Well it all started about 50 years ago when I was a little girl, growing up on Pittwater and needing glasses to see anything beyond my hand. I could see to read though, so books were my friends as were the little crabs and fish in the rock pools where I lived. Snuggle Pot and Cuddle Pie's adventures under the water with Mr John Dory and in later years Jacques Cousteau's books and films only confirmed that my career choice was limited to one of one - I had to be a marine biologist. Luckily we were a sailing family and moved to Port Douglas when I was 16 where I truly fell in love with coral reefs.
Exactly 40 years ago I learnt to dive with a much younger and even cuter Mike Ball (now one of the largest dive companies in the world) in Townsville where I was newly enrolled in marine biology. 10 years later, after a degree and a stint in WA doing my honours on desert birds and starting a family, we were back in Port Douglas when friends Jim and Jo Wallace started Quicksilver to the outer reef. I thought people would like to know more about the reef with a marine biologist - and pay a little extra - and so Reef Biosearch was born. Coincidentally exactly 30 years ago.
I was in yoga the other evening with Michael - who runs a fabulous class here in Port - and he noticed my towel, which was an ancient 30 year old Reef Biosearch towel. I looked at it and saw the drawing on the logo of a snorkeller with a magnifying glass - and a little tear came to my eye as I thought about the journey to get to today. I am finally realizing my dream of celebrating and showcasing the "Little Things " on a coral reef using, as a platform, the clothes we wear.
I have no idea whether others will be inspired, as I have been, by observing and discovering the stories of Little Things and what they represent as parts in a greater whole. And to understand why we need to "tread lightly" as the weight of our species falls heavily on the Earth. I hope so. The most remarkable woman of the reef I know of was Isobel Bennett - true Matriarch of the GBR ...not formally qualified, but a patient observer of the natural world "twist tide and tide's turning" - particularly the Little Things. In the 1950's she spent time at Low Isles revisiting the sites of the year long 1928/29 British expedition. Issy, you inspired me and I hope the legacy of your passion for the reef continues to inspire generations to come. We humans need to get out of the way of nature's healing power and live within nature. Not without.