Blue Season Bali Project AWARE Fundraiser Auction

updates

6 November, 2011

On Sunday, November 6th 2011 team Blue Season Bali gathered for our Monthly BBQ / IDC Party at our Sanur campus.

In conjunction with this great social event sponsored in part by Storm Beer, we opted to host an unusual auction to raise money for Project AWARE "Shark in Peril campaign". Tom McKenzie, our proud IDC Staff Intern volunteered to get waxed to save those amazing creatures and his favourite Conservation Foundation!

Successful IDC, tasty BBQ and fundraiser to "Save the Sharks"

After another successful IE weekend (Once again our candidates did us proud with 100% success rate! Making Blue Season the only Instructor Development Centre in Bali with 100% passing rate this year. Demonstrating our team's dedication to Professional Diver Development and Training), we hosted a tasty BBQ where team Blue Season and friends (30 people or so) took part in the auction. Master of ceremony, Course Director Tom Barrett hosted the evening festivities and managed the various bids to wax some of McKenzie's hairiest body parts! (Pretty much everything was up for grab excepts for the area above the neck and his private parts.)

Why raise money for Project AWARE Sharks in Peril campaign?

We are emptying the ocean of sharks. As a diver and a global citizen acting locally, you can play a critical role in saving sharks. Start by signing the AWARE petition to save sharks. Here’s why your signature and additional actions to protect sharks are so important: Nearly one out of five shark species is classified by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as Threatened with extinction. That doesn’t even include hundreds of species (almost half of all sharks) whose population status cannot be assessed because of lack of information. Scientists warn that, in actuality, a third of sharks might already be threatened. Why do we worry about shark populations? A healthy and abundant ocean depends on predators like sharks keeping ecosystems balanced. And living sharks fuel local economies in places like Palau where sharks bring in an estimated $18 million per year through dive tourism. They may rule the ocean, but sharks are vulnerable. They grow slowly, produce few young, and, as such, are exceptionally susceptible to overexploitation.

An act of selflessness for the greater good

As part of his internship program with Blue Season, McKenzie has led various Project AWARE cleanup events and is leading by example both underwater and top side.

No wonder why he immediately agreed to have his hairy body parts waxed as part of the main fundraiser events.

The left nipple and armpits raised over 1.000.000Rp and want out to group bids of 300.000Rp plus each while the nose for the "smiley face" on Mckenzie's belly fetched 150.000Rp. In total team Blue Season raised 2.362.300Rp + $11USD ($280) which will be donated to the Project AWARE Foundation and to help with their conservation efforts and the various projects the sponsor!

Congratulation team Blue Season on this great event and your dedication in the conservation of Planet Ocean and ongoing support of the various initiative from Project AWARE!