FEATURE CORAL SOS
As divers, we are fortunate to enjoy
the beauty of the underwater world
sustained by coral reefs. With this joy
comes the responsibility to protect and
conserve. Having dive operators all
over the world, there is no group better
positioned for coral conservation than
divers themselves.
Scuba Junkie SEAS (SJ SEAS) is
the conservation arm of the award-
winning dive operator, Scuba Junkie,
with multiple operations in the heart
of the Coral Triangle. Conservation
of our local environment, both above
and below the waves, has been at the
core of Scuba Junkie’s ethos. Coral
conservation is promoted at all their
locations to staff, guests and the local
community – the most simple of which
is action against marine debris.
Trash on the reefs is not just
unsightly and a direct risk to wildlife,
a recent study, published in the journal
Science, has shown that reefs covered
in plastic had a much higher incidence
of disease (89%) compared to those
with no plastic (4%). Disease likelihood
increased 20-fold once a coral was
draped in plastic.
Simply doing a reef cleanup has
an immediate benefit for corals.
SJ SEAS carries out staff reef cleans
at least twice a week, with guests and
community members often joining in.
In January 2018 alone, around
100 sacks of rubbish were collected.
After a reef clean, the collected
debris is sorted and logged on Project
AWARE’s Dive Against Debris website
or Ocean Conservancy’s CleanSwell
App. These citizen science initiatives
enable conservation organisations
such as SJ SEAS to map where the
rubbish hotspots are and who was
responsible for its production.
A slightly more labour intensive,
but very rewarding, project has been
the coral regeneration programme in
collaboration with local conservation
organisation, Green Semporna.
This project involves collecting coral
fragments from damaged dive sites,
which are carefully brought back to the
house reef and reattached to a variety
of solid structures.By: Scuba Junkie SEASPower Lies with the People
ABOVE : SJ SEAS staff participating in a reef cleanup
IMAGE: Scuba Junkie SEASWoven throughout all of
SJ SEAS projects are outreach
programmes, where presentations
and workshops about coral
conservation are held for a wide
range of audiences: local and
international schools, businesses,
universities, guests and local
communities. Coral conservationprojects are an integral part of all
SJ SEAS annual conservation
weeks – Shark Week, Turtle Week,
Manta Week, Whale Shark Week
and Marine Week.
In particular, their Marine Week
is focused on coral protection, with
the theme of “Pulauku Rumahku”,
meaning “My Home”. In 2017, the