Krysta Frye, the Deacons Abroadmarketing intern, discusses her time on Lady Elliot Island in South Queensland, Australia and what she learned from the Great Barrier Reef:

A view of Lady Elliot Island, taken from the plane upon arrival.

If you’re like the old me, when you think of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef you imagine little Nemo swimming through beautiful underwater jungles, pristine seas, and dynamic corals that extend miles into the ocean. Without a doubt, this is how people want to imagine the GBR – as an untainted, thriving Natural Wonder of the world. However the lessons I learned while studying on the reef itself, on the developed island known as Lady Elliot, opened my eyes to the reality of our environmental impacts and what we as young adults can do to ensure that this million-year-old Natural Wonder can exist in the future.

I studied on AUIP’s South Queensland program during the summer of 2012, and our group stayed on Lady Elliot Island for four nights. We left the mainland on a rainy afternoon and headed out to sea on a tiny 10-person plane. Within 25 minutes of being in the air, we began to see specs of what would soon be our home, Lady Elliot Island, or LEI as we called it. While it’s less than two miles long, LEI contains all the resources of a comfortable resort while still remaining self-sustainable and environmentally friendly.

While the island is teeming with life and live corals, this was not always the case. We learned that guano miners arrived on the island in 1863 and stayed for nearly 100 years, extracting the land’s natural resources and destroying the surroundings for nearly a century. Luckily for the island, a keen aviator and environmentalist began a re-vegetation initiative, and since then, the island has become a beautiful wildlife sanctuary boasting the second-highest diversity of seabirds on the Great Barrier Reef.

A picture of Krysta (left) and a few classmates studying on LEI. As you can tell, class was pretty unbearable…

When we landed on the island, I would have never guessed that only a few short decades ago the land was completely barren and nearly non-existent. Our group quickly put on our wetsuits and headed out to the lagoon, spending hours gazing at the mind-blowing reefs and even get up-close with a few turtles.

During one outdoor lecture, our field instructor pointed out to the exposed reef (which is normal at low tide) and asked, “Do you notice a difference in the color of some reefs?” We began to take a closer look at some of the lagoon’s corals and noticed that some lacked color and were even white. He explained to us that this is a process known as coral bleaching, and under stress, corals may expel their color-causing agents, giving them a bleached appearance. He went on to explain that this natural coral process has progressed at alarming levels and is likely due to environmental stresses that we have caused, like pollution and soil erosion from land use.

The beautiful corals that surround LEI, photo taken by one of Krysta’s classmates.

We sat in awe as we watched the waves slowly flow over the living corals, and I think it was then that our group understood that our environmental impacts are causing devastating, long-term effects on the world. Living on LEI was easily one of the most amazing experiences of my life (I even snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef on my 21st birthday!), and the experience made me realize that I want my kids and grandkids to have the opportunity to experience these same breath-taking moments. But, as explained by our field guide, in order to share this Natural Wonder with future generations, we must become conscious of our environmental impacts. Similar to the initiatives taken by the LEI pioneers nearly 40 years ago, we need to alter the way we live to create a more environmentally friendly world. If anything, do it for Nemo…