It is part of requirement for all Divemaster Trainees at Wicked Diving Thailand to plan and undertake Eco projects. As part of this process we are actively building an artificial reef using found materials. Our goal is both teach and encourage all professional divers to improve the world around them, but also find the best materials for creating reefs in the most economical and practical ways......
Wicked DMT’s Eco Project
As part of our DiveMaster training course with Wicked the DMT’s (Martin, AJ, Brian & Kim) were given the task to carry out an Eco project which entailed building an artificial reef. We were briefed by Tuk and Colin who gave us the details of where and how this would be done and what the previous reefs built were like.
The materials we had at our disposal were a large concrete pipe, three car tyres, some rope (which could be used to tie everything together and be used to make artificial sea fans) and an old broken stool of some sort. We discussed various ideas on how to arrange these and eventually settled on one and pieced it all together on land.
Afterwards we researched online regarding the benefits of using rubber tyres in artificial reefs and found that the general consensus was that the disadvantages of using tyres underwater outweighed the benefits. So we decided we did not want to use them if there was any chance they could harm the aquatic environment, which would make the whole exercise pointless. We also decided that we would try to use as little rope as possible because it was made of nylon.
We shared the above with Tuk and Colin who agreed. Colin found rope that was made of natural materials that we could use to turn into artificial sea fans (instead of the nylon rope), then Tuk found some concrete blocks for us to use as well as the concrete pipe. Concrete is the best material to use when constructing artificial reef because it is very easy for aquatic life such as coral to grow on it.
So we all; now joined by George (a former DMT) set off on the longtail boat to the Boonsung Wreck. When we arrived George and Kim went down to locate the other artificial reefs and tie an SMB to a toilet. That way the captain knew exactly where to park the longtail boat so we could drop the materials. We had decided that the easiest and ‘safest’ way was to literally drop the Blocks and pipe in so once George and Kim had checked the area was clear and surfaced we threw everything into the sea.
Then well all kitted up, got into the water, descended and started to locate everything which took a surprisingly short amount of time, somehow we also managed to find more concrete blocks than had actually been thrown in, Tuk even happened to find an extra one that had a big ‘W’ on it which was Wicked. (Pun intended) It is possible to swim underwater while carrying concrete blocks as long as your BCD is fully inflated and you don’t let go. We had no design planned out so once Tuk and Colin had rolled the concrete pipe into position….
Our surface interval was spent in what could only be described as monsoon like conditions. When we went back under we finished the reef and took photographs and then explored the Boonsung Wreck which I highly recommend because it is an awesome wreck dive and full of a huge variety of marine life.
Happy diving
AJ
When you dive with Wicked....you make a difference. We offer one of the most unique and through Divemaster courses in Thailand.
1 comment:
AJ - you make me laugh. we are sitting here at Wicked devising a program to monitor your reef. tomorrow we are going to get the gps coordinates, map the site, photograph the site, & take an inventory of reef components and marine life. After we will create a template for future monitoring trips so Wicked can track what works and what doesn't. How was the shark diving??
mark p
Post a Comment