Archive for the ‘Enviromental Awareness’ Category

Turtle release by Mai Khao Turtle foundation

Posted on April 6th, 2013 by admin-scubacat-dw  |  Comments Off on Turtle release by Mai Khao Turtle foundation

The Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation based in the north of Phuket had it’s 4th annual release of 100 turtles on the 29th of March this year. Scuba Cat decided to support this by sponsoring a release of a turtle back into the Andaman Sea. The important annual event is organized to raise funds for and awareness of the plight of Phuket’s critically endangered sea turtles and is supported by the Phuket Marine Biological Center and the Royal Thai Navy, the event sees the release of rehabilitated green turtles back into the Andaman Sea.

 

 

 

 

Sarah Kench, the GM and Course Director, Kath Ridley the tour leader of Scuba Adventure and Debbie Woods The Customer Service manager all went along to support the event held on the beach at Mai Khao, along with Jade, Debbie’s 1 year old daughter.

There were activities such as batik painting and turtle awareness going on throughout the afternoon along with light refreshments and a monks blessing for the new to be released green turtles.

After waiting to queuing in a busy registration Scuba Cat were allocated number 73 for release, this was a 10 month old green turtle, Sarah was the one elected to release it.

 


After some training we were called to beach in groups of 5, this allowed the turtles enough space to comfortably be released without big crowds around them which could cause stress. They were taken from holding tanks to the water edge and set free, the waves then helped them out to sea.

 

 

Phuket’s sea turtles face multiple threats and their numbers have severely depleted in recent years. Commercial fishing kills thousands of them every year. Many more die from eating or becoming trapped in plastic debris littering the ocean, not to mention entanglement in fishing nets and being hit by speedboats.

Every 2,500 baht raised pays for the rehabilitation of one turtle and its release back into the Andaman Sea. The work done by the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation (founded by JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa), the Injured Turtle Rehabilitation Program (under the Phuket Marine Biological Center) and the Turtle Hatchery Program (under the Royal Thai Navy) is possible thanks to ongoing financial support from the Phuket community.

Phuket’s sea turtles are facing multiple threats and their numbers have severely depleted in recent years. Commercial fishing kills thousands of them every year. Many more die from eating or becoming trapped in plastic debris littering the ocean.

Mai Khao beach and the northern end of the adjacent Nai Yang beach are the only beaches where turtles lay their eggs in Phuket . These two locations have a long natural deserted beach stretching more than 17km. They form part of the Sirinath National Park, which is a protected marine and coastal area.

This is a nesting area of the giant Leatherback Turtle, one of the world’s most ancient species. These turtles on average weigh 450 kg. However, the Leatherback population is fast diminishing and its status is very critical. It is the only turtle without a true protective shell, though its outer protection is leathery scale-less skin – hence its name.

The breeding season of the turtles is November to March. The females come ashore just after dusk and return to the ocean as dawn breaks. The nesting site is selected and they dig a small pit using the rear flippers where they lay between 40 and 180 eggs, they try to conceal the nest once they finished by covering it with sand. The whole process takes about 1 hour. If left to nature the hatchlings will emerge after about 60 days digging their way out of the pit , usually at night so it is cooler and run towards the sea. House lights and hotel developments along the beach can disoriented the young turtles causing them to actually crawl the wrong way going away from the sea. Some large Phuket resorts have focused their attention on ensuring that turtles stand a chance of survival in the Phuket region by making the beach area environmentally friendly to the nesting turtles.

At nesting time environment groups and the local villagers of Mai Khao work very hard to protect the eggs. They take the eggs to their hatchery, where the baby turtles are protected from the vagaries of nature as well as human exploitation. During the breeding season, the local villagers patrol the beaches at night and keep records of the eggs that have been laid.

The Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation was launched in 2002 and raises funds and awareness for the plight of the critically endangered giant leatherback turtles that nest in the area. It also co-ordinates with the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC).

We Belong to the Sea event on the 16th of February 2013

Posted on February 19th, 2013 by admin-scubacat-dw  |  Comments Off on We Belong to the Sea event on the 16th of February 2013

Scuba Cat organized a Finathon and underwater clean up event on the 16th of Feb 2013 under the banner of ‘We Belong to the Sea’.


