Petchey Foundation Students Diving In Head-first
Added to website: 06 September 2007
Four students, hand-picked to take the trip of a lifetime to Tobago, are “loving every minute” of their adventure as they help out with Coral Cay Conservation’s mapping project off the Caribbean island.
The scholarship holders - Anna Loureiro, Afsaneh Malakouti, Amaeze Madukah and Jade Ogle - have reported back to base after their first fortnight on the idyllic island. The group is there thanks to an £8, 000 grant provided by the Jack Petchey Foundation.
While hard-pressed to pick out the most special moment of their first two weeks, the girls were amazed to witness the hatching of around 120 Hawksbill Turtles on the beach. They then helped the newborns down to the waterfront before watching them swim out in to the big blue sea.
The girls, who were awarded the Petchey Foundation scholarships after being selected from a total of 20 applicants, have received high praise from the expedition leader and the rest of the team working in Tobago.
It’s hoped CCC and the Jack Petchey Foundation can further expand the scholarship scheme next year, coinciding with 2008 being the International Year of the Reef.
Below are the diary entries for weeks one and two of the students trip to Tobago.
WEEK 1
We can hardly believe our first week’s over. It’s flown by in a blur of sunshine, diving and lots of studying.
Living in a house with twenty-four people is challenging at times but we’re loving every minute of it! Learning to SCUBA dive has filled the majority of the week for most of us. We now have one qualified open water diver in the group - Jade - and the rest arefollowing close behind.
Studying hard paid off for Ana when she went diving and was able to identify many of the fish she saw, to her own pleasant surprise. The same can be said for Afsaneh, who, although she currently can’t dive, is filling her time snorkelling and studying. Jade has been lucky enough to see not only a Hawksbill Turtle but also a Southern Stingray whilst out diving. Amaeze has now overcome her initial problems with diving and is well on the way to completing the course.
There are both ups and downs working on a project such as this - the numerous mosquito bites we’ve all received and the basic food - however, it’s definately outnumbered by the people we’ve met, the huge amount we’ve learnt, the gorgeous weather, the beach and the new world we’ve been opened up to under the water.
We’re all very excited to begin the next week, as every day we are one step closer to being able to survey the reefs and fulfil what we came out to do.
To sum up so far it’s been an amazing week…the sun, the beach, the people, the scenery and the opportunity we’ve been given. We’ve all learnt so much and it’s only been one week. We are eagerly awaiting the next two weeks when we can help give back something from this opportunity and begin our surveying.
WEEK 2
Second week down and unfortunately we have only one left.
Amaeze is now an open water diver and Jade has worked her way up to being an advanced diver. Ana and Afsaneh have been slightly delayed in their diving due to medical reasons, but they have kept themselves busy with extra studying.
This week was the start of our science lessons and we have all passed our invertebrates section which consisted of naming and identifying a large selection of invertebrates. This is the information required to collect data for the surveys and we are now working hard on fish.
We’re feeling very much at home in camp life now and even waking up at 6 a.m. to porridge and bread doesn’t seem so bad anymore! We’re now used to doing our daily chores and getting involved in everything. Through this we’ve learnt to all take on our own responsibilities. New things have been learnt all round, especially Afsaneh who after serving up a messy dinner now knows pasta is cooked for 4 to 5 minutes, not 45!
The four of us were privileged enough to witness and assist in the hatching of approximately 120 Hawksbill Turtles. As soon as the turtles hatch they are under immediate threat from predators along the journey they have to make to the sea. We assisted the turtles towards the water as they can get disorientated and I’m sure its something none of us will forget. It was an absolute honour for us to be involved in this and, as we guided them on their way, we felt a huge sense of achievement as well as hoping they make it through all the challenges they face.
We were also lucky enough to explore a bit of Tobago and visit Argyle Waterfalls. They were quite a challenge to climb but well worth it in the end when we were able to jump into the beautiful pools. The scenery was amazing and we all enjoyed a rare opportunity to relax.
We’re feeling quite sad that we have only one week left and we hope we can achieve all we set out to do before the weekend arrives.
