FOREWORD

In 1956 I first tremulously strapped on an aqualung and dived into a cool, calm sea at Hallett Cove reef. What I saw was more exciting than I had ever imagined. I was in a gully, with kelp-covered rocks on my left and swaying seagrass on my right, while fishes peered from crevices at this strange invader. Since that memorable dive I have done many thousands of dives from the tropics to the arctic in almost all oceans of the world, but my first love is for South Australian temperate reefs, and the spiritual feeling of absorption into a greater world every time I dive, has never left me.

Our temperate reefs are our playground, they are a place for exploiting fish, and sadly a place where our wastes are sometimes dumped, and these last two provide the greatest threats to reefs. Fortunately, we are now beginning to realise that seeing the rich diversity of reef life, and swimming on these reefs is a great privilege. So we now must learn to protect this amazing heritage, and we can only do that by educating young and old alike.

This package, prepared by an expert Australian educator, is a bold step in that direction. Our temperate reefs are among the richest in the world, and the photographs alone, illustrating that astonishing diversity, do them justice, and are truly inspiring. But this package does much more than showing us superficially their beauty. It tells us of their diversity and important processes in an understandable way, it tells us how to recognise the threats, and it tells us of the ways we can protect them.

I have the greatest pleasure in strongly recommending this package to all educators.