5.-19. April 2012 Easter Reef Check - 2-weeks Reef Check with Reef Check EcoDiver Training. – incl. accommodation, 20 dives, airport shuttle, 1 boat trip 760,- €

19. - 26. April 2012 Reef Check Safari (Northern route) - 1 week onboard Ghazala I with Reef Check Program. Reef Check dives and fun dives alike with experienced marine biologist. Price: 770 € p.P. in double cabine, 665 € p.P. in triple cabine. The safari can be combined with Easter Reef Check (1 or 2 weeks) as well.

27. Dec. 2012 - 10. Jan. 2013 X-Mas Reef Check Coral reefs are under threat worldwide, including the Red Sea. We, as divers, can help make a difference by learning more about tropical coral reefs and collecting valuable data to establish the state of coral reefs. The data recorded are sent to the Reef Check headquarters where it will be included in their annual reports. The Easter Reef Check and Christmas Reef Check includes a 3-days Reef Check EcoDiver Course trained by marine biologists. You will learn to identify indicator species and in the globally standardised Reef Check protocol. The package includes two dives per day in which one is a survey dive at famous dive sites like Blue Hole, Canyon and Gabr el Bint. The Reef Check Ecodiver certification qualifies you to help our teams to monitor reefs worldwide. Choose between 1 week (10 dives) or 2 weeks (20 dives)  – 2 weeks incl. accommodation, 20 dives, airport shuttle, 1 boat trip 760,- € – 1 week incl. accommodation, 10 dives, airport shuttle, 1 boat trip 515,- €

More info christian.alter(at)redsea-ec.org

Reef Check EcoDiver

Become certified to conduct your own Reef Check surveys and take an active role in conserving your favorite coral reefs.  This course is designed to teach you everything you need to know to conduct full scale Reef Check surveys.  In this program you will learn all about the globally standardized Reef Check methodology as well as how to identify key indicator fish, invertebrates and substrates selected by Reef Check for global monitoring and conservation of coral reefs!  This course will allow you to join the Reef Check monitoring team and assist in underwater surveys around the world.

Requirements: Participant is comfortable using mask, fins and snorkel or is a certified scuba diver. Age of 12 or above.

Materials: Reef Check EcoDiver Kit

Testing and Certification: PowerPoint ID test (80%) and field test (90% to pass) to obtain regional certification card. Additional training is required to transfer to a new region e.g. Red Sea to Caribbean. Certification card qualifies holder to participate in Reef Check surveys in the region and to submit their data to the global database.

REEF CHECK Safari with Sinai Divers 13.-20. May 2010

Already for the 14th time Sinai Divers’ Ghazala I is running its annual Reef Check safari.This year we had the honor to welcome the Reef Check founder Dr. Gregor Hodgson which joined the whole trip . Also attending was Dr. Moshira Hassan, long-term team scientist and Reef Check coordinator for Egypt.

The divers were introduced into Reef Check, its survey methods and indicator organisms and after some training they were ready to carry out the survey of fish, invertebrates and substrate at selected dive sites in the south Sinai. The data collected is important for evaluating the health of coral reefs. Some of the sites seemed are still in good condition. Cover of live coral was high and recently killed coral low. Additionally, many of the ”food fish” (e.g. Napoleon wrasse, Sweet lips) were frequently encountered. Few groupers with sizes over 30 cm were observed indicating potential overfishing. Despite the fact that fishing is forbidden in some of the areas surveyed (except fishing by Bedouins for their own consumption), several sites had discarded fishing nets and lines, often entangled in hard corals and sea fans. To our regret, we were able to observe several illegal fishing boats in the Ras Mohammed area actively deploying lines.

To relax between the survey dives we had the opportunity to visit the wrecks of Thistlegorm and Dunraven and some of Tiran and Ras Mohammeds’ beautiful dive sites.

Special thanks to Sinai Divers for supporting Reef Check, to the experienced and committed guide Sherif and the helpful staff of Ghazala I, and of course to the volunteers who supported the Reef Check surveys and special thanks to our “Photographer” Stephan Jaeggi for providing us with good shots of the Reef Check dives.

Reef Check Team

maybe this is a good place to feed

good buoyancy is important ...

i'm rather have a swim along this funny looking line

REEF CHECK-Safari with Sinai Divers 21.-28. May 2009

On the 21st of May it finally happened, 11 enthusiastic divers and 2 Reef Check-scientists boarded Ghazala 1, the legend of the Red Sea. On board we had all necessary materials for surveying the reefs, our happy guide Sylvia, Peter, a journalist from a German TV Channel and Mark, a professional Underwater Video and Photographer from Sharm el Sheikh. Our principal objective was, like in former years, to survey the health status of the coral reefs around the southern part of the Sinai.
After an introduction by marine biologists Christian Alter and Victoria von Mach about which indicator-species are counted, and the methods of Reef Check, one Reef Check dive was conducted every day. Even though unexpected currents sometimes made our surveys difficult, we were able to successfully collect data at 4 out of 5 planned dive sites. The selected reefs were “Hot Spots” on one hand (dive sites with more than 5 to 10 diving boats a day), and on the other hand about relatively unused dive sites. Recorded species are all relevant to the ecology and health status of coral reefs, for example, Parrot fishes, Napoleons, Butterfly fishes, Sea Urchins, Giant Clams, and Crown-of-Thorns.  The percentage of Hard and Soft coral cover and recently killed corals were also estimated by our Holiday-scientists. Here, we would like to mention a special thank to Melanie and Friedhelm, who joined the Reef Check-Safari for the 5th consecutive year!
 A first glimpse of our data reveals that especially the famous fish for everyday consumption, like Groupers, Parrot fishes and Napoleons, were quite often counted. Also the rich cover of Hard and Soft corals suggests a good condition of the popular dive sites. Even the outbreak of the Crown-of-Thorns at Gordon reef, in the late 90s, seems to be diminishing from year to year.
Of course, the fun dives weren´t missed out on! In a daily company of napoleons, giant morays and often turtles, everyone had the chance to admire the specialty and the natural beauty of the visited reefs. Some of us even had encounters with grey reef sharks. The presence of 2 marine biologists was exploited fully, with repeated lively discussions about reef conservation at the Red Sea and worldwide. Through the fun dives, dive sites were viewed critically by the participants and rated as healthy or damaged. On behalf of Reef Check, we would like to thank Sinai Divers, Sylvia, the whole boat crew and for sure our participants: Friedhelm, Melanie, Dani, Michi, Jesper, Mohamed, Uli, Synthia, Pritesh (Rasheedi), Monika and Peter!

Victoria von Mach, Reef Check Scientist