Julia, capturing the “sights” and “sounds” of the reef. Photo by Adrienne Gittus

“My main project for the first year is to establish a way of monitoring the health of Wakatobi’s reef ecosystem,” Julia says. “This will allow us to provide hard scientific proof that Wakatobi’s conservation model measurably benefits reef health. Holding a finger to the pulse of the reef will also assist management decisions such as identifying priority areas for increased protection.”

Modern Methods for Reef Management

The Wakatobi Reef Health Assessment program utilizes a customized set of modern imaging and data analysis techniques that provide a comprehensive indication of the state of a reef ecosystem. “We use the latest ecological theory, technology, and artificial intelligence to develop a novel package to efficiently and robustly measure reef health,” Julia says. “This will enable us to monitor how Wakatobi’s reefs are faring throughout the protected area without significantly diverting resources from protecting the reefs.”

The process begins in the water, by capturing the reef’s sights, sounds, and landscape. Above water, Julia is developing and implementing analysis methods and training machine learning models to tease out measures of reef health from captured data. When not on the island, she will research new approaches and ideas for coral reef assessment and help spread the word about Wakatobi’s scientific initiative.

“Wakatobi has created an economic engine that financially incentivizes reef custodianship. This leads to an ideal scientific setting – demonstrably vibrant reefs linked to genuine socio-economic fairness.”

“It’s an absolute privilege to work within a system that benefits both the reefs and the local people,” says Julia. “It also gives us a unique opportunity to assess and document reef health and dynamics within an ecosystem that is actually getting healthier. In stark contrast to declines in coral health recorded elsewhere, our scientific data is already beginning to demonstrate Wakatobi’s astonishing biodiversity – which is evident to anyone who ventures underwater at the resort.”

The program focuses on three indicators of reef health: The first is the diversity of the reef community, which measures the variety and abundance of living things that colonize the reef surface. The second assesses structural complexity, which describes the degree to which the reefs incorporate elaborate details. The third indicator is compiled by recording reef soundscapes to capture the noise a reef’s inhabitants make, including the snapping of shrimp and feeding sounds of fish. By measuring these elements, it is possible to estimate how much life the habitat supports.

“Luckily, we don’t have to work all that out manually,” Julia says. Artificial intelligence lends a hand. “I train machine learning models to identify signals of reef functioning that would be otherwise undetectable. For example, a model can be trained to recognize the sounds that characterize a healthy reef. This allows us to monitor the reefs at a scale, and with a thoroughness that would otherwise be inconceivable.”

Julia (left) and members of the Wakatobi dive team have started an eDNA survey, which involves taking seawater samples at different depths and filtering them to trap environmental DNA (eDNA) that organisms shed into the water. Here, DEM Eby Rotty and Julia pull samples for analysis. Photo by Adrienne Gittus

Julia and the dive team have also started an eDNA survey of the reefs. ”This involves taking seawater samples near the reef at different depths and filtering them to trap environmental DNA (eDNA) that organisms shed into the water,” Julia explains. “The samples are now in a lab, where the DNA is labeled using probes and sequenced to identify which species are around. Using this technique, we should be able to detect hundreds of species from just a single liter of seawater. It’s a very cool process!”

A Wakatobi Welcome

Julia says the Wakatobi team has been exceptionally supportive and welcoming. “They are able to maintain a totally laid-back atmosphere while coordinating an exceptionally professional operation.” She adds that Wakatobi feels remote in the best ways, with pristine reefs, peace, and quiet, while also being an extremely comfortable and well-connected place to work.

“In stark contrast to declines recorded elsewhere, our scientific data is already beginning to demonstrate the astonishing biodiversity evident to anyone who ventures underwater at Wakatobi.”

“Working within a system that works for the reefs because it works for the people is an absolute privilege,” she says. “It also gives us a unique opportunity to unpick reef health and dynamics within an ecosystem that is actually getting healthier. In stark contrast to declines recorded elsewhere, our scientific data is already beginning to demonstrate the astonishing biodiversity evident to anyone who ventures underwater at Wakatobi.”

The Wakatobi team has also proven to be an invaluable source of knowledge about the local ecosystem,” Julia says. “Wakatobi makes the perfect scientific laboratory. Being able to go from library to laptop to reef, all in the space of a hundred meters, is the perfect recipe for generating new ideas and trying them out. It is so exciting to work with open-minded innovators keen to try novel approaches and look at things from different angles.”

In contrast to declines recorded elsewhere, the team’s data is already revealing the astonishing health and biodiversity of Wakatobi’s reefs. Photo by Walt Stearns

“Having such a dynamic team has meant that we’ve made progress quickly,” Julia says. “So far, we have a highly accurate machine learning model that classifies the reef community, a method to analyze the sounds that reef critters make, and a fully automatic way of measuring fish abundance. We are also in a position to add to this repertoire, trialing different techniques to quantify the complex 3D structure that corals make. We have added DNA analysis to the arsenal which enables us to detect biodiversity invisible to the naked eye.”

From Frogs to Frogfish

Julia acquired her love of nature and biology from her parents, whom she describes as eco-friendly before the concept became trendy. “Camping, compost heaps, and Attenborough documentaries were features of a nature-centric English childhood. I raised pond-dwelling critters, peered down microscopes, and became transfixed by cephalopods.” Biology was an inevitable choice, she says, and the sea came into her life at a young age. “Having long been a sailor, with a family of sailors, I am at home at sea,” she says. “I took my first sip of compressed air at the bottom of a swimming pool in London and have spent as much time as possible eye-to-eye with octopuses since.”

Julia at the resort and taking water samples for eDNA extraction. Photos by Adrienne Gittus

After completing an undergraduate degree in biology at Oxford University, Julia shifted her Master’s focus to marine biology. It was a move she describes as swapping frogs for frogfish. “I went into marine biology because I see marine biological research as a powerful tool to connect people with the planet,” she says. “Of course, nature should be worth more to us preserved than destroyed – but if you can’t put a price on it, no one pays. Wakatobi has created an economic engine that financially incentivizes reef custodianship. This leads to an ideal scientific setting – demonstrably vibrant reefs linked to genuine socio-economic fairness.“

Julia’s Master’s project was done in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and investigated mysterious bare rings of sand that surround reef patches within algal meadows. “We think these ‘reef halos’ form because foraging fish will only venture a short way from the shelter of a coral patch if they are under threat from patrolling sharks,” she says. “Since you can spot these halos from satellite images, they could be a neat way of keeping an eye on shark populations from space… and a possible addition to Wakatobi’s monitoring program”!

As the Reef Health Assessment program progresses, Julia will create new learning and participation opportunities for guests to enhance the depth and enjoyment of their Wakatobi experience. We will also continue to provide updates and insights on the important work she and the rest of the Wakatobi team are doing to understand and protect some of the world’s most pristine and spectacular coral reefs.

Many thanks to our guests whose continued enjoyment of our marine preserve helps us keep our ongoing reef protection efforts a reality!

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