Guadeloupe: lace to save the corals
Across seas and oceans, corals are suffering from pollution, overfishing and global warming. In Guadeloupe, a lace serves as a support for their regeneration.
The largest coral reef in France, 25 kilometers long, is in the West Indies. Marianne Aimar-Godoc is the coral specialist in Guadeloupe. She has been diving for twenty years in the midst of these underwater works of art, now in danger. It has seen 85% of species disappear, in particular because of global warming. She embarked on a race against the clock. “When we talk about saving corals, it’s not for our great-grandchildren, it’s in fifteen years in areas like Guadeloupe.“
To help him in his fight, in Metropolitan France, Jérémy Gobé, visual artist, had a crazy idea: use the lace to help the corals. “I realized that the dressing rooms looked like lace.“It is the ancestral know-how of tullists Hauts-de-France who is at work to create a unique lace, which could serve as a support for the corals. Twice a year, corals spawn, but on average, alone 30% eggs survive. The lace might help them attach, but also protect them predators. Marianne Aimar Godoc conducts the first experiments in Guadeloupe, in a small aquarium. The next step is to test the lace at sea. The hope of a major breakthrough for corals, and a second life for lace in France.
