Blue Ventures, a marine conservation organisation committed to protecting marine biodiversity and rebuilding tropical fisheries with coastal communities, is now a proud 100% AWARE Partner.

As a 100% AWARE Partner, Blue Ventures joins a global army of ocean stewards supporting a clean and healthy ocean. The new partnership means that Blue Ventures will make a donation to Project AWARE® on behalf of every volunteer that learns to dive on a Blue Ventures expedition.

What impact will the partnership have?

The donations contributed by Blue Ventures will support our two main programs. Firstly, our Clean Ocean programme, which involves collecting data and removing debris while supporting policy efforts to address long-term solutions to the global marine debris crisis. Secondly, our Healthy Ocean programme which currently focuses on safeguarding some of the world’s most vulnerable shark and ray species through stopping overfishing and advocating for science-based conservation measures.

Aside from these donations, the overarching aim of the partnership is to raise awareness of the importance of marine protection amongst those who spend time directly within the precious underwater environment – scuba divers. For Blue Ventures, this means ensuring that volunteers on their award-winning expeditions carry Project AWARE’s philosophy and practices with them in their future diving and ocean exploration endeavours. All Blue Ventures’ volunteers undertaking a PADI® scuba diver training course as part of an expedition will now receive a Project AWARE Limited Edition PADI® diver certification card, reminding them of their ongoing responsibility and commitment to protecting marine environments when diving around the world.

To further the partnership, Blue Ventures is also committed to implementing our flagship citizen-science programme Dive Against Debris® across their expedition sites, namely Madagascar, Belize and Timor-Leste.

In addition to research dives, Blue Ventures expedition volunteers will also take part in debris data collection surveys which serve a dual purpose of improving the health of underwater ecosystems by removing harmful debris, whilst also logging data about trash in the ocean to affect policy change. As the data is collected, Blue Ventures’ dive sites will appear on the Dive Against Debris map, forming pieces of a global puzzle that highlights the pressing need to stop the Ugly Journey of our Trash at the source.

Blue Ventures’ commitment to the 100% AWARE program demonstrates to their expedition volunteers, learning to dive as part of the experience, the importance of making their scuba diving adventures count for global ocean conservation,

says Danna Moore, Project AWARE Global Operations Director.

We welcome Blue Ventures’ initiative to add Dive Against Debris® to the underwater citizen science activities that expedition volunteers can participate in. Marine debris data collected by Blue Ventures volunteers will go a long way towards filling a data gap and building a skilled army of debris activists.

Why Blue Ventures?

Blue Ventures shares Project AWARE’s belief in the power of collaborative partnerships, particularly when both partners are working towards a similar goal – to look after the marine environment and to be sustainable in the ways in which we achieve this.

No matter where in the world, diving provides a precious opportunity to monitor and gather data about ocean health. Project AWARE’s mission embodies this opportunity, utilizing scuba divers as ocean ambassadors and making ‘every dive a survey dive’. As a marine conservation charity whose volunteers spend a lot of time beneath the surface, Blue Ventures shares this belief in the importance of diving with purpose.

Blue Ventures expeditions offer unforgettable diving experiences in some of the world’s most biodiverse hotspots. All volunteers are trained to PADI® Advanced Open Water (AOW) or equivalent, with others continuing their dive training on-site to reach up to professional PADI Divemaster level. This enables them to play a crucial role in Blue Ventures’ marine conservation mission by participating in underwater surveys and contributing to vital scientific research every time they dive.

Sarah Harris, Head of Operations for Blue Ventures Expeditions said,

Our organizations share a passion for preserving the ocean’s interconnected ecosystems for future generations. Blue Ventures and Project AWARE’s partnership makes sense, we both use data to drive forward global marine conservation efforts and want those who love the ocean to take an active role in stewarding its survival.

Both Blue Ventures and Project AWARE are organizations that understand the benefits of using rigorous scientific data to inform conservation goals. Blue Ventures trains grassroots communities to record, share and use data on their fisheries to increase their visibility in national decision-making. Project AWARE’s global Dive Against Debris community which is over 50,000 strong, has been removing, mapping and analyzing ocean plastic in over 114 countries since 2011.

As the first NGO to become a 100% AWARE Partner, we are very excited to welcome Blue Ventures to our partnership program. Together, we are taking 100% AWARE to a whole new level. With a shared hands-on approach to marine conservation, we are not only raising vital funds for global ocean protection efforts but using the power of underwater citizen science activities to leverage policy change for both people and our blue planet.

If you’re interested in joining a Blue Ventures marine conservation expedition you can find out more here. Or you can download a volunteer guide for an in-depth overview of what to expect as a Blue Ventures marine conservation volunteer.

Dive into the 100% AWARE map for more information about joining the 100% AWARE program or diving with a 100% AWARE partner.