PLANTING CORALS

Blind Cavern Fish in The Bahamas

Charlies Blue Hole on Andros was my first inland Blue Hole to Scuba dive in The Bahamas and I was fortunate to visit it with students from BAMSI Bahamas and Dr.Val Deleveveaux.

My main goal diving in this eerie cenote was to see the incredible blind cave fish Lucifuga speleotes.

Scubble Bubbles join the Reef Rescue Network

I recently travelled to Aruba to meet our new Perry Institute for Marine Science Reef Rescue Network partners ScubbleBubbles Foundation.
The Scubble Bubbles started as a school project; one teacher convinced eight students to learn how to scuba dive. Two other students who were already certified decided to join the group. They spent the first year working on skills and enjoying dives around Aruba. Over time they noticed the reefs were changing. Corals were not the same colors they once were, and fish were disappearing. After summer break they watched the documentary ‘Chasing Coral’ and they knew they had to do something. The students started doing research and the teacher reached out to other organizations. They soon realized nothing was being done on Aruba, yet. They spent a year conducting research, raising money, and traveling to Bonaire to get specialized training on Coral Restoration. They brought their knowledge back to Aruba and with approval from Directie Natuur en Millieu and the Minister of Environment started a coral restoration project in conjunction with DePalm Island.
The teacher is Nichole Danser, an incredible woman donating most of her spare time to Scubble Bubbles and marine conservation. She is encouraging students to become scuba divers who are passionate about the ocean and actively play their part in helping to protect it.
During my visit many tasks were accomplished. The first was to create a new Coral Nursery at a second site, located at Serene by the Sea Aruba. This new nursery was kindly sponsored by Aruba Aloe and consists of 5 nursery trees growing 250 fragments of Staghorn Coral, Acropora cervicornis. Scubble Bubbles students built, installed and helped populate these trees with corals that were sourced from a variety of sites around the island to increase genetic diversity. The next task was to reset the original coral nursery at DePalm Island with 48 Acropora cervicornis fragments from 2 different source colonies.
Finally, over two days I certified 24 PADI Reef Rescue Divers and 2 PADI Reef Rescue Diver Instructors; teaching about biology of corals, threats to coral reefs, coral restoration and how to maintain their nurseries as well as outplant the corals back onto the reef.
The Scubble Bubbles are an incredible group of dedicated young people who care about our environment and are taking steps to help make a better future for our coral reefs and ocean inhabitants. We are honoured to have them join the Reef Rescue Network and I look forward to joining them again in 2020 to assist in the outplanting of their corals.
Visit www.scubblebubbles.org to learn more about the amazing work they are doing. Plus follow them on facebook and Instagram @scubblebubbles
Check out my video from the trip
Check out my video from the trip

#goprowithhayleyjo

AWARE Shark Conservation Specialty Course

If you’re a diver, you likely already know that many shark species are critically endangered.But do you know why their numbers are decreasing and, more importantly, what you can do to help? The Project AWARE Foundation is a growing movement of scuba divers working to protect the ocean, and its two main areas of concern are shark conservation and marine-debris issues. To help divers and instructors become proactive, Project AWARE created the AWARE Shark Conservation Specialty Course in partnership with PADI.You must be, at a minimum, an open-water certified diver age 12 years or older. The study guide is available online at no charge, so whether you’re already a PADI Instructor or a student, you can easily access the materials. The program features a few slides that can be personalized with local shark photos and information, which is an excellent way to learn about your local shark species, if there are any. The PADI course includes two open-water dives, however it’s not essential that you see sharks to earn the certification; rather, it’s more about learning the positive and negative impacts to sharks in the area. Non-diving friends and family can join for the presentation to learn about ways they too can help, and will receive a certificate of attendance.

Image by Hayley-Jo Carr

FOR DIVERS

Many divers assume that if they don’t see sharks locally, this course is not available. But as I mentioned, you don’t need to see sharks to achieve this certification. You’ll learn what types of sharks live in the ocean near you (if you live near the ocean), as well as what sharks you might see on a dive vacation. The course offers lots of information on why sharks are in trouble, and then offers numerous ways you can help. Once you complete the knowledge review in the study guide, you can find a PADI dive center that has an AWARE Shark Conservation Instructor on staff and complete the two open-water dives.

FOR INSTRUCTORS

As a PADI Instructor, it’s your job to teach divers about marine conservation, and nothing is more exciting that teaching your students about sharks. In the AWARE Shark Conservation Diver Action Kit, you’ll find the instructor and student study guides, PowerPoint presentation ready for personalization, and a certificate for non-divers. You can self-apply to teach the course if you have experience diving with sharks. Alternately, you can attend a course with an AWARE Shark Conservation Instructor Trainer (ME!) Once qualified, you may also allow students to do an AWARE Shark Conservation Adventure Dive as part of their PADI Advanced Open Water course.

Image by Hayley-Jo Carr

The Course theory teaches you;

• The unique physical attributes of sharks
• The conservation status of sharks
• Ecological traits that make sharks vulnerable
• The importance of sharks to marine ecosystems
• Major threats contributing to declines in shark populations
• Key management strategies that can protect sharks
• Value of sharks to local economies
• List of personal actions you can take to protect sharks
• Sharks in your local area or travel destination
• Responsible environmental guidelines for diving with sharks

I offer both the Diver & Instructor Level courses here in The Bahamas so email me if you wish to participate in this sharktastic course!

hayleyjocarr@gmail.com

Image by Rich Carr