{"id":10087,"date":"2016-11-04T00:26:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T04:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/quicksilver-and-the-fight-for-the-great-barrier-reef\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T00:26:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T04:26:52","slug":"quicksilver-and-the-fight-for-the-great-barrier-reef","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/quicksilver-and-the-fight-for-the-great-barrier-reef\/","title":{"rendered":"Quicksilver and The Fight for the Great Barrier Reef"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Quicksilver Group<\/strong><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Quicksilver Group (Quicksilver) is the <\/span>largest reef tourism operator<\/span> for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) [10]. Home to cruises and snorkeling excursions, Quicksilver owns thirteen major vessels, and is one of North Queensland\u2019s largest private employers, with\u00a0630 local workers [4]. Perhaps most impressive, however, is Quicksilver\u2019s twenty-year commitment to raising awareness about – and researching – the detrimental effects of climate change on the GBR ecosystem. As an early mover, Quicksilver is poised to further this conversation on an international stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Threat of Warm Water<\/strong><\/p>\n

Climate change has led to an increase in sea temperatures [1]: since 1950, more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by carbon emissions have permeated the ocean. As a result, the surface temperature of the ocean has increased by 1C in the last 35 years — too warm for coral\u2019s polyps to retain the algae that live inside it [2]. Algae provide most of the coral\u2019s energy; without it, the coral falls into starvation, becoming ostensibly bleached. Because the water temperature cannot cool down, the coral is trapped in an endless cycle, ultimately perishing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Exhibit
Exhibit 1. The impact of climate change: healthy [9], bleached [8] and dead [2] coral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>GBR\u2019s decline has a detrimental effect on the massive ecosystem it supports. As the largest living structure in the world (2,300 km, and comprised of 2,900 reefs), the GBR supports 1,600 species of fish. Without coral and algae as sustenance, these fish either move away or die. This bubbles up the circle of life, affecting birds, whose droppings fertilize island plants, as well as\u00a0the half billion humans who consume fish from this region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the GBR brings two million tourists, $6 billion and nearly 70,000 local jobs to Australia every year [2]. Quicksilver, and companies like it, are thus fundamentally dependent on the GBR for revenue. <\/span><\/p>\n

What Quicksilver is Doing<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1986, as coral reached \u201cmass bleaching\u201d levels [2], Quicksilver created Reef Biosearch, a group tasked with tracking and understanding the impact of climate change on the GBR.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Exhibit<\/a>
Exhibit 2. Bleach levels over time, 1998-2016 [2].<\/figcaption><\/figure>Reef Biosearch combines tourism with education and research. Research staff focus on school, community and industry education about the environment; work as crew members aboard Quicksilver vessels during GBR tours; and conduct research with visiting scientists, informing\u00a0their advisory role to reef management authorities, like the GBRMPA, Department of Environment, and CRC Reef Research Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Reef Biosearch\u2019s success is measured in terms of data collection and quality local education, then it has done exceedingly well. To date, they have the largest logbook database of marine observations on the GBR (more than two decades). As a first-mover in combining tourism with preservation (predating the term \u201cecotourism”), and as an early proponent of crowdsourcing, Reef Biosearch has aggregated photographic and survey data, created monthly e-newsletters, and built tools like the\u00a0interactive \u201cEye on the Reef\u201d map [5].<\/span><\/p>\n

What Else Can Quicksilver Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Quicksilver\u2019s responsibility to its local community is notable, there is an opportunity to take Reef Biosearch\u2019s work to the next level.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, Reef Biosearch should make their data publicly, and widely, available. This can be done via university tutorials, open-source software (consider the reputable \u201csurvivors of the Titanic\u201d dataset, made popular through its free inclusion with R [7]), data competitions hosted by Kaggle [11], and up-to-date blog posts (their most recent one is from 2013). The goal, to tap into the data-savvy public market, can prove beneficial in\u00a0furthering awareness of GBR\u2019s decline. <\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, Quicksilver should replace its vessels with smaller, environmentally friendly ones [3], up its marketing campaign, and consider innovative research techniques. By emphasizing its early eco-certification, Quicksilver can increase\u00a0sales from eco-minded tourists more willing to travel with them. Participating in prominent conferences like COP22 [6] can garner earned media and move\u00a0the conversation to an international forum. Finally, Quicksilver\u00a0can invest in bleeding-edge technology to precipitate their research, like using virtual reality headsets to study the \u201cdigital reef\u201d via \u201cdry diving [12].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, these proposals are not without challenges. It is unclear how feasible a high-profile marketing campaign is, since we have no insight into Quicksilver’s\u00a0financials. Downsizing vessels can hurt employment, a detriment to Quicksilver\u2019s reputation as a leader in\u00a0the local economy. <\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest hurdle, however, is perhaps the most surprising: the Australian government. In May 2016, <\/span>The Guardian <\/span><\/i>discovered that all mentions of Australia were removed from the final version of a Unesco report on climate change [8]. Individuals like Col McKenzie, CEO of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators argue that overzealous media coverage of bleaching is \u201ca bigger risk to the industry than the bleaching itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Quicksilver\u2019s role, however, remains critical – to the climate change conversation and the preservation of a natural wonder.<\/span><\/p>\n

