10.18.01
Press Release

Quiksilver, the international boardriding company, today announced a further four-year commitment to the United Nations-supported Reef Check program.

The Quiksilver Crossing will now embark on a circumnavigation of the world and be extended until November 2005, making the entire voyage nearly seven years.

The Reef Check program is perhaps the most ambitious ecological survey ever undertaken by man and utilises thousands of volunteer scuba divers, led by marine biologists, to determine the global health of coral reefs. The importance of coral reefs cannot be overstated: they are the breadbaskets of the sea - a vital link in the food chain for numerous marine species.

In a major commendation, this week the Quiksilver Crossing received strong acclaim from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which supports the Reef Check program.

The managing director of Quiksilver International, Bruce Raymond, said the Quiksilver Crossing, which was originally launched from Cairns, Australia, in March 1999 for a 12-month journey, has three main objectives: To find surf; to respect local cultures; and to contribute to the scientific knowledge of the world's coral reefs through the Reef Check global coral reef monitoring program.

Since 1999, the Crossing has hosted nearly 300 surfers, scientists and media on board, and has covered 46,944 nautical miles - north from Australia through the Coral Sea, east across the South Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, then returning along a different South Pacific route and across to Indonesia, then north-west through the Indian Ocean to the Maldives.

"While searching for new surfing locations, the Quiksilver Crossing's 72-foot exploratory vessel has served as a floating research station, allowing Reef Check scientists to survey reefs that would otherwise be inaccessible," Bruce said.

The Director of Reef Check, Dr Gregor Hodgson, said that coral reefs, which are the rainforests of the sea, are facing an unprecedented crisis due to pollution, over-fishing and global warming.

"The announcement of the extension of the Quiksilver Crossing for four more years is a huge event, from a scientific point of view, and a public education/public awareness and conservation point of view," Dr Hodgson said.

"The Quiksilver Crossing is vitally important because not since Charles Darwin sailed around the world on the Beagle in the 1800s has there been such an unprecedented opportunity for marine scientists to study remote reefs and evaluate their health.

"Since the launch of the Crossing, 13 Reef Check marine scientists have surveyed nearly 50 remote coral reefs that hadn't previously been assessed by scientists, and most reefs show some signs of human impacts. By getting the local communities involved in reef management, Reef Check is one solution to the problems.

"The collaboration between Reef Check and Quiksilver has served as a bright spot of corporate environmental vision at numerous UN workshops, at World Bank and scientific meetings," Dr Hodgson added.

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