Giant Stride for Sharks

President of the Republic of Palau, H.E. Johnson Toribiong, announced today that the waters off their coast have officially been reserved as a shark sanctuary! Encompassing 230,000 sq. miles, this sanctuary will be the world’s first refuge for more than 130 species of sharks that frequent the waters near the island of Palau.

With an increasing number of threatened species, acts of conservation like this are the key to maintaining a healthy underwater environment. Check out the Palau Shark Sanctuary’s blog for more details on this recent announcement.

Wedding on the Great Barrier Reef

PADI Instructor, Martin Edwards married his bride, Thassanee, onboard the luxury diving vessel, SeaQuest.

July 16, 2009 turned out to be a perfect day for the wedding, which took place on a trip to Norman Reef – located 90 minutes out of Cairns in Queensland. Local celebrant, Nicola Beulke, had prepared their unique wedding ceremony in two parts commencing on the bow of SeaQuest. Thassanee dazzled in a traditional handmade Thai wedding dress her parents had sent from Thailand. The captain, Greg Brooker, gave her away.

For the second stage of the ceremony, Thassanee wore a beautiful white wedding gown, also handmade in Thailand - sent from her sister, Sumarlee. Over this went her scuba gear and still looking every bit as stunning alongside Martin, they took the plunge together from SeaQuest to 15m below.

Captivating divers on the way to “Troppo’s Lounge” dive site, they exchanged wedding rings and signed the Certificate of Marriage. Martin recounts, “The dive was great fun, seeing the expressions on other divers’ faces when they came across us underwater made the day...for everyone.”

Martin is a passionate diver, inspired by the early TV series, Sea Hunt and later, Jacques Cousteau underwater documentaries. He considers himself fortunate to have shared with a diverse range of people what diving and the Great Barrier Reef has to offer.

But when Martin first met Thassanee, swimming and diving were not pastimes she was into. “14 months ago Thassanee couldn’t swim and was scared of the water to say the least, so many things were - and still are - new to her”, says Martin. “With the help of excellent PADI Instructors from Deep Sea Divers Den in Cairns, her confidence and competence grew.”

Thassanee is now a certified PADI diver and recently completed her 100th dive.

“Coming to Australia has been a big thing for me and my family, so many things are different here”, relates Thassanee. “Martin wanted me to make up my own mind as to whether I would learn to dive. All of the crew were very helpful and supportive. Now I love diving and I am learning how to take underwater photos as well”. Martin adds, “Going out on SeaQuest is the highlight of our week, we enjoy working with the rest of the crew, each other and diving together. It seemed natural that we would share our commitment whilst doing something we both enjoy.”

Please join everyone at PADI in wishing Martin and Thassanee a long and happy life together and many more wonderful diving experiences on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.

Photo’s courtesy of Lauren Sando, Vili Baleilevucha and Greg Brooker.

What's Your Ocean IQ?

Do you know what four marine resources make the ocean important to life on earth? Or if humans have seen much of the ocean? Test your knowledge in this 10 question quiz from the Life on an Ocean Planet textbook.

Take the Quiz Now!...then leave a comment on how you did!

EUROPEAN SHARK WEEK 2009 SHARK ALLIANCE, PROJECT AWARE AND PADI join forces

PADI would like to draw your attention to this year's European Shark Week, 10 – 18 October. Most European shark populations are declining from overfishing. This event is a unique opportunity for shark advocates and European citizens around the world to demonstrate their support for shark conservation and effect urgently needed changes.

PADI and the Project AWARE Foundation have been members of the Shark Alliance for many years contributing to the coalition’s great successes for shark conservation. Project AWARE is a member of the coalition’s Steering Committee since 2009.

The Shark Alliance currently counts 72 members and is more than ever before committed to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies.

At the beginning of 2009, the European fisheries ministers debated over the European Commission's Plan of Action for sharks and adopted it thanks in large part to support from Shark Alliance Members including PADI divers and Project AWARE supporters who took action during last year's European Shark Week.

European Shark Week 2008 saw the collection of more than 100,000 signatures. This was a huge success for the Shark Alliance and more importantly for shark conservation not only in Europe but worldwide.

Let's make European Shark Week 2009 even bigger to ensure European Fisheries Ministers follow through on the Shark Plan's initiatives and truly safeguard sharks. This year's European Shark Week petition is calling on Spain's Prime Minister Zapatero (Spain takes over the EU presidency from January 2010) to promote sustainable shark fisheries management including urgently needed revisions to the EU finning ban.

