Virtual Information Project: Chumbe Island & Education

The highlight of our Zanzibar excursion was the time we spent on Chumbe Island, a coral reef sanctuary, holding 90% of the coral found in East Africa. The corals act like trees in a forest, they provide home, shelter, and food to over 400 species of fish. Corals are colonies of very tiny animals called polyps that have a hard rock-like outer skeleton. The coral reef of Chumbe Island is over 10,000 years old. Coral reefs are one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems on our planet. The coral reefs of Zanzibar face many threats, mainly resulting from human activities. Many efforts are currently in place to try and preserve this precious underwater ecosystem. Marine Biologists Sarah Pickup and Leigh Howarth from York University in UK were excellent guides for us during our time snorkeling on Chumbe Island. They answered our many questions and offered to share their marine resources and knowledge with our students in the coming year. We look forward to a continued relationship with them and to engaging our students with the many underwater photos and videos that we took during our stay at Chumbe.