Volunteers will be allocated fish, coral or invertebrates as part of coral reef monitoring, allocations will be sent to the 4 weeks prior to their arrival to be forwarded to the volunteers, so they have plenty of time to study before coming to base. Every volunteer will be expected to be familiar with the study materials before they arrive to speed up the process of getting them to monitoring level. We monitor all these topics at our 24 sites over the North-West coast of Mahe.
Fish - volunteers collect data on abundance/biodiversity, which helps to assess overall recovery of fish life on the reef.
Coral - for the first half of the year we monitor coral cover of our sites, and in the second half of the year we monitor the recruits (juvenile) corals that are growing on our sites, both of which give us a better idea of the health and diversity of the reef.
Invertebrates - slight variations in our methodologies throughout the year, but both focus on the diversity and abundance of different species found around the Seychelles. Incidental Sightings is something that everyone gets involved with on a daily basis, we compile a species list and maintain a record of the daily occurrences of different marine creatures at the various dive sites. This data is passed onto OBIS Seamap which is an online database to see populations of different big species around the world.
All volunteers will also get involved with monthly dives to clean up the reef - Dive Against Debris (DAD) which the data goes to Project AWARE who are monitoring the levels of trash that is being found on dive sites around the world. Everyone will conduct a separate monitoring technique of Coral Watch, this is a worldwide coral monitoring methodology which looks into the levels of bleaching that is occuring on corals. Our final project that we have available to all volunteers is our coral restoration project, Volunteers will be able to assist with collecting new fragments, cleaning our nursery, or transplanting our fragments to a new site, what you get involved with depends on what time of year you are on base.
You should keep in mind that projects conducted are dependent on the season and the priorities always remain with our local partners.
As part of this program you will also join the PADI REMS Specialty Course, which is designed to educate divers about how to correctly identify specific species associated with coral reefs (i.e. invertebrates, fish, megafauna and corals) as well as how to choose the correct method of surveying to indicate the health of the reef ecosystem over time. Focusing on the size estimations of corals and fish, as well as the abundance of all reef organisms to give a good indication of diversity and health of the reef. Participants will also learn to improve their in-water skills (i.e. buoyancy and monitoring techniques).
The goals of the REMS Diver training are to teach how to accurately identify coral reef species and the correct monitoring procedures/methods to collect viable data to indicate the reefs health over time. Initially educating the students on the conservation methods used to monitor local reef systems associated with human impact.