Shark Facts:

• Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year
• Most European shark populations are declining from overfishing
• 1/3 are threatened with extinction
• Even the world's fastest shark, the shortfin Mako, can't out-swim fishing fleets on the high seas
• The lucrative market for shark fins is estimated to be increasing by 5 per cent each year
• Restrictions on international trade are in place for only three shark species - basking, whale and white sharks
• Europe includes some of the most important shark fishing nations in the world
• In 1997, Spain reported the world's largest catch of sharks (followed by France, the UK and Portugal)
• There are no limits on the amount of blue sharks taken in European or international fisheries

Runner Up for PADI's Go PRO Challenge Contest shares his story!

Simon Bowen was a runner up in the PADI's Go PROChallenge Ratings Contest in Asia Pacific for 2008.

Here's his story.....

After doing most of my dive training up to Divemaster with a UK based PADI Dive club (Submission Scuba in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire), and realising the benefits of the excellent training that I had received there from both Darren MacNamara and Katy Bloor, it was important for me to ensure the final stages of my training as a PADI Instructor met the same criteria for me wherever in the world I was going to complete it. ·

I had already decided to finish my diving courses after months of being unhappy in my position as a Corporate Sales Executive for a major UK national organisation, and now it was a matter of finding the right place on the planet for me to fulfil my dream of becoming a PADI Dive Instructor. I purposefully looked worldwide for a PADI IDC centre that had an excellent reputation and offered a quality IDC, as well as an internship that would allow me to gain invaluable work experience to hone my instructor skills in a busy environment.

I left my job and all things familiar in the UK in April 2008 to move to Koh Tao in The Gulf of Thailand. I had contacted a few friends in the industry concerning the strengths of the various businesses on the island, and decided to go with Bans Dive Resort located on Sairee Beach. The two Course Directors, Jonas Samuelson and Tim Hunt, were both extremely helpful with regular email contact prior to my arrival, and I was able to utilise my “free diving for life” offer that came as part of my IDC package to further my Divemaster skills, guiding groups of fun divers, and sitting in on Divemaster Trainee lectures prior to the start of my IDC with them.

This proved to be invaluable, as there are structured and scheduled lectures in all areas for Divemaster Trainees, and also regular skills circuits in the pool, to fine tune your skills presentation and knowledge to IDC standard. All of this vital preparatory work is given freely, and you start to meet some of the Senior Instructors within the business, who are more than happy to answer questions and assist in any way they can.

Then in July came the IDC. I was told that Jonas Samuelson was a highly awarded Padi Course Director prior to coming here, but to see him in action confirms this completely. Tim Hunt (Course Director) has the most amazing presentation skills ever, and is able to hold your interest in all areas of the IDC constantly. I found this combination of people awe inspiring, and made me personally strive for the best that I could achieve. There is a lot of information to assimilate on an IDC, and these people made it that much easier for me and the others that I studied with. After passing my mock IE exams, and with all of the study that had been done in the previous weeks, I was certain that I could pass my Instructor Exam with flying colours, and qualified with high scores in all areas

With this vital phase now out of the way, and as a qualified Instructor, I then went onto the Ban’s MSDT Internship program. This course enabled me to teach Padi Specialties, which was again hosted by the resident Course Directors. Some people feel totally confident when they leave the I.E. as a qualified Instructor to start teaching immediately. I wanted the benefit of teaching in a busy environment that I was not likely to experience anywhere else in the world, alongside seasoned instructors that had been working at Bans for between 5 and 12 years. This has proven to be a great decision, and I am sure that I am a far better and more confident Instructor than I ever could have been without this invaluable experience.

I have been able to watch some brilliant instructors at work first hand and benefit from all of their differing teaching techniques and individual styles. I now have the Instructors ask me what parts of the course I am assisting on that I would like to teach! I regularly instructed large groups of up to 25 people in the classroom theory sessions, and up to 8 people in Open Water. All of this has come about because I have done back to back course instruction in one of the busiest dive centres in the world.

I have also had the pleasure of certifying over 200 students during this time personally, something that not too many businesses can offer potential instructors. I feel that I have gone from a good instructor to an excellent instructor as a direct result of this program. I believe that you will not gain this experience – with all of the problems that you see, all of the solutions that are offered, along with a wealth of excellent skills and technique resources to draw on from a team of brilliant instructors – unless you do an internship with a world leading instructional

So what happens from here for me? I sit my Staff Instructor rating this year and then Staff my first IDC to count towards my Master Instructor rating in two years time. I am then off out to the big wide world, armed with all the experience that I have amassed since the end of April last year at Bans, to find a company that wants what I have to offer the world of diving.

And the good news? I know that the intense instruction and training that I have received over the 6 months I was in Koh Tao has made me an all but bullet proof dive instructor, and that I am totally ready for that challenge.· · · Simon Bowen