Supporting our friends at Reef Seen

During their conservation week.

I have known Chris Brown for 20yrs, worked for him for two prior to Sea Rovers, we’re good friends and I admire him as our resident eco-warrior. Plus us Sea Rovers will support any local effort to look after our environment. It’s not about egos, it’s about taking part and doing your bit in the bigger picture.

You don’t have to think big to do what is good for your local environment. A reusable bag, stop using plastic straws, reuse, recycle, sponsor a turtle release, sponsor a coral. It all makes a difference. And even a small difference is better than no difference.

In this case, we joined in discussions, talked about what can be done, how just explaining to guests about coral, how to appreciate it and the marine life without destroying it. That it is a living breathing thing that should be respected and looked after. Yes, things we at Sea Rovers know and try to do. But it’s still good to reinforce these ideas amongst the various crews. How we can maybe do it better. Plus introduce these concepts to a new generation of potential dive guides.

Preparing to wage war on COT

The week culminated in two days of clean up, primarily orientated at taking out reef pests but, also trash collection. Crown of Thorns and drupella shell, both of which have a voracious appetite for hard corals were our main targets. Though the latter is much smaller and more insidious as marches slowly across corals and difficult to get to. Crown of thorns is the worst.

Between 2005 and 2007, 5,000 Crown of Thorns, 54,000 drupella were removed from the local reefs as part of the Reef Gardeners program. You can download the brochure to learn more here. And though the numbers are nowhere near as many as back then, they are once again increasing. This means its time for all the more environmentally conscious dive centres to come together and do something.  Which is what happened.

Here’s hoping that this can become a more regular event and we can keep the ball rolling. Work together for all our benefit.