Australian Amanda Hay-C has chosen to make the protection of coral reefs her mission, devoting her time and efforts to it out of a conviction in the importance of preserving one of the world's most diverse and fragile marine ecosystems.
Amanda, who lives in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, works to restore damaged coral reefs by overseeing coral nurseries, transplanting small colonies to degraded areas, and monitoring reef health in cooperation with organisations specialising in marine environmental protection, according to Eram.
She says that the most dangerous situation she faced during her years of diving was when explosives were detonated near her location while some fishermen were engaged in what is known as "blast fishing."
She believes that hope lies in the gradual return of life to the restored reefs, as fish and other marine creatures come back to them.