Restoring Reefs, One Dive at a Time
I.Care is a marine conservation nonprofit dedicated to sponge and coral reef restoration — and Buddy is proud to support their mission. Dive their restoration programs, log the dives in the Buddy app, and help share the work with the dive community.
WHO IS I.CARE?
I.Care is a conservation nonprofit restoring sponge and coral reef ecosystems across the Caribbean.
I.Care works with local communities, dive operators, and marine scientists to restore degraded reef systems through hands-on coral and sponge transplantation. Their programs train volunteers to participate in active restoration dives — turning every visit into a conservation contribution.
Buddy and I.Care have partnered to bring that mission to the entire dive community. One of our Buddy Explorers works directly with I.Care, and together we're producing Discover articles and a conservation month video to tell their story. Through the Buddy app, divers everywhere can log their clean-up dives — underwater and inland — and tag I.Care to share the data.
THE POINT OF THE WORK
The same reef, restored
Outplanted staghorn takes hold and spreads. This is what a restored site looks like against the same stretch of substrate before the work began.
Before
AfterCredit: I.CARE · Islamorada, Florida
Discover more about I.CARE
Read about I.Care's reef restoration work, meet a Buddy Explorer, and see how the dive community is making an impact — all on Buddy Discover.
I.CARE Island Conservation & Restoration Education
Read on Discover →
Sponge Restoration: The Unsung Heroes of Our Reef
Read on Discover →
Coral Restoration: Rebuilding the Reef One Fragment at a Time
Read on Discover →
Trash Derby: A Year of Cleaning Up the Keys
Read on Discover →Conservation, explained
What restoration looks like
Two techniques, side by side. Both are hands-on, both are permitted work, and both are things you can do on a dive in Islamorada.
This is a sponge
nursery treePhoto Credit: Zoe Szabo
Sponge fragments grow suspended from a PVC frame until they are large enough to be transplanted — outplanted — onto the reef.
I.CARE · Islamorada, Florida
This is coral
outplantingPhoto Credit: Katie Barnes
Nursery-grown coral fragments are seated onto cleaned reef substrate by hand, where they grow into new colonies. Handling coral here requires a sanctuary permit.
I.CARE · Islamorada, Florida
FOR ALL DIVERS
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FOR OCEAN ADVOCATES
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