It all started when we spoke with the SECORE team and they shared their unique challenge with us. They needed an efficient solution to repair tarp pools crucial for releasing coral settlement substrates in remote, rural locations. These tarp pools play a vital role in nurturing and sustaining young corals, which are essential for reef restoration.
Recognizing the importance of SECORE’s mission, we decided to step in and send them one of our Overlap Welding Kits — completely free of charge. We chose this kit because we wanted to provide them with all the tools they needed, not just one.
The Overlap Welding Kit is one of the many BAK hand welders, plastic welding extruders and process heat tools we sell at HotAirTools.com. It contains the BAK RiOn, a 20mm nozzle, a 40mm nozzle, and a 40mm silicone roller. This kit is considered the best plastic welding kit around, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to make this contribution to a worthwhile cause.
Who is SECORE INTERNATIONAL?
SECORE International is a leading non-profit organization for the protection, conservation, and restoration of coral reefs based in the USA and Germany. They work with a global network of scientists, public aquarium professionals, and local stakeholders to combine active reef restoration, research, education, and outreach.
“Together with our partners, we carry out restoration research, and develop and implement innovative strategies and techniques to allow future reef restoration at much larger scales than currently possible. Through the Global Coral Restoration Project we aim at restoring reef ecosystem functioning and services around the world.”
What They Had to Say About the BAK Overlap Welding Kit
“It’s really not that hard to do a repair with this tool. After a little practice, it’s very intuitive.”
“I have experienced a problem over the years with people getting repair materials that have hazardous solvents in them and getting them shipped to remote locations. The adhesive has a shelf life and often needs to be tossed out before it’s used, wasting all the repair effort.
“Welding has far fewer toxic elements, doesn’t have a shelf life, and the welder and the fabric can be shipped anywhere without a hazardous materials charge or extensive packaging. It’s a perfect answer for repairing a product like the Coral Kindergarten because these items go all over the world. Now we’re going to Palau, which seems to be a very remote spot.”
“Thanks, Hot Air Tools®, for providing an excellent solution to this problem.” — Jack Kloepfer Design – Jack’s Plastic Welding Inc.
SECORE’s Plans for the Future
SECORE is currently working on a larger scale to improve the survival rates of coral reefs. Below are more details on how they plan to achieve this.
“We’re currently developing and testing techniques to raise and handle large amounts of coral offspring. The time and manpower required to handle coral offspring and plant them onto wild reefs often limit restoration efforts.
“Accordingly, SECORE and partners have designed coral settlement substrates that self-attach to the reefs, enabling seeding coral recruits to join the reef in meaningful numbers. Currently, we’re conducting pilot projects for larger-scale sexual coral restoration in Curaçao and Mexico.
“Our capacity building centers will foster research and technology development, exchange of knowledge and expertise, and provide training courses and outreach”, says Dirk Petersen. “We will host annual training workshops for Caribbean stakeholders. The centers will function as bases to expand our network and to guide local restoration practitioners who have been fighting the decline of their reefs on their own.”
“By joining forces and coordinating efforts in many places around the Caribbean, we can make a real change for the survival of coral reefs.”
Participants of the SECORE-CARMABI coral spawning workshop in Curacao in June 2018 set up the new SECORE floating rearing pool and fill it with conditioned settlement tiles. This is the first time that the prototype of the floating rearing pool has been tested in the field.[/caption]
Interested in helping to save our coral reefs? You can make a donation to help research and restoration. Any amount helps.
Learn How You Can Help
We hope you enjoyed our blog post about SECORE INTERNATIONAL. Be sure to visit their website to learn more ways to support them. If you’re in need of a welding tool or accessory, check out our selection of hot air hand tools and parts center today!
**All photos were kindly provided by SECORE INTERNATIONAL