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Tony Fontes is from California. He first went scuba diving at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in 1979. Fontes was amazed by the experience. He decided to stay in Australia and work as a dive instructor. “The marine life and the quality of coral [were] unmatched,” he told TIME.
REEF LIFE These orange-and-white clown fish live among the corals of the Great Barrier Reef. So do many other ocean animals.
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Over the years, Fontes has seen the reef’s health decline. So he was disappointed on July 23. On that day, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) made an announcement. It had decided to delay labeling the reef as “in danger.” This label would have given the reef “the kind of protection it needs,” Fontes says. Could the delay cost the Great Barrier Reef its future?