamas, because many species of animals such as lobsters and fish live in reefs and are dependent on them for food all around the world,” said Morse.
“It is believed that coral reefs may be the source of medicines, chemicals or other resources that haven’t even been discovered yet,” she said. “The coral reefs provide income from tourists to many otherwise poor countries and provide a protective barrier around many islands and coasts and prevent erosion. Reefs cannot be replaced.”
Morse will visit Green Turtle Cay as a docent, or trained volunteer, and will run a beach cleanup with local children who will gain and share scientific understanding and knowledge of living coral reef ecosystems through a 3-week curriculum.
“I am an artist and an avid ocean swimmer, and I think it is very important to work with mediums that children will understand so that they truly grasp the importance of this project,” said Morse.
“I’ll be doing paper crafts, sea-glass mosaics and edible art with the students, and we will have a treasure hunt and a theme party. I’m sending supplies about a month in advance and it’s mostly coming out of my own pocket simply because I love the ocean and know that the children will play a huge part in sustaining the reefs,” she said.
Through multimedia approaches, Reef Relief targets user groups like boaters, divers, fishermen, policymakers, educators and students to inform on how to protect reefs through sustainable living.
The organization also participates in children’s summer programs, providing coral reef education at the Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, Mel Fisher’s Mer Academy and at special events. Reef Relief produces educational tools for teachers such as a new online course called “Endangered Coral Reefs” and can be found at www.reefrelief.org.
For more information or to contact Morse to assist with trip supplies, e-mail [email protected].