Scuba Diving in Koh Tao, Thailand: My Volunteer Experience
Koh Tao, an island off the western coast of Thailand. Photo via Unsplash.com
Thailand has more than 2000 miles of coastline. The sea is a vital lifeline for society, economy, and culture. Yet beneath the surface of the ocean that gives Thai people and countless tourists immense pleasure, there is a looming threat that endangers an important foundation of a way of life.
Koh Tao is an island in Thailand known for having the most diverse and abundant coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand. It is famous for its intricate habitats and the variety of marine life that surround it. Thus, it attracts a surplus of divers, looking to explore its ocean floors. This has built a culture of marine importance and respect for the environment around the island. However, the coral reefs of Koh Tao, like other reef systems in the world, are threatened by relentless climate change and ocean acidification. In 2010 it was reported that coral coverage reduced from 41.2% to 27.1%.
Apart from being a cultural and environmental legacy, the residents of Koh Tao also depend on the coral reefs for food and sustainable livelihoods. The bleaching from ocean acidification continues to reduce marine catch considerably, causing many of the youth to migrate to the cities for work opportunities, leaving behind a largely middle-aged and older population struggling to sustain their way of life. Moreover, with the lack of training, many locals could not dive safely, leaving them shorthanded.
Consequently, my certified diving buddies and I decided to help. I had just received my advanced diving certification a couple of months before from an organization on the island. I remember seeing bleached coral reefs with my own eyes and it was truly devastating. It sparked my interest to return and help the island out.
Running against time, Koh Tao locals seek to build artificial reefs to help prevent the colorful specimens of life from transforming into ghostly skeletons. However, the scale of work is immense due to limited resources to deal with the ecological and economic damage. The locals lack the vital manpower and equipment needed to dive and build artificial reefs. Hence, my group and I helped them build bottle nurseries with reused glass bottles and bowls of cement. These bottle nurseries were designed to become artificial reefs to promote marine life ecosystems by replacing bleached reefs with new habitats. Working with local experts, we also conducted dives to assist in the manual removal of drupella snails, a predatory species that aggravated coral bleaching. We each dived with a pair of large tweezers and a water bottle to pick up the snails and had to be careful not to harm the reefs when doing so.
Throughout our time in Koh Tao, we performed daily dives to install artificial reefs and to collect more than 3000 snails. Each dive affirmed my commitment to ensuring that Thailand’s communities and water bodies remained viable for the future generation.
To ensure that this initiative stays afloat, my former high school organizes trips to Koh Tao every year where certified diving students can help the locals preserve their homes. They work with New Heaven Dive School, an organization that focuses on marine conservation. They aim to protect and restore the coral reefs in Koh Tao by educating tourists and locals as well as taking action. Coming back from the trip, I worked to spread awareness in my high school to inspire students to tackle this local and global issue. Hopefully, steps like these can be implemented on a global scale to conserve our underwater ecosystem.