FRENCH POLYNESIA
MaoriTai Tehio
A quarter of all marine life lives in the coral reef. MaoriTai is no exception. Born and raised in Mo’orea, French Polynesia, MaoriTai comes from a long line of seamen. He grew up wanting to become a fisherman like his father and his father before him. All of that changed when during a routine fishing trip he and his father noticed there were far fewer fish to be caught. Unfortunately his adopted home is under threat, with nearly 50% of the ocean’s corals having died in the past 30 years. That’s why he’s dedicated his life to preserving ocean corals.
For MaoriTai life underwater is a second home and a place for experiences that can’t be found on the surface. The ocean has always been a part of his DNA. His ancestral knowledge of the ocean has been invaluable to the growth and success of Coral Gardeners, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the ocean’s corals.
The love for the ocean passed down from his father, fuels a paternal love he in turn has towards the corals he saves. He likes to think of them as his 4,000 underwater children. Today, he’s working with Coral Gardeners to expand their work and change the tide of coral destruction by creating a network of nurseries around the world. Throughout all this MaoriTai has never thought of what he does as working in the water. As far as MaoriTai is concerned, he works for the ocean. And will continue to do so.
