Wakatobi Resort has expanded its long-standing commitment to coral reef restoration and protection with a new Reef Health Assessment program and the addition of Julia Mellers as its in-house marine biologist.
Mellers joined the Wakatobi family earlier this year to launch an ongoing project to measure, monitor and assess coral reef health within the resort’s private marine preserve.
The Reef Health Assessment program utilizes a customized set of modern imaging and data analysis techniques that provide a comprehensive indication of the state of a reef ecosystem.
Mellers says:
“We use the latest ecological theory, technology and artificial intelligence to develop a novel package to efficiently and robustly measure reef health. This will enable us to monitor how Wakatobi’s reefs are faring throughout the protected area without significantly diverting resources from protecting the reefs.”
The process combines in-water documentation with data analysis using machine learning models to measure reef health. When not on the island, she will research new approaches and ideas for coral reef assessment and help spread the word about Wakatobi’s scientific initiative.
Mellers is also finding ways to incorporate more science into the Wakatobi diving experience:
“The more you know, the more you notice, and what better place to learn about reef biodiversity and custodianship than in Wakatobi.”
Mellers and the dive team have also started an eDNA survey of the reefs:
”This involves taking seawater samples near the reef at different depths and filtering them to trap environmental DNA (eDNA) that organisms shed into the water. The samples are now in a lab, where the DNA is labelled using probes and sequenced to identify which species are around. Using this technique, we should be able to detect hundreds of species from just a single liter of seawater. It’s a very cool process!”
Mellers majored in biology at Oxford University and did Master’s work in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. She is a lifelong sailor and avid diver.
“I went into marine biology because I see this research as a powerful tool to connect people with the planet. Working within such a dynamic team has meant that we’ve made progress quickly. The Wakatobi team has also proven to be an invaluable source of knowledge about the local ecosystem. Being able to go from library to laptop to reef, all in the space of a hundred meters, is the perfect recipe for generating new ideas and trying them out. It is so exciting to work with open-minded innovators keen to try novel approaches and look at things from different angles.”
