DEEP - Deep Environmental Education Program

🌊🐠 We had an incredible time with the students from KIS on our latest marine conservation trip! Last week, the students honed their skills with the Ecological Monitoring Program (EMP) and had the unique opportunity to survey the critically endangered Neptune's Cup sponge (Cliona patera). 🧽🤩

It was a week full of learning, adventure, and so much fun. Educating young minds about marine conservation and exploring ways to protect our oceans is truly a privilege. 🌍💙

Oh yeah, we also added one more student to the KIS Scuba Club. Congratulations Jean! You have a knack for floating and breathing 🤣👌

Interested in getting involved? Reach out to us today to learn how you and your school can participate in this vital work. Let's make a difference together!

Help save the Neptune's Cup sponge right here in Thailand!
ช่วยกันอนุรักษ์ฟองน้ำ Neptune's Cup ที่นี่ในไทย!
https://forms.gle/WmrLNdbcdFPW1mQ6A

Neptune's Cup Sponge
HELP PRESERVE THIS SPECIAL SPECIES!
(Please click the Google Form at the bottom)

The Neptune's Cup sponges are critically endangered and need your help in conservation. Thai Ocean Academy is collecting GPS coordinates of each sponge, obtaining growth measurements, and collecting ecological data that will support the sponges' conservation. However, these come with costs for the manpower and boat. If you believe in repopulating a rare species whose highest population density is right here in our home of Thailand like we do, then please consider sponsoring a sponge!

You'll get e-certificates personalized with your name and chosen sponge, sponge sticker sheets, keychains, and holographic sticker sheets depending on the amount you donate. But most of all, you will play a part in protecting something very special!

https://forms.gle/WmrLNdbcdFPW1mQ6A .

ฟองน้ำคัพเนปจูน
ช่วยอนุรักษ์สายพันธุ์พิเศษนี้!

ฟองน้ำถ้วยเนปจูนใกล้สูญพันธุ์อย่างยิ่ง และต้องการความช่วยเหลือจากคุณในการอนุรักษ์
Thai Ocean Academy กำลังรวบรวมพิกัด GPS ของฟองน้ำแต่ละชนิด วัดการเจริญเติบโต และรวบรวมข้อมูลทางนิเวศวิทยาที่จะสนับสนุนการอนุรักษ์ฟองน้ำ
อย่างไรก็ตาม สิ่งเหล่านี้มาพร้อมกับค่าใช้จ่ายด้านกำลังคนและเรือ
หากคุณเชื่อในการแพร่ขยายพันธุ์สัตว์หายากซึ่งมีความหนาแน่นของประชากรสูงสุดในบ้านของเราในประเทศไทยเช่นเดียวกับเรา โปรดพิจารณาสนับสนุนฟองน้ำ!
คุณจะได้รับใบรับรองอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ที่ระบุชื่อและฟองน้ำ แผ่นสติกเกอร์ฟองน้ำ พวงกุญแจ และแผ่นสติกเกอร์โฮโลแกรมที่คุณเลือก ขึ้นอยู่กับจำนวนเงินที่คุณบริจาค
แต่ที่สำคัญที่สุด คุณจะมีส่วนร่วมในการปกป้องบางสิ่งที่พิเศษมาก!

https://forms.gle/WmrLNdbcdFPW1mQ6A

Upcoming Dive trips you will want to join! Message me for details.

Apr 11 - Pattaya Far islands - 2 dives - 3000 THB Koh Rinn, North Rock

Apr 20 - Pattaya Far Islands - 2 dives - 3000 THB HTMS Khram, Koh Man WIchai

Apr 20 - Pattaya Near Islands - 2 dives - Lazy diver 3pm - 8pm with Night dive - 3000 THB

Exciting news! This past weekend we successfully deployed an artificial substrate in Rayong. Our latest artificial substrate deployment owes its inception to students from St. Andrews International School, who proposed the concept with 3D Styrofoam models. Due to some structural difficulties, changes were made to the design, however, the students' creativity and dedication have resulted in a structure destined to support coral recruitment for decades to come. The students also got the chance to tour the structures deployed in previous years to see how their structure might look in the future. A big thank you to Love Wildlife and ATMEC - Aow Thai Marine Ecology Center for their support throughout the whole process. Thank you Pun Pun for some great photos, follow him on instagram .photo . Hard work produces results and seeing students get creative and contribute to such efforts is the best reward.

