A group of scientists from CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, visited the CTC Center for Marine Conservation on August 14. During their visit to Bali, they wished to get a close look at the environmental conservation initiatives and efforts being made across Bali. There were 38 participants from CAS that came to visit our center. Their time here was packed with activities, such as a Coral Clay Workshop, joining the Adopt-a-Coral program, the Amazing Ocean Race, and dinner with a Wayang Samudra performance.

Their visit to the CTC Center for Marine Conservation started with a tour, during which the participants were given an introduction to the Coral Triangle region and the CTC’s programs. In the coral clay workshop they were taught about coral species living in the Coral Triangle region, while also exploring their creativity in molding clay to create coral forms.

Every CAS visitor took part in saving corals by supporting our coral reef rehabilitation program in Nusa Lembongan. They participated in a simulated dry tagging of the coral at our center using our ceramic coral pieces, with their messages of hope for the survival of coral reefs. These tags will be brought to Nusa Lembongan by the CTC team to be attached to baby corals in our nursery. The baby corals will be monitored by Satya Posana Nusa, a local environmental awareness community group. 

After the coral tagging, the group participated in an Amazing Ocean Race. The participants were divided into six groups and competed in fun and friendly challenges with their team. This is a race against time where the teams were challenged and quizzed on ocean-related facts in six different pit stops throughout the center. Through great teamwork, every group managed to complete each of the challenges.

Their visit to the CTC Center for Marine Conservation concluded with a dinner and traditional art performance. The group joined in a unique dining experience and savored local delicacies while enjoying our ocean shadow puppet performance, Wayang Samudra. The performance shares compelling stories on the current state of the ocean and the threats facing it. This performance was developed to inspire audiences to care for the survival of marine animals and to protect marine ecosystems.