Almost 8,000 kilometers from Spain, Cozumel is quickly located on the map, a paradise island in the Mexican Caribbean in front of Playa del Carmen with crystal-clear waters and white sand, which is home to impressive marine life.
In Cozumel is the second largest coral reef on the planet, after the Australian Great Barrier Reef, with which the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau was completely enamored. Cousteau went so far as to describe the seabed of Cozumel as “the aquarium of the world.”
A Brazilian diver leads the necessary protection of coral in Mexico
Jonathan Ismail Mazzola and his diving school “Be Diving“are the alma mater of”Be Coral“, a coral protection project that goes beyond the reefs. This Brazilian from São Paulo, who has been living on the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean for ten years, assures that more than 50% of the coral in that area could be depleting. “It is very alarming,” he says. And he adds that the ocean is much more than the reef, “it is what keeps the Planet alive, and for us all to live well on Earth we have to take care of the sea.”
“It’s about people understanding that diving is not just about blowing bubbles, we must understand what we have to be able to take care of it”
This environmental awareness project (“Be Coral“) seeks to protect the coral of Mexico, which, like in many other areas of the planet, is gradually running out of oxygen. And hence the importance of this type of initiative.
According to an IUCN Red List report, more than 40% of the world’s coral species face extinction
With the projectBe Coral”, its creators are not only trying to educate divers not to touch it or tear it off, they are also organizing days to collect plastics and cigarette butts, cleaning beaches and cenotes, talks in schools and screening documentaries aimed at understanding the importance of keeping the ocean alive: the true lung of the world.
