Protecting the future of ‘Ras Mo’
Ocean College staff and guests joined the rangers of the Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt to conduct a clean-up along the coastline of this protected beauty spot.
More than 70 students from the Surrey Army Cadet Force took part in a sweep of the beach area close to the park’s main gates.
This time, Ocean College has gone much further than a quick-fix rubbish removal event and is helping to address the problem at source. Working with the Ras Mohammed National Park they are inviting guests to take part in environmental projects and also attend lectures and presentations at the park headquarters near the Ocean College dive centre.
Diver education encourages students and guests to educate others about the consequences of rubbish in the sea and along the coastlines.
The Red Sea is a closed sea and measures nearly 2,000km in length. It joins the Pacific at a narrow and shallow point making it largely self-contained. Many of its species of fish are unique to the Red Sea alone. On this basis it is less affected by other oceans but still large enough to have environmental challenges of its own.
If the amount of rubbish thrown overboard by diving guests is negligible then where does it all come from? A major source is the illegal disposal of rubbish dumping at sea, a matter being addressed by several Red Sea environmental agencies such as HEPCA, who are shortly joining forces with Sharm’s SSDM organization of which Ocean College is an active member.
The Surrey Army Cadet Force carried out the clean-up project following a week of Open Water training. The 70 new divers all agreed that it was a nice way of giving something back to an environment that gave them their first underwater experience.
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