Project of Crown of Thorns starfish clear up

~Sally’s Diary~

Miles Grogan and Yoko volunteered today to help the Dive Centre with our project of Crown of Thorns starfish clear up. We went to Mantabuan to re-check a previous site where there had been a Crown of Thorns starfish removal session in the summer. There were still some young ones there, we collected around 60, so it was a great improvement on the last time, and the damage to the reef had been controlled. Miles and Yoko were given a briefing of how to collect the starfish as it is really important not to harm them when collecting from the sea in case they release their eggs, it is also important to be very careful and to have good buoyancy control as divers so as not to damage the reef. As Miles and Yoko were experienced divers they had no problems. After we did the clear up, we checked the surrounding area, then had a fun dive to relax before returning to Pom Pom.

～サリーの日記～

ゲストのマイルズ・グロガンさん＆ヨウコさんが私達のプロジェクトであるオニヒトデの除去活動にボランティア参加してくださいました。マンタブアン島で昨夏除去した場所を再調査。まだ小さいのが少し残っていたので60匹ほどを収集。以前に比べると珊瑚のダメージも減っていて、いいコンディションになってきているわ！このオニヒトデの除去活動にあたり、マイルズさんとヨウコさんへブリーフィングを実施。オニヒトデって刺激すると卵を放散しちゃうから海中での取り扱いには細心の注意が必要なのよね。それと珊瑚を傷つけないよう中性浮力のコントロール。マイルズさんとヨウコさんは経験豊富なダイバーなのでこの点はもちろんno problemだったけどね！除去活動終了後はもう１度周辺エリアをチェック。そのあとはポンポン島へ戻る前にファンダイビングでリラックス。