Heroes Protect Our Reef

 In Environment, Resort

Vets turn sights on saving marine environment

You would think that military personnel had done enough in their first career by protecting and serving in the most difficult and hostile situations. But it might be that exact reason these special individuals now want to protect our delicate marine environment on Grand Cayman.

A Grand Cayman dive resort and US veterans have teamed up to form Force Blue, which will train former special operations veterans to work on coral reef conservation projects around the world, starting in Cayman.

They will be trained in coral restoration by marine science experts and will help tend the resort’s new coral nursery. Other Cayman dive operators and the Central Caribbean Marine Institute in Little Cayman will also be involved.

The Cayman Islands were a natural fit to start the project because it not only has access to one of the world’s healthiest and most vibrant coral reef systems, but access to some of the world’s finest conservation minds as well

The organization’s initial two-week training program will take place entirely in Cayman, but the plan involves expanding Force Blue’s influence to different destinations around the world and bringing other teams aboard.

We applaud any project which protects and enhances the long-term sustainability of our beautiful reefs, some of which are just a few metres off our shoreline.

(Photo caption: “Keith Sahm, the general manager of Sunset House, has teamed up with U.S. Special Forces vets including Rudy Reyes, an Iraq war veteran who starred as himself in HBO mini-series ‘Generation Kill,’ to launch a new dive charity.” – from CaymanCompass.com)