StacyPlays is helping us help the oceans!

Is it a wolf? Is it a fish? Nope, it's something far more bizarre and brilliant – meet the Merpup! Half-wolf, half-mermaid, all awesome!

This cove-dwelling canine is the work of StacyPlays. She worked with her community to create a Minecraft build that'll play an integral part in Coral Crafters - our project to help the world's oceans!

What is Coral Crafters? Well, with the Update Aquatic, we’re filling Minecraft's oceans to the brim with kelp forest, shipwrecks, deep sea trenches, fish, turtles, dolphins and colourful coral reefs.

In the real world, however, it’s the opposite: climate change, destructive fishing methods and pollution of the water are killing off our planet’s amazing marine life. Coral reefs, one of the Earth’s most precious natural wonders, are under threat.

Coral reefs are home to some two million species - roughly a quarter of all marine life. We’re only just unlocking the secrets of these amazing organisms, and yet the World Wildlife Fund estimates that nearly a third of coral reefs worldwide are already damaged beyond repair. If trends continue, we will soon lose 60% of the world’s coral in the next few decades.

We can do something about this – with YOUR help!

Our plan is to install six Biorock structures, an innovative technology that promotes coral growth up to five times faster than normal, off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico – a region whose coral reefs have suffered from coral bleaching and been battered by hurricanes. The first three designs are iconic characters from past and future updates: Alex, Steve, and a sea turtle. The remaining three designs are in the hands of our community!

• Logdotzip made three designs and then let YOU decide which one would be part of the project! You can read more about that here.
• Rabahrex and a classroom of Minecraft players from his country of Mexico will work together to create another design. We'll be writing more about that soon!
• StacyPlays put out a call to her community, which brings us back to the Merpup!

StacyPlays runs a weekly challenge with her viewers called #BuildoftheWeek – so this was a great opportunity to integrate Coral Crafters and create a biorock sculpture in Minecraft. A huge thanks to StacyPlays and her community for all their help!

We’ll bring you updates on the status of the project throughout the next few years, so you can see how our coral crafting is coming along!