Australian eco-tourism company stays busy planting coral along the Great Barrier Reef

It's not business as usual for Passions of Paradise, and for the Great Barrier Reef, that's a good thing.

Passions of Paradise is an Australian eco-tourism company that takes people out to scuba dive, snorkel, and explore the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system. The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble, having experienced three mass bleaching events over five years, and Passions of Paradise is trying to do its part to help the reef, seeding 1,000 coral pieces between September and March.

With customers having to stay home because of the coronavirus pandemic, the company's employees can "solely focus on planting this coral and work on finding efficient ways to get the most amount of work done in a specific timeframe," Passions of Paradise Environmental Sustainability Manager Russell Hosp told Good Morning America.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Only a handful of divers and a marine biologist go out on each boat, in order to maintain social distancing. Recently, the team planted more than 1,200 coral plants over just three days, and "it's a great feeling, knowing you're contributing and making a difference here," Hosp said. The company will continue to plant coral on a weekly basis until they are able to once again hold tours.