July 26

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One of the things I’m proudest of with the CoralPod is that it was never meant to be made in a factory and shipped around the world. When Future Oceans Foundation and Artecology started working on the design together, one of our main goals was a reef unit that anyone, anywhere, could build from locally sourced materials.

This week we put that to the test. I spent the day in Bali with a brilliant group of Balinese coral enthusiasts, showing them how to build CoralPods from scratch.

The method is simple. We shape a dome of sand to act as the mould, lay mesh over it, and pack on a layer of concrete by hand. Then comes the important part: pushing lengths of pipe through the wet mix to form the holes. Those holes aren’t for decoration. They create the shelter, crevices and water flow that juvenile fish need to hide from predators, and they give corals and other life more surface to settle on. Once it’s cured, we dig out the sand and the pod is ready.

By the end of the day the team had built 4 sets of 4 pods of different sizes, and the questions never stopped: about hole placement, wall thickness and how long to let them cure. That curiosity is exactly what reef restoration needs. These are the people who know the local reefs best, and now they have the skills to build habitat for them.

We can’t wait to see these pods on the reef.

The CoralPod is a collaboration between Future Oceans Foundation and Artecology.

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