Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

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buksida
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Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 11 Apr 2011 16:25

The event, held on April 10th, was organised and sponsored by the local government (OPD) and a number of companies and organizations including Omsin Bank, Chumphon Marine Conservation Group, Coral Resort (who provided the scuba tanks) and Kig Travel Company (who provided the boats). The objective was to clean the trash off the coral reefs surrounding Koh Sing and Koh Sang before the Songkran tourist rush, I was fortunate enough to be invited along.
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Setting up
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Group shot
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Dive brief with indications as to where most of the trash lies.
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The dive boat
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Cutting nylon fishing line off the coral

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buksida
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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 11 Apr 2011 16:31

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Just one coral head is a three man job
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Nylon fishing line is highly destructive to marine life
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It is a tough job getting it out
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Everything is bagged up and taken to the surface
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The crew vessel off Koh Sang

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 11 Apr 2011 16:36

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This is the kind of crap that litters the seabed
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An area cordoned off for the influx of snorkellers this week, Koh Talu in the background
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Nudibranchs are still abundant around the two islets
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Cutting more rope away from the reef
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Bag it and bin it

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 11 Apr 2011 16:45

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An unrelated problem is coral bleaching which happens when the water gets too warm
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The cleanup continues
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This Acropora receives some special attention
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Despite the abuse by fishermen marine live still thrives at these islands
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Cleaning bags of plastic off a Koh Talu beach frequented by tourists
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You're never too young to learn how to protect the marine environment
A great effort was made by all and a lot of trash was removed from the reef, an estimated 95% of it came from fishing boats and consisted of nylon fishing line, ropes, lead weights and nets. Some nets were up to 50 meters long and the coral beneath it had all died, we had to cut the anemones out and reposition them elsewhere.

Sadly as long as the Thai fishing community continues to abuse the ocean and reefs this problem will never be resolved, however with initiatives like this one we hope we can make a bit of a difference in the right direction.

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by Mike Parker » 12 Apr 2011 17:20

Never understood the mentality of fisherman who livelihood depends on a healthy sea. In the Philippines they are still using dynamite, close to the shore,trust that's not hapening in Thaland.As we have said before education is the key but how to you get the message through to these people ? Great photos ,thanks.

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by Zone Rider » 17 Apr 2011 15:10

Zone Rider here, just checking in.

Thanks to the opportunity from Buksi for the dive.


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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 17 Apr 2011 16:09

Cheers for adding the vid however when I try to play it I get "An error occurred, please try again later."

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by Mike Parker » 17 Apr 2011 19:10

buksida wrote:Cheers for adding the vid however when I try to play it I get "An error occurred, please try again later."
Worked for me at 7.0pm Thai time

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 17 Apr 2011 19:31

Just to prove I'm not losing the plot here is a screenshot ...
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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by buksida » 17 Apr 2011 20:18

Just got it ... nice - the viz actually looks better in that vid than is was!

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by migrant » 18 Apr 2011 05:25

Looks like the visibility here in California!!

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Re: Bangsaphan community coral reef clean up

Post by SeaShell » 18 Apr 2011 08:35

Nice video Zone Rider! Will you be doing more? Do not dive myself, so rather interesting to see what's underneath all that water!!

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