Diving in the Heart of the Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle is one of three mega ecological complexes on Earth. The other two are the Amazon Rainforest and the Congo Basin. The Coral Triangle is a Six million square kilometer area in the Western Pacific including the counties of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It is known as the most diverse marine ecosystem in the world containing 30% of all coral reefs and 75% of all coral species and 37% of the world’s reef fish species.

In 2017, Karen Dostal had the opportunity to travel to this region and spent a week scuba diving in a tiny part of this vast area along the Dampier Straits in the Raja Ampat Islands. In this travelogue program Karen will discuss the conservation initiatives to protect the Coral Triangle Region, inform us about how SCUBA equipment works, and take us under the sea so you can experience some of the incredible diversity of marine life in the Coral Triangle.

When diving, Karen’s husband Mark takes a GoPro camera along to capture the amazing life under the sea.  Karen edited the video clips and put music to the finished video. During the program she will play the videos they produced from the Raja Ampat trip. You will see colorful corals and tunicates, masses of fish, eels, sea horses, nudibranchs, sharks, giant Manta rays, and a Spotted Octopus that feeds 3 times while being observed!  The program will take place on Zoom, Wednesday, January 20th at 7:00 pm. Please register at this link https://bit.ly/3getTb0 to receive the connection information or visit our website at www.AldoLeopoldAudubon.org for information.  

When not diving, but wishing she was, Karen spends her time on their farm in Custer, WI where she and Mark raised two boys. She devotes time to gardening, hiking, biking, swimming, skiing and generally playing outside. Her indoor pursuits are reading, weaving and home food preservation. She earned her BS in education and her MS in Environmental Education from UWSP. Karen has been the Education Chair on the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society board since 1999. She has taught many, many children in the classroom and in her role as the Director of the Boston School Forest about the environment, ecology and the love of nature.