Another Reef Check Ecodiver course was completed recently on Koh Tao bringing divers together with the important ecological functions of the organisms that live there.

New Open Water and Advanced Open Water Student Jackie Hale took part in a Buoyancy Specialty course prior to taking part in her Reef Check Ecodiver program. Over the course of the three days students are given a thorough introduction to the marine environment allowing them to collate scientific data that is then submitted to Reef Check International.

In conjunction with Marine Conservation Koh Tao we have expanded our list of Reef Check indicator species to include many more locally important species to gauge a better picture of Koh Tao’s marine environment. In this way we can track changes to the local ecosystem and implement both proactive and reactive programs to preserve our marine resources.

On the last day of the course we visited our local artificial reef and took an inventory of the animals living there. It is amazing to see how much life has been attracted to site with minimal structures in just six months. The most exiting thing we saw was not the juvenile sweetlips or the batfish but a small collection of coral polyps that have naturally populated one of the metal structures. Hopefully over time this site will become as natural as those around it.

Congratulations to Jackie Hale on the completion of her Reef Check Ecodiver Training.