At The Andaman, I learnt about coral conservation through a Coral Nursery Session with Dr Gerry Goeden. Dr Gerry is the consultant Marine Biologist at the Coral Nursery, the resortโs sustainability project to nurture and grow new colonies.
Dr Gerry ย was a scientist based in Australia and retired into Malaysia about 7 years ago through the โMalaysia My Second Homeโ programme. Heโs been working on the Coral Nursery for the past 12 months and is very passionate about coral conservation. He hopes to start moving the corals out to the reef to replace the damaged ones caused by overfishing and development.
The nursery is home to a variety of marine life such as blue spotted stingray, razor fish, clown fish, lobster, clams and an assortment of corals. ย Ocean water is pumped into the nursery daily to keep it going.
Dead corals from the sea are recycled at the nursery where the minerals are used by propagated corals to escalate their growth. The nursery not only serves as a rehabilitation centre for rescued damaged coral; guests have the opportunity to learn about the process of nurturing these new polyps.
I was given a tour of the coral pool by Randy the coral curator, and he spoke about all the different marine life in the pool. Since he did all the talking and guiding me around, I got to enjoy the beautiful sights and take plenty of pictures.
The baby corals are kept in the nursery for nine to twelve months (like a maternity ward) and once the corals are ready, they are placed back on the reef. Dr Gerry shared that there are over 600 types of corals in the world and Langkawi boasts one of the richest rainforests and coral reefs in the world.
With this effort, The Andaman team hopes to produce several thousands of coral colonies and a few hundred anemones each year. Very few places in the world can offer a tropical rainforest and coral reef within 100 meters from each other, but The Andaman can!
For more information, visit www.theandaman.com or call +60 4 959 1088. ‘Like’ The Andaman Langkawi on Facebook here.
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The Andaman Langkawi
Jalan Teluk Datai
Langkawi, Kedah
Tel: +604-959 1088
4 comments
I’ve heard about Andaman Langkawi but haven’t got the opportunity to go there. Thanks for sharing this interesting article. ๐
Pleasure was mine. Glad you enjoyed the post. ๐
Loved reading this post! Thanks for sharing all that info about the coral rehabilitation. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to visit Andaman soooooon : )
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. It’s a really good experience for me. Very educational. ๐