This is the concept of Quang one of our sales and Marketing interns who is with us for 6 months on a placement from his school in Holland.
The idea is to develop more knowledge about factors affecting the sea and the marine life in our local area, by promoting conservation and raising public awareness through events and collaborations with local businesses.
We belong to the sea incorporated a sponsored fin and an underwater clean up at Paradise reef in the South of Patong on Phuket.
Scuba Cats owner and General manager Sarah Kench, donated the boat MV Scuba Fun for the day, along with providing food, the crew and drivers free of charge to make the even possible.


For the past 6 weeks Quang has worked very hard to promote the event getting the local newspaper. The Phuket News, and Live 98.5 Radio involved. There were several articles in print and a live radio interview with Quang and Kathryn Ridley the tour leader of our liveaboard MV Scuba Adventure.


From this we got some of our divers who took part in the day.
We decided to also include a treasure hunt to encourage divers and snorkelers to take part in the day. For this we needed some prizes, we got these in the form of vouchers and goods from some of the local businesses on the island.


We need to thank the following people and organizations for their involvement in this.

2C Phuket Residence
Dive Supply Phuket
Phuket Lager Beer
Fun Mags Media
Phuket Guide by Southern Three Media.

Prizes ranged from crates of larger to a nights accommodation in a hotel, to food and drinks vouchers in local restaurants.

We also need to thank the following organizations for cash donations for the finathon, get swimming to stop shark finning. This is a way to raise awareness of Shark Finning by Project AWARE.

 

 

Amazing Thailand Maps
Sonya’s Guest house
Asia Pacific
Aquamaster Phuket

 

The day started at our shop in the Kee Plaza with Quang introducing the event and welcoming the participants. We had 15 divers and snorkelers in total. regional manager Tony Andrews was there to see the opening.
Everyone then went to our Boat MV Scuba Sport which was a platform for the day.
The divers did the first dive removing bags of fishing lines, lead weights, bottles and cans.

 


During the surface time we completed the Finathon, this was the sponsored snorkel, everyone on board took part in this and completed the 1km swim in no time.


The second dive saw more lines and weights brought up, along with fishing lures, bottles and a broken fish cage.

 


After the event everyone was invited back to Molly Molones Irish bar who put on free food and gave a discount on drink for those who took part.


Everyone also won a prize with the treasure hunt, even Josh who won an xs ladies wet suit:) (he is an XL man).

Patong beach and underwater clean up with Scuba Cat diving and Go Eco Phuket

Posted on December 20th, 2012 by admin-scubacat-dw  |  Comments Off on Patong beach and underwater clean up with Scuba Cat diving and Go Eco Phuket

On the beautiful SUNday of the 16th of December the Scuba Cat team had a great day with Go-Eco Phuket with a dive site cleanup at Paradise Reef.
“Scuba Diving for Cleaning” was in the sequence of events during the “Environmental Day”- the second day of Phuket Carnival at Patong 2012. Together with the beach cleanup by local inhabitants, rubbish-recycling was also competed by the school children, “Scuba Diving for Cleaning” involved scuba divers in Phuket.


On the morning of the event, 12 divers consisting of recently certified dive instructors from our last IDC, tour guides, fun divers from our previous trips and Quang- our marketing intern attended the kick-off on the beach.

 


There were also a total of 70 volunteer divers from Royal Thai Navy, Go-Eco Phuket, and other dive centers in Phuket.
There was a welcome speech and a chance to meet the other divers during photograph sessions before the start of the event at 9:30am.
The long tail boats arranged by the Thai government took us to our half day boat MV Scuba sport, which was waiting to take the group to the local house reef at Paradise beach.

Gary- our tour guide- briefly introduced the boat, the dive site and the program of the day which included the 2 underwater clean up dives.


Thank to our divers, we have collected more than 10kgs of fishing lines and fishing lures, lot of fish nets, many bottles and cans, plastic trashes, shoes, batteries and many wooden lantern frames which were probably released from Loi Krathong Festival few week ago.


