Did you know the Red Sea is home to 1,200 different fish species with an estimated 15% found only in this region?  Despite this, it is one of the most understudied bodies of water in the world. As a member of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), we’ve developed the Citizen Science Fish Surveying Program to give divers visiting the region an opportunity to make a difference with their dives.

This program uses a combination of marine identification forums, observational fun dives, and official fish survey dives to help certified divers become citizen scientists and contribute biodiversity data to the scientific community.

COURSE OVERVIEW – 3 Days, 6 Dives

• attend a series of classroom presentations introducing you to approximately 50 unique fish species
• go for 4x fun dives to find and identify fish discussed in the classroom presentations
• learn and implement the Roving Diver Method for surveying
• conduct at least 2x official Red Sea fish surveys for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation
• submit biodiversity data and provide valid scientific information to researchers, scientists, and fellow conservationists
• become a citizen scientist and be able to plan, organize, and conduct your own fish surveys for REEF anywhere in the world

For those who enjoy the course and have more time, there is the option to continue onto the 2-day Advanced Fish Survey Course immediately after from 9 – 10 August. Full details on both programs can be found here.