Rydal Penrhos Prep School pupil Marie-Louise highlighted her coral conservation work in a feature for Oceanographic magazine.

Marie-Louise, who is a Year 4 pupil at the Rydal Penrhos Prep School, kicked off a new series for Oceanographic Magazine entitled Making Waves. This is a new project focusing on young ocean writers, scientists, and photographers sharing their unique stories.

The aspiring marine scientist wrote about her experience regrowing corals in the Maldives. This project was undertaken during an unforgettable summer holiday under the supervision of a specialist team that also consisted of a marine biologist from nearby Bangor University.

This became a particular interest to Marie-Louise upon moving to North Wales and its picturesque surroundings. Something that inspired the pupil to begin her own journey into the field.

She wrote: “I have always loved the ocean but after moving to Wales and being able to spend more time near the sea, I quickly realised that I wanted to spend my life in or close to the ocean.

“After learning about being a marine biologist, I started educating myself with books, documentaries, and journal articles. Now I am old enough to begin my own research projects and – as all scientists do – get involved with writing.”

During her time in the Maldives, Marie-Louise attended a hugely informative coral frame workshop. She also helped the local marine biologists with tasks including presentations and educating other guests about the importance of coral reefs.

Marine biologists in the region are combatting the decrease in coral reefs by creating coral frames and putting them in the ocean. This has been implemented to encourage growth for future generations.

Marie-Louise explained more in her magazine feature: “On my summer holiday on the island, I helped Mark and Nihaan attach corals to new frames, hoping to regrow more corals.

“Quickly, plenty of little and big fish moved into our nursery and we continued building new coral frames. We found out that Mark is from around the area where I live so we kept sending letters to each other and became friends.

“In the last letter he wrote to us, he said that they finished their 100th coral frame in October 2022. So there is hope for the future corals!”

Marie-Louise’s achievements were celebrated at a special Prep School assembly. The pupil also got the opportunity to speak in front of the Rydal Penrhos community about the project.

The pupils are keen to follow this up with a project of their own to assist with coral regeneration.

Anyone wishing to read the feature in full can do so here.

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