We returned to the beach at 1PM where the closing ceremony for the event took place with music, dancing and magic acts. Everyone involved in the event received a Scuba Cat wristband from us, a lovely medal and an honoured certificate from the Thai government.


At the end of the day the collected rubbish was weighed and the divers collected a total of 250kgs of debris. Moreover, it was great to know that this was the first time Patong organized the beach and diving cleanup with a major involvement of government and entrepreneurs in the region. Congratulation to Thai nation for their timely awareness of the ocean protection and environmental educations for kids!!!
Scuba Cat felt honoured for participating in the event, as did our volunteers. Many of them shared that they had enjoyed the event with ScubaCat and would like to come back for future events we are arranging.


We would like to thank all volunteers for the willingness and kindness and look forward to see you at our brand-new “We Belong To The Sea” in February and April 2013.

Eco – Are you a Responsible Diver?

Posted on June 24th, 2012 by admin-scubacat-dw  |  Comments Off on Eco – Are you a Responsible Diver?

Here at Scuba Cat Diving we have a long history of working to preserve our reefs for the future generations. We cannot do this alone, we need your help!

It is important that all divers have a good understanding of their roles in Reef Conservation and how their diving practices can affect the reef eco system.

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand Similan Islands

Learn to Scuba Dive at a responsible dive centre, ensure you will be taught to the highest standards, remember the Cheapest price is not always the best service for you or for the environment!

 

Here at Scuba Cat we are a 5 * CDC which is the top rating any dive centre can get from and the course quality reflects this. The maximum group size is 1 instructor to 4 candidates, the instructors all work for Scuba Cat Diving on a permanent basis, all our equipment is maintained and serviced by our full time engineer and we operate our own boats with maximum number of divers on them MV Scuba Fun 20, Our own Liveaboard MV Scuba Adventure, 12 and MV Scuba Sport is only 10. we do not believe many other companies can offer you this quality. We recently received many awards from , Project Aware and Reef Check for our environmental work, including the  first Dive Centre in Thailand to be presented the prestigious  Green Star Award.

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand Responsible Divers

The quality of our courses means you learn in a calm, controlled manner and also means there is much less impact on the environment whilst learning. Our Instructors give particular emphasis to teaching good buoyancy skills underwater. If you are not in control of your buoyancy you can injure yourself and our precious reef systems. A responsible diver in control of their buoyancy will not interfere with the Ocean life by damaging Corals or breaking sea fans. Practice your buoyancy over sand away from the reef, after  you have mastered this you can conformably swim over the reefs.

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand Similan Islands

Once you are a Certified Diver dont become complacent about your buoyancy. Every dive is different, some sites will be more challenging than others. Always dive within your limits, you have been trained to that limit for a reason both for your own safety and the safety of others.

We strive to ‘make a difference’ to the environment with our diving. With a maximum ratio of 4 divers to 1 guide, means that we can look after everyone and make sure they do no damage, dramatically reducing the impact of our divers on the reef. Ultimately as Certified Divers you are responsible, the Open Water Course certifies you to dive to you limits to a maximum depth of 18m, with a buddy. The guide will do exactly that, guide you… was your training adequate for you to be responsible?

If the answer to this is no, dont worry. We have a whole range of courses to help you become more responsible divers. Why not look at your Advanced Open Water Course, completing 5 more dives under the supervision of a Instructor. This course will teach you new skills required for different diving environments, two core dives will teach you about safe Deep Diving practices and give you basic navigation skills. Included in your optional dives are great skills to help you become a responsible diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Aware Fish Identification and Underwater Naturalist to give you a few examples.

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand Responsible Divers

Also there is a whole range of Specialities to enhance these skills further. The more that you learn the more you will see and enjoy, this will also make you a safer diver, for yourself, others and the environment. You could also look at becoming a Reef Check Diver, learning how to monitor the reef.

Always make sure that your skills are up to date, if you haven’t dived for a period of time make sure you take a “refresher” course or a Scuba Review to bring your confidence back as a diver, do this for your safety, the safety of your buddy and the safety of the environment.

