Downbelow found and removed another illegal fishing net in the TAR Park, marking the second net to be removed this month.

Our dive crew discovered the gill net heavily entangled on Ribbon Reef, one of the nicer reefs in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, which lies just ten minutes of the coast of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

As one of the healthiest reefs in the park, Downbelow's Net Removal Team was compelled to act swiftly.

A net removal crew was rapidly assembled from Downbelow's island crew, and Professional Scuba Intern and IDC Candidate Shevy was appointed to give the dive briefing, gaining valuable net removal experience that will undoubtedly be useful in his future professional diving career.

This net removal was a particularly difficult mission, requiring multiple dives due to the slow and careful method required to remove the net from the delicate, healthy corals.

The team triumphed in the end and managed to remove another net menance from the park, saving a valuable reef.

The net, in an ironic twist, lives on.  

After the removal the crew recycled the net and made net-bags out of it, which will be used for marine debris and rubbish collections during future Project AWARE events.