Adopt a Reef Resident is live! Meet (and adopt) the animals behind our research
If you've noticed fewer posts here lately, there's a reason. For the past several months, nearly all of our time has gone into building our new "Adopt a Reef Resident" program. It took a lot of work, and we're happy to say it's now officially up and running!
What it is
You can now name a real reef resident at our facility in Japan and follow it every month. There are four reef residents to choose from:
- Giant clam (Tridacna). The largest clam on Earth is now Critically Endangered. Ours are spawned by our partners in Kosrae, Micronesia, and grown out in our tanks.
- Clownfish pair (Amphiprion ocellaris and A. percula). The world's most popular aquarium fish, and a living lesson in genetics.
- Flowerpot coral (Goniopora). One of the most traded corals on Earth, and one of the hardest to keep alive.
- Carpet anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni). Nearly every one in the aquarium trade was taken from the wild. We've spawned them in captivity, and you can help this work continue.
Each adoption is symbolic. Your resident reef creature stays in our care. You give it its name, get regular updates on its wellbeing, and can take part in live events featuring your adopted reef inhabitant.
Three ways to follow along
The donation is the same for every reef resident, monthly or yearly, and you can cancel anytime.
| Plan | For | Monthly | Yearly | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steward | Ages 13 and up | $15 | $180 | Monthly photos and video, growth numbers, and notes from our Head of Life Support |
| Family | Kids 2 to 12 | $19 | $228 | A new coloring page and worksheet each month, in a standard or Christian edition |
| Classroom | Classrooms, 4-H clubs, scout troops | $29 | $348 | Everything in Family, plus a leader sheet and permission to copy for your group |
What every adopter gets
- A profile and certificate of adoption, emailed straight away.
- A private page for your reef resident, with live tank readings (temperature, salinity, and pH, with 30-day trends) accessible at any time, notes from our Head of Life Support, a photo and video timeline, and the feeding log.
- A way to send questions straight to the person caring for your resident.
- A monthly email update, a live Q&A every quarter with our President and Vice President, and a year in review every January.
Adoptions make good gifts, too. Add the recipient's name and email at checkout, and they get to choose the name.
Where the money goes
Adoption money is earmarked for the reef residents and their care: the light, the water, the tank, and the daily work of keeping them thriving. Around them, we run our research on reseeding reefs, filtering microplastics, and helping bleached corals recover.
Why it took us a while
This was a much bigger job than adding a donation button. Every adopted resident has its own private page, tied to our tank testing log. The monthly coloring pages and worksheets come in two editions and for different age ranges. And the whole program runs in five languages: English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, and Thai.
Now that it's live, we're getting back to regular posts on our research. Thank you for your patience while we built it.