Coral World Ocean Park was abuzz with activity Saturday, with more than 300 people learning about marine life and reef conservancy during the Fifth Annual Reef Fest.
The annual Reef Fest is an initiative of the University of the Virgin Islands, with help from different sponsors, that draws the community to learn more about marine life, particularly coral reefs, and how they are affected by human activity.
“The Reef Fest brings awareness of reef conservation, and the importance of the role we all play, and the impact that we have on our coral reefs,” said Valerie Peters, head organizer of Reef Fest. “We’re surrounded by water so it’s very important to take care of them, starting at the top and going all the way down to the reefs.”
Peters said that the health of coral reefs surrounding the territory’s islands are impacted by anything from the management of watersheds, pollution, and unchecked contaminants, to which the reefs are especially susceptible.
In keeping with what is now a five-year tradition, Reef Fest continues pursuing the goal of reef education, said Peters. This year all corners of Coral World Ocean Park were open and free to locals and tourists, most of whom had children in tow. Greeters were available at the entrance, handing out schedules of activities and a map of the marine park.
The Caribbean Reef Encounter tank was a classroom for the day, as UVI students and faculty and the Nature Conservancy held educational presentations, including how to monitor coral reefs for bleaching, microbes as the scariest monsters in coral reefs, and ciguatera fish poisoning in the territory’s waters.
Beach activities were held throughout the day: snorkeling tours headed by Coki Beach Dive, sand-castle building with the UVI crowd, and Snuba tours led by Coral World staff. Snuba is a diving system in which snorkels are replaced by a breathing tube connected to an air supply floating on the surface.
The public was also treated to several marine animal encounters, including a stingray feeding session, a walk through the lorikeet garden, an up-close encounter with green sea turtles, and two sea lion presentations. Games involving fish identification and marine-themed treasure hunts were also popular among the younger crowd.
Raffle tickets were being sold throughout the day, and at 3 p.m. Reef Fest organizers gathered the crowd for the drawing that gave away prizes, such as credits for sea trek tours and sea lion swims, as well as services by other event sponsors.
This was the second time Reef Fest was held at Coral World, according to Peters, who also serves as Coral World’s marketing director, and it saved the event some $10,000 in cash that would have gone to securing and equipping another venue with electricity, staging areas, and portable bathrooms.
Donating the marine park for a day to Reef Fest was not without cost to Coral World, according to management, which waived all admission fees to the park and to all the exhibits, each of which easily cost as much as $30 per person.
“Reef Fest brings a lot of people out who would not normally come, sometimes because they can’t afford to pay,” said Coral World president and general manager Trudie Prior. “But we feel it’s a good day to share information, and hopefully people will be encouraged to come back another day and pay admission.”
According to Peters, the main challenge in organizing the event is the lack of people. She is thankful, she said, that this year’s event was able to attract enough volunteers to keep the event afloat.
“It’s predominantly UVI volunteers,” she said, giving kudos to UVI research assistant Sam Mitchell, who “did a great job” in recruiting volunteers. “It’s really a collaborative effort, and it was more about keeping the event alive.”
Ensuring that Reef Fest continues every year is a major concern for Peters, who sees it a major fundraising event for environmental education and conservation activities. She said she is ready to rally volunteers to make it happen again next year.
Prior said that for the goal of sharing information about reef conservation, Coral World is more than willing to host future Reef Fest events.
“I’ve always felt we are at the core of educating people about conservation and our marine environment,” said Prior. “In a pleasant entertaining way, but it’s still a serious opportunity to understand what’s happening to our environment.”
