Well-known reef photojournalist, marine aquaculture pioneer, and prominent figure in the saltwater livestock trade Vincent Chalias is joining CORAL as a regular contributor. Vincent will be frequently posting images and stories from his travels and reef exploration as both biologist and diver—with a keen eye for new and unusual corals and fishes.
Long based in Bali, Vincent graduated with a degree in marine aquaculture in the south of France. He moved to Indonesia over 25 years ago and created the first coral mariculture farms in Indonesia. Vincent also gained valuable experience and insights working in the Australian coral industry, and he was part of the first Indonesian land-based coral farm, and was founder of Bali Aquarium, a coral mariculture and marine aquarium livestock collection operation based in Badung, Bali, Indonesia.
His main focus is now on coral reef restoration and education through a foundation he created in 2016: Ocean Gardener (https://oceangardener.org/). Ocean Gardener is restoring coral reefs and teaching coral reef restoration to many other practitioners in Indonesia. In 2022, the organization planted 32,000 corals in Indonesia.
Vincent Chalias has been a regular contributor to different online publications such as Jake Adams’ Reef Builders, and print publications including CORAL Magazine, and the French magazine Zebrazomag. He also writes for diving publications such as Scuba Diver AustralAsia. He has been a regular speaker on many occasions at aquarium conferences including MACNA, Reefapalooza, and Reefstock.
Vincent is passionate about underwater photography, and his photos have been published all around the world. He has one fish named after him, Cirrhilabrus chaliasi. Vincent is currently working for the German company Triton Lab (Triton GmbH).
Vincent will be writing a weekly post for CORAL online as well as contributing to the print and digital editions of the magazine.
