Illegally dumped fishing nets are appearing ‘thick and fast’ on the tropical reefs of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, but our team of PADI professionals are rescuing marine life with safety-oriented efficiency!

During a dive to complete the performance requirements of the PADI Digital Underwater Photography Specialty, students of the course from local educational organization SEASFiRE were led by our resident Platinum PADI Course Director, and came across the 50-metre long ‘ghost net’.

Once again, it was another net with buoyant markers, which cause the net to rise in the water column. The only benefit to that is the ease with which our Go PRO divers are able to remove it from the reef. However, it is debilitating to the freely swimming fish species of whose population in the local area will decrease as a result!

The student divers completed their safety stop for their dive with one of Richard’s local Go PRO interns Azhar and safely boarded the dive boat at the surface. Azhar returned to assist his peer Mac, SEASFiRE founder Andrew Keogh and his mentor PADI Instructor Trainer Richard to safely surface the ball of fishing net.

To witness and participate in such a challenging underwater activity for our visitors from SEASFiRE is very encouraging for them to offer practical contribution to environmental health. With more experience, our student divers will be getting directly involved in marine conservation projects in their future visits to our premier PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre on Gaya Island!