Marine Week: Day 4 & 5

We are now half way through our Scuba Junkie Marine Week! It has been an amazing success thus far, and we would like to extend our gratitude to all of the customers who have joined us in celebrating this amazing event.

On day 4 one of our environmental officers David McCaan joined Steven Moore and Samantha Sherman from the Global Fin Print. 

Who Are Global Fin Print?

This initiative was established in order to garner more information about diminishing numbers of sharks and rays worldwide..Over the next three years they plan to collect data on sharks and rays across the globe. Their aim is to produce the 'first globally standard survey of shark and ray diversity and abundance with key focus on coral reef ecosystems'. They will use this data to predict what is effecting the diversity of the elasmobranch population. Over a quarter of sharks and rays are facing extinction and this will be the first baseline data for us to see the trend of their decline. The information they collect will be open to all scientists, managers and the general public which maximises its educational reach. It is a huge task that they are undertaking, but the information gathered will be hugely important. 

To get this information they have been using baited remote underwater video (BRUV). These cameras are deployed in specific areas and have collected some interesting footage. These videos allow the team to analyse the shark and ray population and identify affecting factors - such as coral coverage, fish population, fishing pressures and and water temperature. Once this information is brought together and condensed it will be possible to see where the focus needs to be in creating protected areas, and which species to be focused on.

Steve and Sam joined Scuba Junkie in KK, Semporna and Mabul to gather their research. They have been great fun to have around. They gave an excellent presentation on the fifth day of Marine Week, informing people on who they are and what they have been doing. We hope that they collected the information that they need and we hope to work more with them in the future. 

Two night ago we had a Pub Quiz! Dave was our quiz master for the evening and entertained with 5 rounds of questions. We had a great turn our and raised over 200RM for Green Semporna.  

During the day our trained staff took part in our coral transplant programme. The coral transplant programme involves taking fragments of live coral and bringing them to our coral nursery. We hope to create an area where the coral can regrow and flourish. 

Just two days left of what has, so far, been a hugely successful week. Stay posted for more information on corals and the activities we have been getting everyone involved in!