Word count:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>795 words.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0Henderson, R.M., Reinert, S.A., Dekhtyar, P., Migdal, A. (14 Oct 2016). \u201cClimate change in 2016: Implications for business.\u201d <\/span>
\n[2]\u00a0Slezak, Michael (June 6 2016). \u201cThe Great Barrier Reef: A catastrophe laid bare.\u201d <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i> [Online]. <https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2016\/jun\/07\/the-great-barrier-reef-a-catastrophe-laid-bare>. Retrieved November 1 2016.<\/span>[3]\u00a0Grossman, Dave, et al. (2013). \u201cGEO-5 for business: Impacts of a changing environment on the corporate sector.\u201d [Online]. <http:\/\/web.unep.org\/geo\/sites\/unep.org.geo\/files\/documents\/geo5_for_business.pdf>. Retrieved 1 Nov 2016. pp. 11, 39-41.
\n<\/span>[4]\u00a0The Quicksilver Group homepage. <<\/span>https:\/\/www.quicksilvergroup.com.au\/<\/span>>. Retrieved 2 Nov 2016.<\/span>
\n[5]\u00a0(2016) \u201cEye on the Reef program.\u201d [Online]. <http:\/\/www.gbrmpa.gov.au\/managing-the-reef\/how-the-reefs-managed\/eye-on-the-reef>. Retrieved 2 Nov 2016.<\/span>
\n[6]\u00a0Tsitsiragos, Dimitris (13 Jan 2016). \u201c<\/span>Climate change is a threat \u2013 and an opportunity \u2013 for the private sector<\/span>\u201d [Online]. <<\/span>http:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/news\/opinion\/2016\/01\/13\/climate-change-is-a-threat—and-an-opportunity—for-the-private-sector>. Retrieved 31 Oct 2016.<\/span>
\n[7]\u00a0\u201cSurvival of passengers on the Titanic\u201d [Online]. <<\/span>https:\/\/stat.ethz.ch\/R-manual\/R-patched\/library\/datasets\/html\/Titanic.html<\/span>>. Retrieved 3 Nov 2016.<\/span>
\n[8]\u00a0Slezak, Michael (26 May 2016). \u201cAustralia scrubbed from UN climate change report after government intervention\u201d [Online]. <https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2016\/may\/27\/australia-scrubbed-from-un-climate-change-report-after-government-intervention>. Retrieved 31 Oct 2016. <\/span>
\n[9]\u00a0Roswell, Andy (8 Mar 2016). \u201cGreat Barrier Grief\u201d [Online]. <http:\/\/priceofoil.org\/2016\/03\/08\/great-barrier-grief\/>. Retrieved 3 Nov 2016.<\/span>
\n[10]\u00a0Reef Biosearch homepage. <http:\/\/www.greatbarrierreefs.com.au\/>. Retrieved 2 Nov 2016.
\n<\/span>[11]\u00a0Kaggle homepage. <<\/span>https:\/\/www.kaggle.com\/<\/span>>. Retrieved 3 Nov 2016.
\n<\/span>[12]\u00a0(1 Nov 2016). \u201cHow ‘dry diving’ the Great Barrier Reef could help save the World Heritage site\u201d [Online].\u00a0<\/span><http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2016-11-02\/how-dry-diving-the-great-barrier-reef-could-help-save-it\/7987206>. Retrieved 3 Nov 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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