Want to help save a coral reef and promote a eco-benefical marine ornamental hobby?

[Mike R King]

Let's try this again...... Here's a way to help make a difference in your hobby for the better, and to get something besides a warm fuzzy "I done good" feeling in return.



The Coalition of Reef Lovers is now taking orders for several DVD videos that are being created as products for raising the needed funds to expand our work here in American Samoa and for the new CORL branch in the Tokelau Islands. Proceeds from this fund raiser will go to the creation of community based coral and giant clam farms, reef restoration, monitoring, and environmental education programs.

One video is ready now and two more will be ready by November 15th 2005 for distribution. CORL is a 501-©-3 public charity and all donations are 50% tax deductible.

The donation required is 25.00 per video + shipping and handling 13.50 USPS priority mail and 8.50 standard mail. Donations for the videos can be made via PayPal to mike@corl.org.
I can bring a few of the Videos stateside with me in November and ship them out from Michigan which will save some money in shipping cost. All DVDs come with a full size DVD style plastic case and inner insert anong with a outter DVD sleave.


Ready to ship is one 45 min DVD video of an encounter with a 28' whale shark of the coast of Tutuila American Samoa. I think this is the only video in which I actually appear (most of the time I'm behind the camera) This is an interesting video and actually shows the shark interacting with the swimmers, at one point it picks me up on its head just about all the way out of the water! Shot with a VX1000 and Amphibico VH1000 housing with a 100deg wide angle lens (this would have been Discovery or National Geographic material if it wasn’t for a slight smear on the camera lens from some O-ring lube! All considered it’s still some great footage).

The first 1.45 hr "Talofa from Samoa" DVD video shows some of the best scenery found on the main island of Tutuila, The villages, and trips up and down and around and around...... its winding mountainous roads. It also contains a series of underwater shots from areas where CORL is working with the villages. It is all set to Traditional Samoan music. A Sony VX2100 was the main camera used in the production with the VX1000 being used for some wide angle shots. Some 8mm video footage was also incorporated into this video. This Video will be ready for shipment by November 15th 2005.


In Production and expected to be completed also by November 15th 2005 is a 1.4hr DVD Video of the Tokelau Islands and its marine life. I’ll update info on this video upon my return from the next Tokelau trip that starts on the 23rd of October. The Tokelau Islands will be the next CORL-branch to be created and it looks like the studies we do there will provide some very important data for the sustainable collection of marine ornamental fish also. All profits from the production of this video will go to CORL-TK set up and development.

A CORL-AS (American Samoa branch) awareness and project DVD video is also in the works at this time, because we are still waiting upon the arrival of some funding I have decided to postpone its release until we get the needed equipment and supplies to get our new office in the village of Malota up and running. This video will show the construction of the Alofau coral farm and its associated coral reef restoration project in their lagoon. The installation of the high flow raceways at Malota will also be shown. Video clips from our coastal and underwater cleanups, and coral farming and restoration workshops will also be included in its production.

In addition to these DVD videos we do have some DVD videos on workshops for Tilapia aquaculture and aquaponics if anyone is interested let me know.

More videos are planned for the future on coral farming, raceway mariculture, and giant clam farming.

There will also be additional American Samoan Videos from the other American Samoan Islands ( Tau, Ofu, Olosega, Swains, and ‘Aunu’u) with luck and permission from the ASG government we may even be able to show you Rose atoll in the future.

A report on funds received from this fund raising project and how they were used will be posted on our web site www.corl.org after we file our yearly 990 report.

I thank you for your time and support, and sorry for posting this twice but the first post had the wrong title and because of that I think it may not have gotten much attention.

From CORL-American Samoa, and CORL-Tokelau

Fa’afetai Lava!

Mike King

You may copy and paste this post in other BB's if you wish, and I thank you for the help spreading the word about CORL and its work.