Over the last few months, there have been plenty of things to celebrate, which means we have been busy preparing special activities and presentations. As well as this, I have made some wonderful friends who have supported me throughout this entire process, and even threw me a ‘graduation ceremony’ to make up for me missing my own ceremony back home!
A pregnant Blacktip reef shark spotted on ‘Shark Awareness Day’
Checking for coral eggs in our water villa frames
Shark Awareness Day
To kick off Shark Awareness Day, we brought some special shark-themed treats to breakfast for our Resort guests. Later, we hosted a presentation to discuss the importance of sharks as part of a healthy reef ecosystem, and to address many of the misconceptions surrounding these fascinating marine creatures. We also encouraged our guests to join our shark-themed snorkel, which ended up being extra special as we were lucky to spot a pregnant shark on the reef!
Some shark-themed treats for breakfast!
PADI Women’s Dive Day
One thing that greatly surprised me when I first came to the Maldives was how many people, particularly women, had never been in the ocean and couldn’t swim. On PADI Women’s Dive Day we tried to rectify this a little, by inviting some of our Resort colleagues to join us on a Discovery Dive.
We started lessons in the swimming pool, by practising some of the fundamental skills to develop confidence under water. Once everyone had mastered these skills, we ventured out to the House Reef, where we built a commemorative coral frame, and held a guided tour of our existing frames to show off all the marine life. It was great to see all these women trying something completely new and falling in love with the ocean, with some of our colleagues totally inspired to continue getting their ocean diver qualification!
Pool session complete, now everyone is ready for the reef!
All the girls after finishing their first ever dive!
World Mangrove Day
To celebrate World Mangrove Day, I created and delivered a short presentation for the students at the local school at Bodu Huraa, to teach them about the importance of mangrove ecosystems including the threats they face, and how they can be protected. We then headed out into the island’s mangrove forest for an organised clean-up, and to help plant some new mangrove trees.
I felt very lucky to be able to contribute to the protection of these ecosystems, as they are often forgotten or neglected, especially in the Maldives. Mangroves are essential for coastal protection of the islands, important for carbon storage (they can sequester four-times more carbon than rainforests) and they even host a wide range of marine life… acting as a nursey for some adorable baby blacktip reef sharks!
Freediving with a porcupine ray
My tropical graduation!
Mangroves at Bodu Huraa school
These last three months have been incredible! I have learnt so much and gained lots of invaluable experience, and although it is now time for me to head home, this certainly won’t be the end of my marine adventures… you may be hearing from me very soon… 😉
See you soon 👋 … in Chapter 3 !
Shona 💙
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