In this week’s Community Spotlight, Project AWARE catches up with Vanessa Lill, a scuba instructor and AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Specialty teacher in Gili Islands, Indonesia.

How did you get involved in scuba diving and ocean protection?

My path to scuba diving was pure chance, fate and luck! I was traveling through Indonesia in 2006 when a friend suggested I try diving. I did a “Discover Scuba Diving” course for beginners and was HOOKED from dive one…I KNEW this was how I was going to spend my life! I worked my way up in scuba training until I became a dive instructor.

Early on, it became clear to me that with the joy of being a scuba instructor came a huge responsibility to help to protect our ocean planet, aka my ‘office.’ For me, that begins with education. We can’t expect people to care and take action to protect the ocean before they truly understand what’s at stake.

You teach the AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Specialty Course in Indonesia. Tell us about your interest in sharks and why you decided to teach divers about their conservation.

From the first time I saw a shark underwater during my open water scuba course in the Gili Islands, I have had a huge love and respect for sharks. They are a perfectly evolved creature, around since long before the dinosaurs. It deeply saddened me that in just the last 20-30 years they have become an endangered species as a result of human impacts.

Working in Indonesia, the world’s largest supplier of shark fins, it’s a very real issue to me. So I jumped at the chance to teach the AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Specialty Course and help spread the word. I love that the course is not all ‘doom and gloom.’ While the curriculum does thoroughly discuss threats to species survival, it also focuses on the positive actions divers can take for shark protection. It shows that change is possible and we can all make a difference!

Tell us about your most recent experience teaching dive students the AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Specialty Course.

Just this past summer, I certified five new Shark Conservation divers at Lutwala Dive in Gili, Trawangan. My students absolutely loved the course! They learned a lot and felt inspired to take action.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Project AWARE dive community?

It is beyond important that we all join together to take action to protect shark populations and our ocean environments. Not only is it 100% ESSENTIAL to sharks’ survival, it’s equally important to our own survival. I encourage everyone to get involved… Don’t feel the issue is too big and overwhelming to tackle! Sign a petition, make smart consumer choices, use less plastic….it ALL HELPS!!!!

Project AWARE’s shark conservation efforts wouldn’t be possible without the support of our intelligent and committed shark conservation scuba instructors around the world. Want to get involved? Teach or take the AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Specialty Course.