It had been a few weeks since our last visit to Biorock. After almost a year since its construction and deployment the site is doing very well. Three of the four domes onto which we have been transplanting corals have accepted and promoted their growth and they are well populated.

Visibility was good and with a slight current the sight was a treat to dive. Divemaster Darren Bennett was diving the Biorock for the first time having been involved in its construction in September 2008. “It’s amazing to see how much life is there after only a year” was his first comment. “It’s also nice to dive a sight without any other divers”.

During the dive Darren, Divemaster Kati Pulli and IDCS Nathan Cook collected a few coral fragments and transplanted them onto the structure. Fragments are found lying on the ground and even though they look healthy their size and age mean that when the bad weather kicks in the fragments get rolled around and die. By lifting them up off the ground it gives these colonies a much better chance of growing into big strong healthy corals.

During the dive we were also lucky to get a very rare sighting of the elusive Bumphead Parrotfish, the largest variety of parrotfish. This fish is a prolific member of reefs throughout South East Asia but overfishing is putting pressure on their numbers throughout the region. Two have been sighted recently around nearby Koh Nangyuan which is a good sign for Koh Tao.