Ask our staff on board the boat to help you with your ideal diving weight. The weights you will need will vary on different dives. Are you used to diving in Fresh Water? What type of exposure suit are you wearing? What type of tank do you have? Our qualified staff are there to ensure your days diving is aas enjoyable as it can be. If you are over weighted your legs and feet will be dragging downwards. Did you know even if you are not touching the reef,  kicking up sand can have a negative impact on the corals around you?

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand Similan Islands

At Scuba Cat we have a no touching policy, remember the precious corals and Marine Life can be destroyed even by the gentlest touch. Many marine animals have developed a camouflage to help them survive along with a stinging defensive system, can you be sure that you know them all?

Please take photographs, this is a great way of sharing the underwater world with many friends and family. However  it is easy to become distracted when trying to get that perfect shot and accidentally kick the corals with a fin tip or lie on the rock/corals to get nearer your subject, please dont, would you like it if a giant stood on your house? Why not get our Professional Videographer to make a memory of your day for you.

All our instructors are aware of the importance of protecting the reef and they remove rubbish from underwater, if they see any. This doubles the effect as customers see us taking care of the environment and follow suit and show a good example by removing anything underwater that should not be there. Once a month we hold an Underwater Clean up event in conjunction with Project Aware and there dive for debris initiative, why not join in with us?

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand Responsible Divers

We want you to come and dive with us, enjoying the trip leaving us as a better informed, responsible, and environmentally aware diver.

Congratulations, Scuba Cat Diving is 100% Aware

Posted on March 30th, 2012 by admin-scubacat-dw  |  Comments Off on Congratulations, Scuba Cat Diving is 100% Aware

Scuba Cat Diving, Phuket, Thailand are pleased to announce that we are now 100% Aware, the first Dive Centre on Phuket to achieve this.

What is 100% Aware?

100% Aware is a voluntary program that encourages dive centres around the world to promote the work of Project AWARE, a non-profit organisation that relies on financial support from environmentally concerned divers.

100% AWARE donations will target protection for the world’s most threatened shark species and the removal and prevention of marine debris from precious underwater environments. Together we can make ocean protection a reality.

Here at Scuba Cat Diving we certify hundreds of scuba divers each year, so our involvement in the 100% AWARE program represents a substantial investment on our part in the work being done by Project AWARE.

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand

 

By joining 100% Aware we show our commitment to support the Project Aware movement of scuba divers protecting the ocean planet.

The Project Aware movement focuses on two major ocean issues – Sharks in Peril and Marine Debris, or rubbish in our Oceans.

There are many conservation issues converging on our ocean planet at once, but by concentrating on these serious problems where scuba divers are uniquely positioned to directly and positively affect real, long-term change, we hope to be able to make a positive, tangible difference in these two areas.

We believe this is our responsibility as leaders in the diving community and this is just one more way we can help and show our commitment.

The underwater world is not only ours to enjoy, but also ours to protect.

Scuba Cat Diving  5* CDC Phuket Thailand

 

We`ve been working with Project Aware for years, and have a number of initiatives to promote environmental conservation

including:

  • Underwater and beach clean-up activities
  • Fundraising activities
  • Conservation courses, including our new AWARE Shark Conservation Diver Course
  • General awareness and promotion of conservation in everything we do.
  • Artificial reefs
  • We are also spearheading the campaign on Phuket to ban the trade of shark fins.
  • As part of our partnership with Project AWARE, we also recently hosted Finley, Project AWARE`s own shark ambassador, as she toured the world promoting shark protection.
Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand 100% Aware

Shark Awareness at Molly Malones

What does this mean for you?

As a Scuba Cat Diving Student Diver, you will now receive the special limited edition Project Aware certification cards to stand out from the crowd and serve as a reminder of the importance of conservation.

Scuba Cat Diving Phuket Thailand 100% Aware

Project Aware Certification Card

We encourage our students to make their own voluntary donations to Project Aware above and beyond ours.

Each time you take a Dive Course, you will be helping in the movement to address two major ocean issues – Sharks in Peril and Marine Debris