It's About More Than Just Coral

Yesterday I dove to 900 feet in Dixon Entrance. Lance Morgan, the pilot of the other Deepworker and I landed on the bottom simultaneously and started making our way across the flats to a nearby wall. We flew over a silt bottom that slowly turned to cobble and then boulders. Through the misty water, I glimpsed a patch of pink gently swaying the current and as I made my way over to it, a beautiful Primnoa coral came into view. Then another, and another, and another. They just kept on going.

The tall branching corals hung to the side of the rock wall. Silt in the water was drifting with the slow moving currents, wrapping around the coral like fog in the forest on a summers day in coastal B.C.

This is what we set out to find. During the two years of planning for this expedition there were many low points where we said that we would never do this again. There were times when the challenges of finding a ship, getting the right permits, and raising the money seemed insurmountable. It was the perseverance and pure determination of Dorthea, Mary, Geoff, Carrie and others at Living Oceans that got us to this point, that got me to the edge of a rock wall watching coral in all her glory.

As I watch the coral I begin to see so much more. There is the sea star crawling up the coral branch, eating the polyps. The rockfish nestled in between the corals stalks. The crab climbing higher and higher on the red branches of the coral. Coral is what we set out to find but we have discovered so much more. We have discovered that, like the coral, the ocean is ancient, fragile, and important to our planets health. And as we work to care for the coral so it can continue to be the home for so many creatures, we need to care for the ocean so it can be a home for the people who work and live on this coast and for all Canadians.

My moment of insight is broken by Sasha calling from the boat asking for an update on my oxygen levels and other safety issues. I give him the information he needs and set out to gather data about the coral, feeling happy, lucky, and just a little bit wiser.

~ Jennifer Lash