Billie Eilish accepts 8-year-old boy's invite to help him save Australia's coral reef

Samir Hussein/WireImage

An eight-year-old boy's quest to save Australia's threatened Great Barrier Reef received a welcome boost from one of his heroes -- Billie Eilish.  The young activist contacted Billie in hopes that he could use her song, "Ocean Eyes," for an upcoming social media campaign...and she said yes.

Elijah Richardson has been part of the nonprofit Coral Watch since last year and the organization says he felt Billie's 2016 breakout song was the perfect fit for his new conservation campaign, titled "Come Join Our Watch."

The avid snorkeler shared the impassioned video, titled "An Open Letter to Billie Eilish," last October and the message went viral.  The video not only states Billie's song can inspire others to use their "Ocean Eyes" to "look out for the reef," but politely asks her to lend a helping hand.  "Not physically, we'd just love you to Zoom or FaceTime.  Just let us know by email.  We don't have your address, so we had to do this to get you ours," the message states.

Elijah says the message eventually found its way to Billie and, when talking to WIN News about their partnership, he called it a "dream come true" to receive her blessing.

"If the Great Barrier Reef dies, then all that marine life dies with it," Elijah warned.  The reef, the most biodiverse in the world, is home to more than 1,500 species of fish.

The young activist is concerned about the critical rate of bleaching, or loss of algae, that is killing the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Watch reports it "takes many years for coral to grow back," but a "third mass coral bleaching event" is threatening to undo recovery efforts.

You can lean more about Elijah's campaign on his Instagram, Elijahsworldqld.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Elijah (@elijahsworldqld)

Monday, November 22, 2021 at 11:30AM by Megan Stone Permalink