What is Green Fins?
Green Fins is an organization originally back in 2004 by the United Nations Environment (UNEP) under the Regional Seas program as part of the effort to increase public awareness and management practices that will benefit the conservation of coral reefs and reduce unsustainable tourism practices.
What is a Green Fins Dive Center?
Pattaya Scuba Adventures Joined Green Fins to become a Green Fins Dive Center back in 2018 because we believe in protecting our local coral reef and as dive educators we are in a prominent position to help raise awareness and give simple instructions that help to preserve the marine environment for future generations.
What is the Green Fins Code of Conduct?
When you dive with our dive team during our dive briefing and in general chit chat on the boat you will notice that we include many tips and pointers to follow during the time with us out around the islands, these come from the Green Fins Code of Conduct. There are best practices for diving and snorkeling Let’s take a look below are some of the main points to help reef!
Don’t Step On Coral
Whether you are scuba diving, Freediving, or snorkeling we will remind you to be respectful to corals. Coral are very fragile animals and they can take a long time to grow. Divers and snorkelers who step on the coral are likely to break them, or damage the surface of the coral not to mention cut your feet too! The smallest contact with a coral can kill or infect the animal. We will ask you to watch where you put your feet and fins at all times.
Don’t Stir the Sand, Silt or Sediment
As you kick your fins when you dive or snorkel, it creates a washing momentum in the water around you. This can lead to flicking up sediment and small debris which can destroy or disturb small habitats. This sediment can also settle down and cover corals. A coral covered over will struggle to photosynthesize and even cause it to die. It can also lead to small animals being squashed or flipped-flopped into the blue! This is especially true in Pattaya where we have lots of Nudibranchs, seahorses, and other microlife critters!
No Chasing or Touching Marine Wildlife
This can cause great stress to any animal and through touch you may transmit diseases or remove protective coatings on fish, mammals, invertebrates, and other species. Look but never touch and try not to get too close. We have many Hawksbill Sea Turtles here in Pattaya if divers do not disturb then they often stay with divers and share the dive.
Do Not Feed Fish
It’s especially tempting when you visit an area with tropical fish, to consider throwing food overboard or even perhaps take food with you on a dive or snorkel to attract the fish to you. But this is a BIG NO-NO, please. Fish feeding has become a worldwide problem as it results in some local fish species becoming reliant upon that food source from tourists.
It increases aggression towards divers from fish and can lead to species interacting with others which they wouldn’t naturally come into contact with. Another really important problem that often occurs due to this is corals getting smothered in algae. This occurs because the reef is a balance. Certain fish species eat the algae keeping the reef clean, but if they are getting another unnatural food source they can cease doing this important job. It also increases the amount of nutrients in the water leading to an imbalance within the ecosystem.
No Littering
Bar far one of the easiest problems we can all help with, it goes without saying on boat dive trips and land, we should not litter. Regardless of where litter is dropped a lot of it finds its way into our oceans. Plastic pollution is a massive problem! Just as one example, did you know turtles often eat plastic bags as they mistake them for yummy jellyfish? Fish chew on cigarette butts! yuck! Not to mention the millions of chemicals in rubbish end up contaminating the water and entering the food chain. As we are top of the food chain, this can result in us eating fish that have been tainted by the very rubbish you threw away. Bin it, don’t throw it.
A Good Guide to divers with Gopros and Underwater Photographers
Check out this short video below, as a professional dive guide, I don’t like to have to point fingers or tell people underwater what to do. that’s not me. However, I also don’t like seeing people damaging my local reef, it is my home. That coral you hold onto I see it every day, that patch of sand you where you are resting your fins it wears I look for tiny nudibranchs. I’m proud that most divers are aware of their impact and conduct themselves in a positive way underwater which is good. But with that said, there are millions of new divers each year who may not have had such advice and guidance to preserve the underwater world, and that is where our job of professional dives comes into play.
We are guardians, yes, but the focus is to help everyone know how we can help preserve the local reef not spend each day saying to people don’t do this don’t do that, that is not what it’s about. Taking a fun dive trip or dive course with us just means we will teach as much about the underwater world as we do the skills to dive in it.
Wanna Get Involved and Learn More on How you Can Help Save Coral Reefs?
Join Us for a Fun Dive in Pattaya, We’ll SHow you how we dive locally to protect coral reefs and you may learn and fun thing or two how how you as a diver can take this practice wherever you go diving.
Learn to dive and take a PADI Course with Pattaya Scuba Adventures. During our dive courses, we will not only teach you great dive skills but all great dive practices
Take our specialised Underwater Photography Training or take about Buoyancy control workshop
Follow our Social Pages like Twitter or Facebook and look out for local events such as clean dive trips
Join Green Fins and Support our ongoing efforts to Save Coral Reefs around the world.
