Man From Newfoundland To Swim Length of Great Barrier Reef

Rob Hutchings, a native of Corner Brook, N.L. who now lives in Adelaide, Australia, hopes his 2,300-kilometre quest will raise awareness of global warming. This unprecedented swim will call attention to the probable extinction of the Reef.

Dr Rob Hutchings will swim the entire length of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a distance of over 2300km starting November 2009. Taking an estimated 3 - 4 months, with Rob swimming approximately 30km per day, the Great Barrier Reef Swim will be used as a platform for a variety of projects. The Swim will raise awareness of the effects of climate change and the need to implement the required solutions. Concurrent projects will focus on education, collection of scientific data, community events and indigenous engagement.

"I'm a regular guy with slightly irregular ideas about how to enjoy myself,

The whole idea is to call attention to the fact the reef is going extinct from CO2 emissions. "And if the largest reef in the world can go extinct, the only living organism visible from space, what else will happen that can affect Canada and the rest of the world? It's not an Australian issue, it's a global issue."

the 33-year-old chiropractor told CTV.ca from his home. The reef -- and by extension the millions of species that live on it -- is considered especially vulnerable to changes in water temperature, and therefore climate change. Coral bleaching, and a high proportion of female sea turtle hatchlings, have already been identified as symptoms indicating the reef is sick. And microbes, fish, marine turtles and seabirds -- creatures that depend on the reef to survive -- are all believed to be at risk of extinction, if climate change isn't halted. He compared the potential death of the reef to the loss of icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. He's also trying to ensure the carbon "splash-print" of the event is as small as possible. The Pelican, the eco-friendly support boat that will follow Hutchings, is a sail-powered catamaran that burns only a few litres of fuel per day. The Pelican's crew will also perform scientific research along the way, host educational seminars and bring volunteers from remote communities, onboard.

"Pelican is a sailing catamaran of 19 metres built specifically for open water charters. Based on Polynesian migratory vessels that have a 5,000 year heritage she incorporates the best of both ancient and up to the minute design. She is a fast, safe and efficient platform set up for marine research."

according to the Pelican Expedition Web Site. The custom-designed shark cage he will swim inside of -- protection against sharks, crocodiles and stingrays -- will be propelled by a solar-powered electric motor, with a gas powered back-up motor, if necessary. All of the money raised by the event will go towards installing solar panels on community and sports centres around Australia. Australia is an ideal country to to use and develop Solar Power, but government policies have not seen the deployment of solar power as would be expected from a sun baked country.