SDI Marine EcoSystems Awareness
Divers have a vested interest in protecting the marine environment. In many cases, divers do not have environmental information about local sites. This specialty is designed to increase the open water diver’s understanding of marine and freshwater environments, the problems facing these unique ecosystems, and the role that diver’s play in protecting our marine resources.
Who this course is for:
- The certified diver looking for more information to about the underwater world and the impact of divers as well as others have on the environment. How we can preserve the underwater world for generations to come
Course Duration:
Courses should not be treated as a race or something that can be skipped through quickly. Please remember training does not guarantee certification, we need to ensure you fully understand the training and will be a safe diver on certification. We follow a loved one clause that when certified we would be happy you could safely dive with one of our loved ones.
- The e-learning and academic portion of this course should be completed before starting in water training and exercises. The duration of this piece is dependant on your availability. During this time our instructors are on hand to assist with questions or any element you may struggle with.
- For many courses the swimming pool or confined water sessions give us time to practice and carry out skills in a controlled environment. We do not fix specific number of pool sessions as it is dependant on your comfort level with skills before moving to open water.
- The open water element is again determined more by time in water rather than number of dives. We prefer longer dives building experience rather than quick short 20 minute 'dips'.
Course prerequisites & forms:
- SDI Open Water Scuba Diver, SDI Junior Open Water Diver, or equivalent
- Minimum age 18, 10 with parental consent
Forms:
What you can expect to learn:
The SDI Marine Eco Systems Awareness Diver course takes an in-depth look at all of the following and more:
- Physical attributes
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- Temperature and thermoclines
- Salinity and halocline
- Dissolved gases
- Light, as it applies to photosynthesis
- Nutrient circulation
- Waves and tides
- Currents and nutrient cycling
- Topographical features
- Marine organisms
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- Plankton
- Aquatic plants
- Aquatic animals
- Specific local animals
- Aquatic food webs
- Behavioral changes due to daily cycle
- Ecosystems
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- Tropical reef
- Temperate
- Freshwater
- Environmentally friendly diving techniques
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- Buoyancy control
- Kick technique
- Local considerations
- Issues facing marine ecosystems
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- Issues of local interest
- Global habitat destruction and pollution
- Over fishing
- Coral bleaching
- Diver animal interactions
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- Intrusive
- Non-intrusive
- Feeding
- Treating marine life injuries
- Observation Techniques
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- Grids
- Passive observation
- Collection Methods
Some of the required skills you will have to demonstrate include:
At various sites complete the following:
- Maintain good buoyancy control
- Make general observations
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- Location
- Bottom composition
- Marine life
- Special characteristics
- Indications of human impact
- Grid observations
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- Make two separate sets of grid observations during each dive
- Describe all marine life for later identification
- Record behavior
- Log Dives
- Compare and contrast the dive sites
- Discuss the effect of human impacts
- Discuss ways to minimize human impact
What’s in it for you?
Upon successful completion of this course, graduates may engage in diving activities without direct supervision of the SDI Instructor* so long as the following limits are adhered to:
- The diving activities approximate those of training
- The areas of activities approximate those of training
- Environmental conditions approximate those of training
- *Note: Junior divers (ages 10-14) must participate in diving activities with a parent, guardian, or dive professional.
Also, the SDI Marine Eco Systems Awareness Diver certification counts towards a single specialty rating to achieve the SDI Advanced Diver Development Program.
How to take this course?
- Availability to start every week.
- Get in touch with us by phone, whatsapp, facebook or e-mail
- You can also add to shopping cart and pay online using ideal, credit card or paypal.
Price & Value:
SDI Marine EcoSystems Awareness - €145,00
*Fully inclusive of all e-learning, equipment required for the course, training and certification on successful completion.
We focus on and are proud of the skill level, knowledge, decision making, experience and readiness of divers to dive at levels which they have been trained. We want to invest in you, your safety and ability to dive, then come home with amazing stories.
Our courses are priced as such and we do not hide additional costs. We are are very flexible for training, especially in terms of dates or location as we know we all have busy lives and work commitments. However if for reasons outside of weather, illness or other such emergencies a course/training can not be completed in the standard training schedule we will charge for extra days at €150,00 per day.