A year in numbers for our Marine Conservation project in Thailand

2016 was an incredible year at our Marine Conservation project in Thailand with many exciting developments taking place and conservation work achieved. Thanks so much to all our volunteers who have helped the conservation teams complete their great work on Koh Tao.

This year we have seen the deployment of Ocean Utopia (a brand new underwater piece of art and artificial reef), coral spawning, the deployment of new electric artificial reef prototypes plus much more. 

Here is the Thailand Marine Conservation project's year in numbers:

 

13,822 Drupella snails removed

501 Conservation Diver certificated issued

320 Crown of thorns removed

189 Students trained 

100 Giant clams released back into the wild 

91 Ecological monitoring surveys (EMPs)

70+ Mooring lines installed/maintained

49 Artificial reefs deployed

17 Sea turtles released

10 Coral nurseries installed 

1 New Mineral Accretion Devise site 

Electric Corals
This year volunteers spent a vast amount of time working on a new Mineral Accretion Devise (MAD) donated by Coral Aid. Mineral Accretion, uses low voltage direct current electricity to grow solid limestone rock structures in the sea and accelerate the growth of corals providing homes for reef fish and protecting the shoreline!

Creating the reef involved welding 5 huge metal structures from 200 metres of cable and then sinking these to the ocean floor. 

They are now covered with corals and are looking great!

How to join the project:

Don't worry if you can't dive on arrival you can spend your first week learning to dive and achieving your certification.

If you would like to get involved in the Marine Conservation work you can read more about the project here or apply to join the team here.