Marine Life & Conservation
Reef-World announces launch of the updated Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course
The Reef-World Foundation – international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – is pleased to announce the launch of the updated Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course: new contents in Green Fins’ free online course designed to teach dive professionals about the marine ecosystems in which they work and to help build on their existing scuba diving knowledge to conduct more environmentally friendly dives.
Diving-related damage to sensitive coral reefs remains an increasingly significant issue. According to the GCRMN’s The Sixth Status of Corals of the World: 2020 report, “reducing local pressures on coral reefs in order to maintain their resilience will be critical while global threats posed by climate change are addressed”. The Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course continues to equip dive professionals with the knowledge to manage this important issue.
Reef-World initially created the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course in 2019 with the support of Professional SCUBA Schools International (PSS) but since 2021, the course has been independently hosted on the Green Fins website. Reef-World created the course to enable individual dive professionals to be part of the Green Fins network without their operation being a Green Fins member. To date, the course has enrolled 1,827 dive guides and instructors who have learnt how to maximise their ability to influence diver behaviour and better manage their guests to prevent them from causing damage to marine life, notably coral reefs. The Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course is still the only environmentally accredited course for dive professionals to learn best environmental practice.
The updated course now has an extended marine biology section, including lessons about coral reefs and other marine ecosystems, the latest updates in marine conservation and environmental threats; and the actions to help prevent them. Upon completing the course, there is an option to pay $25 to receive a personalised electronic certificate. All funds will be used to support Green Fins’ work worldwide to make sustainable diving the social norm. Each certificate has a validity of two years to encourage dive professionals to remain educated with the latest information.
Reef-World recommends that dive professionals retake this course every two years in order to refresh their skills and stay up to date with the latest environmental and dive industry knowledge. Just like refreshing their safety skills, refresher courses help to keep important knowledge fresh and current. Those who have completed the course can display the certificate to inform their guests that the guide is aware of reducing the environmental impacts of diving, making divers more confident about the guide and centre’s standards.
This is the first update since the course’s inception in 2019, with Reef-World now planning to update the course content annually, whilst making minor modifications throughout the year to match dive and conservation industry news and incorporating feedback from dive professionals who have taken the course.
JJ Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “As global tourism slowly restarts, it’s crucial to stay up to date with the latest environmental knowledge. To protect coral reefs and minimise local threats to allow them to be more resilient and the chance to recover from other wider stressors effects such as climate change. Reef-World aims to continue providing dive professionals with the latest marine conservation and dive industry updates to help preserve the coral reef ecosystems, which many rely on for food, coastal protection, and income from tourism and fisheries.”
The Andrea Leeman Green Fins Dive Guide Scholarship Fund is still available for those who cannot afford the certificate personally or through their employers. This is funded purely from generous donations from the general public. Those that would like to support and sponsor a dive guide can do so by visiting: https://greenfins.net/sponsor-
Green Fins is the only internationally recognised environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators, established through a partnership between the UN Environment Programme and The Reef-World Foundation. Green Fins uses a unique and proven three-pronged approach; green certifications of dive centres, strengthening regulations and environmental education for dive staff, divers and government.
For more information, or to sign up for the Green Fins Dive Guide e-Course, please visit: https://greenfins.net/green-
Into the Great Wide Ocean: Life in the Least Known Habitat on Earth by Sonke Johnsen
What an unexpected surprise! A book that combines a clear passion for the ocean with humour and the deft touch of a true storyteller. Johnsen gives a wonderful insight into the life of a deep sea marine biologist , the weird and wonderful animals encountered in this mysterious world, the trials and tribulations, in a way that makes you feel you have been sat at a table chatting about his work over a pint or cup of tea.
Even for divers, the deep blue open ocean can feel inaccessible. It is one of the least studied places in the universe. In this book that deep blue ocean and its inhabitants is brought to you with warmth and wit. And even the most well-read will come away with new facts and information. Johnsen’s goal is one that resonates throughout: Before we as scientists can ask people to preserve this important and fragile habitat, we need to show them that it’s there and the beauty of what lives in it. He does just that.
This is a book that combines the scientific with a deeply personal story. You feel what it is like to work out in the open ocean and get to know the animals that reside there. With descriptions that allow you to really imagine what it feels like being out there in the blue.
What the publisher says:
The open ocean, far from the shore and miles above the seafloor, is a vast and formidable habitat that is home to the most abundant life on our planet, from giant squid and jellyfish to anglerfish with bioluminescent lures that draw prey into their toothy mouths. Into the Great Wide Ocean takes readers inside the peculiar world of the seagoing scientists who are providing tantalizing new insights into how the animals of the open ocean solve the problems of their existence.
Sönke Johnsen vividly describes how life in the water column of the open sea contends with a host of environmental challenges, such as gravity, movement, the absence of light, pressure that could crush a truck, catching food while not becoming food, finding a mate, raising young, and forming communities. He interweaves stories about the joys and hardships of the scientists who explore this beautiful and mysterious realm, which is under threat from human activity and rapidly changing before our eyes.
Into the Great Wide Ocean presents the sea and its inhabitants as you have never seen them before and reminds us that the rules of survival in the open ocean, though they may seem strange to us, are the primary rules of life on Earth.
About the Author:
Sönke Johnsen is professor of biology at Duke University. He is the author of The Optics of Life: A Biologist’s Guide to Light in Nature and the coauthor of Visual Ecology (both Princeton). Marlin Peterson, who created original illustrations for this book, is an illustrator and muralist who teaches and illustrates in many styles and media. He also specializes in giant optical illusions such as his harvestmen mural below the Space Needle in Seattle, and his full portfolio can be found at marlinpeterson.com.
Book Details
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Hardcover
Price: £20.00
ISBN: 9780691181745
Published: 7th January, 2025
This week only – your donation to the Shark Trust will be doubled – at no extra cost to you!
This week only – your donation to the Shark Trust will be doubled – at no extra cost to you!The Shark Trust are raising vital funds for their Community Engagement Programme: empowering people to learn about sharks and rays, assisting the scientific community take action for elasmobranchs, and bring communities together to become ambassadors for change.
Every £1 you give = £2 for shark conservation. A donation of £10 becomes £20, £50 becomes £100! Help us reach our target of £10,000, if successful, this will be doubled to £20,000 by the Big Give.
Every donation makes DOUBLE the impact!
Monty Halls is backing this week of fundraising “Cousteau called sharks the “splendid savage of the sea”, and even through the more benign lens of modern shark interactions it remains a good description. The reefs I dived thirty years ago teemed with sharks, the perfect result of 450 million years of evolution. Today those same reefs are silent, the blue water empty of those elegant shadows. But hope remains that if one generation has created such devastation, so the next can reverse the damage that has been done. The Shark Trust are at the forefront of that fight.“
To find out more about the work of the Shark Trust visit their website here.
Blogs2 months agoGO Diving Show 2025: The Monster Mark Evans Created (And Why the Industry Loves It)
- Marine Life & Conservation2 months ago
ARC marine Celebrates “Commended” Award at Underwater Photographer of the Year with reef cube image
- News2 months ago
Humpback Mother and Calf Win Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025
- News2 months ago
Go Diving Show 2025 Exhibitor Showcase
- News3 months ago
Book Review: Amazing Diving Stories by John Bantin
- News3 months ago
Filming 360 in The Bahamas
- Gear News2 months ago
Poseidon Diving Systems Announces New UK Distribution Model
- Gear Reviews2 months ago
Gear Review: Insta360 Ace Pro2 (Watch Video)
