New mermaid on the block
- Thread starter LindyHop
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tilikum
Banned
No pressure, you have already contributed far more to ocean conservation than most of us ever could hope to.
tilikum
Banned
I would kill for a job like that
Thanks everyone!
Lots of hard work. I worked two jobs for a year just to get started, to be able to take the time away and get my foot in the door (so to speak), add the hundreds of hours of volunteer work to add experience before I could even join. I always knew marine conservation was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so experience was the start. I gave up every weekend to work on a wildlife reserve which was incredible, gave up endless afternoons for OCCI (Ocean and Coastal Care Initiative) meetings, do beach clean ups to understand the marine debris problems our ocean struggles with, and spent every chance I could in the cold, wind and rain for ORCCA, rescuing stranded dolphins, assessing carcasses, helping perform necropsies on whales, monitoring the locka seal colony and endless things like this also. That was just the start, and what happened around my own home before taking what I learned on the road.
It can look glamorous, and while its incredible experience and endless fun for me it is really a LOT of hard exhausting work. My point is everyone can do this. Anyone can do it!
Everyone can 'take three for the sea' and become aware of the problems our ocean is facing, then do something about it.
I wouldn't have it any other way. I like my salty hair and no shoes, and every moment I am breaking my back. Because look at the end result, no one can deny the ocean is one beautiful giver worth giving to
Lots of hard work. I worked two jobs for a year just to get started, to be able to take the time away and get my foot in the door (so to speak), add the hundreds of hours of volunteer work to add experience before I could even join. I always knew marine conservation was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so experience was the start. I gave up every weekend to work on a wildlife reserve which was incredible, gave up endless afternoons for OCCI (Ocean and Coastal Care Initiative) meetings, do beach clean ups to understand the marine debris problems our ocean struggles with, and spent every chance I could in the cold, wind and rain for ORCCA, rescuing stranded dolphins, assessing carcasses, helping perform necropsies on whales, monitoring the locka seal colony and endless things like this also. That was just the start, and what happened around my own home before taking what I learned on the road.
It can look glamorous, and while its incredible experience and endless fun for me it is really a LOT of hard exhausting work. My point is everyone can do this. Anyone can do it!
Everyone can 'take three for the sea' and become aware of the problems our ocean is facing, then do something about it.
I wouldn't have it any other way. I like my salty hair and no shoes, and every moment I am breaking my back. Because look at the end result, no one can deny the ocean is one beautiful giver worth giving to
Dan
Contributor
Welcome to Scubaboard & greetings from your friends enjoying a nice lazy day in Galápagos
Wingy
Contributor
Actually the leafy and weedy seadragons occur from SA to Western Australia where we also have the rare Ruby Sea Dragon. Where did you dive in Vanuatu?
I tend to get a little caught up on my own backyard, that's my problem!
Have you seen the leafies, Wingy?
I spent a fair while around Vanuatu, so went diving an awful lot. Obviously the highlight was Espiritu Santo; Coolidge and Million $ never got boring for me. Hideaway, Twin Bommies, and The Cathedral were also favorites.
(but if I can vent)
Cake, fruit and pastries made up post dive snacks in Vanuatu no matter where I was, and what wasn’t eaten was thrown overboard to my absolute disgust. Throwing organic nutrients into the ocean may seem like a good idea because the fish will eat it. It may seem like a good idea because you’re helping out the hungry fish. It may seem like a good idea because you’re attracting all the beautiful fish to the customers who have paid to see them. It may seem like a good idea for many other reasons. Unfortunately it is not, I'm sure you guys know it, but I couldn't understand why every dive centre (for the most part anyway) just had no idea on this score there. It's happened plenty of other countries I've been to and is no dig at the place, but just constantly this was done.
Overloading the reefs with nutrients not only encourages eutrophication (when there is an abundance of nutrients and algae thrives) resulting in coral death, but also disrupts the trophic scale on which the entire ecosystem relies. The fish don’t eat their natural food source, they don’t stay in their natural areas of the water column, and they don’t behave in natural ways. I tried to explain to the dive masters and dive officers that what they were doing wasn’t ok. I did it with a smile on my face each time, even though I wanted to cry. I was met with the answer I hate the most; “the tourists stand on the coral, that’s even worse, so feeding the fish isn’t going to make a difference”.
Annnnnnnnnnnnyway, I do miss it there!
Please consider chiming in on this current thread: The Observer Effect?
I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the conservation discussions.
I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the conservation discussions.
They're so beautiful!
I'd be lazing back enjoying the paradise too.
This Australian sea lion is called Charlie. He was rescued when he was a pup. 70% of Aus sea lion pups don't make it pat their first year, their population is estimated to be about 12,000 individuals left in the wild. Unfortunately, they learn everything from their parents. Therefore, when they are rescued as a pup they cannot be released as they will die. Charlie educates and inspires individuals to care for these animals in the wild. Charlie eats 7kg fish a day and weighs 240kg.
And a few more because your photos just make my heart warm!
Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave...Meet Eudyptula Minor, AKA the little penguin while I'm on the quatic side of photos here. Their scientific name means 'good little diver'. They can dive up to 30m and swim up to 10km/h! (because I love sharing facts, you all have to love reading them!)
However this speed doesn't save them from their main predators and threats... Humans and feral animals. Because humans like to build their houses where these guys build their burrows, these penguins have been forced off the mainland of the east coast of Australia. Feral animals that we have introduced like cats, dogs and foxes have decimated the little penguin population. The Manly colony is the last one on the mainland of Australia now, and these penguins I work with have helped repopulate that in the past.
Thanks for sharing your furred friends, there's just some of mine!
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