TEAM GALLAGHER ROW FOR REEFS!

Team Gallagher (four gutsy blokes) are rowing from Sydney to Auckland to raise critically needed funds for coral reefs.

We aim to raise money for the building of the worlds largest ‘live’ artificial reef. It will be built in Semporna, Borneo out of ceramic modules that cuttings of coral will be placed on. Donors who give money to the Coral Reef Garden will effectively own one of the modules.

A digital replica of the reef will then be built which will be used as an educational tool and users will 'virtually' fly around the reef and, if they donated, see how their bit of coral is doing or what fish have started to inhabit the reef in as-close-to-real-time as possible. This can then be related to the wider problems that the oceans are facing. Coral reefs make up less than 1% of the oceans but provide homes to 25% of all marine species. Without them our planet would be a very different place. We have already lost over 30% of all coral reefs and more are in poor condition but it’s not too late to protect the remaining reefs and generate new ones to give life to the oceans. 

OUR GOALS

The Trans-Tasman Row will be used as a tool to generate funding to build an artificial reef off the northern coast of Borneo, just east of Semporna. The reef, while providing a home and hunting ground for a vast diversity of marine species, will also function as an educational tool, one enabled by art and the community.

The reef will be designed by renowned environmental artist Virginia King, who has special interests in raising awareness about ocean acidification Borneo and the destruction of coral reefs.

The reef will be built out of ceramic modules. They are eco-friendly and provide a perfect substrate for the coral to grow. To start, clippings of sustainably grown coral will be planted onto the modules by local coral gardeners, with the help of the surrounding community and visiting divers.