Stay tuned for more updates and exciting developments!

For all our students, Art Competition!

Will you be attending the 42nd International Sea Turle Symposium? The event will be on the 24-29 of March, 2024 at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya. Come join us and enter the youth sea turtle art competition! 🐢⭐️

งานสัมมนา International Sea Turtle Symposium ครั้งที่ 42 กำลังจะถูกจัดขึ้นแล้ว ในวันที่ 24-29 มีนาคม 2567 ณ โรงแรมดุสิตธานี พัทยา หากคุณสนใจสามารถมาร่วมงานสัมมนากับเรา และมาเข้าร่วมการแข่งขัน the youth sea turtle art ด้วยกันนะ!

Congratulations, Adam!

It was so great joining the ATMEC team on their research excursion to Cambodia this past week. We were able to educate the local community and research team on some basic coral spawning biology. Healthy coral reef ecosystems depend heavily on the success of coral spawning. We hope that by collaborating with the team in Cambodia we can broaden our understanding on such a beautiful and mysterious phenomena. Special thank you to Fauna & Flora for organizing the excursion and Bubbles Up Dive Center for providing excellent hospitality on Koh Rong Samloem. It was a special trip, and we are excited to build upon this new relationship in the future.

What our Researcher team and a select group of students have been working on for the last year!

If you are interested to know more, message us anytime!

A cup half full: the first assessment on the distribution, ecology and need for conservation of the threatened Neptune’s cup sponge, Cliona patera, in the Gulf of Thailand - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment The Neptune’s cup sponge is an iconic species found in marine soft sediment habitats in the Indo-West Pacific, with a history of overharvesting and extreme population declines. Access to SCUBA diving surveys has allowed for its rediscovery at Singapore, its type locality; however, with fewer than ...

16 new RAID Open water 20 graduates
1 new RAID Explorer 30 graduate

Welcome to the first milestone for all DEEP divers, now ready to start training for Explorer 30 and then onto EMP 1!

Had to call in the reinforcements from Koh Chang and Koh Tao this weekend, in order to help train students from KCIS, STA and SIS. Everyone did such a good job and thank you to all who attended!

Students make a difference.

Thank you to Students from St Andrews Bangkok, Patana School Bangkok, and Regents Pattaya for joining this trip!

Explorer 30 complete ✔️

Next level unlocked. Get ready for your DEEP Level 1 EMP Training!

While we have been quiet on social media for some time, our activities continue to grow. We would like to share a progress update from our friends at ATMEC that we were heavily involved with for the 2022/2023 season.

We are looking forward to a positive end of 2023, with substantial projects planned for 2024.

Stay tuned for more activity and updates over the next few months!

It is about this time in the year that we would have started our season on the island of Koh Mun Nai, settling into the post-monsoon adventures across the archipelago. However, this year is different! Redevelopment of Koh Mun Nai has commenced by our friends at the DMCR ศูนย์วิจัยทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่งอ่าวไทยฝั่งตะวันออก and therefore our activities in the field are on hold for the immediate future. So in the meantime, we would like to share our progress from last season!

Thanks to the support from the กรมทรัพยากรทางทะเลและชายฝั่ง, Thai Ocean Academy : เรียนดำน้ำ อุปกรณ์ดำน้ำ, Conservation Diver, Friend of the Sea, ใครไม่รัก ซีสะรัก - I Slug youuu and many others, we were able to continue our mission towards conservation, research and education of the reefs of Thailand.

We hope to get back to things and resume accepting students and more later in 2024. See you then!