Mentoring is one of the most important roles you can play as a divemaster or instructor. And teaching people about the environment and our need to protect it is an increasingly important responsibility for our dive leaders of the future.

It is to this end that Eco Koh Tao teamed up with Crystal Dive’s Divemaster Trainees and IDC candidates for an Eco Workshop to ensure that tomorrow’s dive leaders are in tune with the needs of an ever endangered environment and the knowledge to protect it.

We conducted a classroom presentation highlighting some of the problems but more importantly some of the solutions needed to preserve our oceans. Reef Check’s global eco- monitoring program is one such solution providing valuable, quantifiable data pertaining to the health of the reef.

In the afternoon we headed to a local reef for some practical application. All participants shadowed experienced Reef Check Ecodivers for a first hand look at how a survey is conducted and the results. Our surveys on Koh Tao cover the Koh Tao Ecological monitoring protocols as well as the Reef Check requirements.

IDCS Nathan Cook with his Reef Check Slate

Reef Check is conducted under to auspices of Reef Check International (www.reefcheck.org) whereas the Koh Tao EMP is conducted in conjunction with Marine Conservation Koh Tao (www.marineconservationkohtao.com). Both surveys cover similar elements of the ecosystem but the local EMP is much more relevant to our local species.

On a second dive our Divemaster trainees conducted some Coralwatch surveys. Coralwatch is a relatively simple coral bleaching survey developed by the University of Queensland and supported by Project Aware.

Thanks to all who participated once again, especially my right hand assistants –Simon & Jenny Dowling & Debbie Gottdenker. I couldn’t do it without you!