Diving Operators Actively Involved in Marine Conservation

I am a bit tired of paying big bucks for dive trips to the other side of the world and getting the feeling that all that money is going directly into the dive operator's pocket and none to help preserve the very marine environment their business depends on.

Can some of you guys give some names and/or addresses of diving operations and/or environmental organisations involved in marine conservation projects and that have trips/expeditions where one actually gets to do something useful and learns something in the process [instead of being regarded as a traveling ATM]. It doesn't have to be a dive,dive,dive,dive thing.

The only organisation that I know of (and did 1 trip with them) is SRI but the trips they organise (at least the one I joined) were more of an awareness thing, the real research being conducted in other, closed expeditions. Besides the stuff they organise is targeted to US divers mainly, short duration, easy access from the US but troublesome from elsewhere. Don't need an aircon, 5 star suite, pina coladas or a warm towel when the dive is over...

Any ideas?

Jorge Santos

The Nautilus Explorer is very active in marine conservation. They dive Alaska, Canada, The Channel Islands, Guadeloupe, Sea of Cortez, and Socorro.

They have a fund you can contribute to and I know from personal observation that they go the extra mile to fight illegal fishing.

Hi Jorge,

I posted something a while back asking about interest to join specific trips like this. I was trying to arrange a Reefcheck Indonesia expedition. Sadly the feedback was so poor, I had to drop the idea. I'm working on a project now which is to help small coastal villages learn more about their coastal resourcesa nd how to conseve and preserve them. If it pulls off there may be some spaces going to join a film maker and expedition photographer on a 6-8 week trip which will be split into about 2 or 3 trips within Indonesia!

Hi Jorge,

An interesting thread. I started thinking about this last year when trying to think of ways to inject dollars into our research effort in ecuador, to preserve the manta rays and sharks there.

After several failed attempts to apply for various funding options, I've figured the best way is to bring along likeminded divers to do the research (under the supervision of a marine biologist), and their cost of the tour goes direct to the project.

Drop me a line on ecuadortours@googlemail.com and I'll fill you in if you are interested.

I'm hoping to expand this to shark research in other parts in the next year, and we are also involved in a film/photo project in the Ecuadorean Amazon.

Best regards,

Mark.

Guys [apologies for the late reply] thanks for the info, I will be contacting you by email to follow up on this, ok?

Jorge