2007 Annual Report of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
As time presses on, a pause is worthwhile to reflect on the Foundation’s accomplishments of last year. I am pleased to report that the year 2007 was punctuated by several major milestones.
Education and Outreach are major components of our Foundation’s mission. Prince Khaled has long aspired to create an “underwater classroom” to bring living oceans to those who are unable to experience undersea wonders firsthand. In 2007, the vision of His Royal Highness came to life in an underwater laboratory called Aquarius, inhabited by six “Aquanauts.” Six exciting classes on coral reef science were broadcast live to the world from this unique “classroom” on the bottom of the sea. This project was a prototype for a series of live underwater classrooms to be produced by the Foundation in the near future. Through Project SeaCAMEL (Classroom Aquarius Marine Education Live), an inspiration became a reality!
The Foundation’s first documentary film, Our Coral Islands, was shot on location in the Farasan Islands of the Red Sea during 2006. The film was distributed world wide during 2007, setting the stage for global awareness of natural and human threats to coral health and the Foundation’s important work to conserve these resources. Focusing on our Red Sea project, the film highlights cutting-edge research of our science team. We are proud to announce that our film was selected to be shown in the Conservation Cinema at the Barcelona World Conservation Congress in October, 2008.
Our operational projects in 2007 took place among the magnificent coral reefs of the Red Sea, Bahamas, and Seychelles Islands. We created high resolution habitat maps of vast areas of coral reefs and conducted underwater surveys of their biodiversity. Outcomes of these research projects will positively impact global coral reef conservation measures in the future. Details of each of these operations are included in this report.
Looking ahead, the Living Oceans Foundation is planning to embark on a Global Coral Reef Research Expedition to take place over the next few years. This unprecedented expedition will embody Science Without Borders® by joining scientists from around the world to advance coral conservation research…
