The last 2 weeks (23-01 to 06-02) I’ve been away in Egypt caring on a scientific diving training. This was a joint effort of Ocean Quest and University of Glamorgan in order to take people out in the field and give them some insight on how and when to apply different scientific procedures and techniques.
Several themes were brought to light such as Fish-ID techniques (stationary, random, and belt), fish diversity curves, Shannon-Weaver index models, Coral-ID, surveying techniques such as mapping areas underwater based on vectors (angles and lengths). Some other topic were the physiology of diving; the physicochemical properties of water; currents, waves, tides, and mixing; the structure of the water column and oceanic productivity (nutrients). These techniques were always inserted into a bio-ecological perspective.
All this fieldwork was further developed into scuba diving techniques (as complement of the scientific background) and was of caring a “sound science” protocol with the minimal disturbance of the environment.
Dr. Tim Johnson, Dr. Roy Wiles and Vicky Swales gave the scientific background. The instructors Lee Garbett and Richard Barton gave the diving skills. The experienced diver and red sea guide Alun Evans gave the briefing of the dive sites.
If you wish any information regarding this kind of activities/course do not hesitate in contacting Dr. Tim Johnson.
Hopefully after Easter I’ll post some of the photos I took during the scientific diving program.