“Long before the birth of Ocean Quest we had this desire to help restore the ocean and its environment. Alone, I felt unable to fulfill these desires and decided to organize a team keen to take on this challenge with me whom I would mentor, sharing my knowledge and decades of coral research. In the creation of Ocean Quest, we pursued our goals through an interesting journey of exploring, learning and teaching. The journey expressed in this book belongs to all of those who with open heart and willingness to help us make it a reality. We tell our aforementioned story of Ocean Quest’s journey through our photography and illustrations of what we have done together with all our acquaintance and partners and all those who have volunteered over the years. We openly admit we were never alone in this pursuit as our friends from around the world came alongside us to help save the ocean for the future of our own kind, our children and their children.

We learned as much as we taught, as any good scientist should. We have travelled to places we never taught we could afford, through seas and through skies, we went on to meet and live with like-minded groups and individuals who quickly became brothers and sisters. Through our journey over the years, we found two distinctly different but equally beautiful things. First, we found oceans paradise, discovering an entirely new world under the sea that we grew more and more avid to protect. Second, we met people who welcomed us with open arms who showed us the possibilities one has when many passionate people come together for one ultimate goal. Although a fair amount of the ocean’s paradise are broken, we made it our purpose to tend it and heal it through conservation. This purpose comes with many goals, from improving the lives of others, to ensuring the planet we have today is the same planet we leave for the next generation, and with our motto of “diving with purpose,” we hope to make our goal not only a motto, but a mission.”