How Catching the Biggest Waves of my Life are Helping Save Coral Reefs

“Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” Conservationist and author Edward Abbey understood the importance of carrying out one’s passionate beliefs without hesitation. Not doing so would ultimately make one fall into the confines of hypocrisy and who wants to live like that?
In my trip to Iceland this last summer I decided to visit the famous glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón. As I climbed a hill to get a better look at a glacier that fed it, I found myself amidst a crowd of other tourists roaring with cheers and laughter. Not understanding what they were cheering for I suddenly heard a thundering crash from the glacier that sent a massive chunk of ice racing into the lagoon, prompting yet another cacophony from the onlookers. I found out later that day that the glacier was retreating roughly 500 meters (over 1,600 feet) per year. For me, watching this spectacle was upsetting. That moment was pivotal in my life, motivating me to do something and not be a part of the gaggle. From this came Surfing Be Cause, an outlet where I can generate funds and spread awareness for environmental and humanitarian causes by having individuals and businesses pledge money per foot of the biggest wave I catch every season.

Iceland's largest glacier
Last winter’s infamous El Niño provided ample opportunities to surf and also, unfortunately, plenty of causes to help support. I chose to advocate for something close to home in Maui, coral reefs. As a direct result of the El Niño, the reefs in Hawaii and around the world have been affected by unusually high ocean temperatures, leaving many of them bleached. A survey had documented 95% of the Great Barrier Reef being affected, making it the worst bleaching event in history.

An affected reef in Hawaii
To mitigate these events I partnered with Dr. Ruth Gates, Director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. She has gone beyond just documenting the degradation of reefs. She is heading research that is aimed at actively preserving a future for them. She has accomplished this by identifying “super corals”, that aren’t as affected by the extreme conditions, then selectively breeding stocks of them that will be resistant to even worse conditions and transplanting them back to the reef to spread their genes. So far it seems to be working as all the corals she has transplanted have not bleached. She has her work cut out for her as 2016-2017 is projected to be another bleaching season. Dr. Gates’ enterprising research and openness to cooperating with a random surfer like me is the kind of approach our world needs to move forward.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from doing last year’s project, it is that people’s kindness and willingness to help knows no bounds. I rode a 50 foot wave at Jaws on Maui and raised $3,000 towards the reefs. This year my goal is to catch an even bigger wave and amass to amass more funds. To bolster my efforts I’ve joined Steemit to help me accomplish my goal of donating $50,000 towards her research. %50 of funds raised on my posts will be donated to Ruth’s research. There is hope, we are all capable of doing incredible things, all we have to do is execute our dreams and fuel them with our passions. A friend simply put it as this: “nothing stops a freight train full of F#@k yeah!”

My 50 footer from Jaws, Maui