Dahab Reef Monitoring Project 2012

Coral Reef Conservation at the Red Sea

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Dates:

1.3. - 5.4.2012

6.9. - 11.10.2012

(Date = arrival date, training starts usually one day later)

Introduction
In cooperation with REEF CHECK Europe, the Red Sea Environmental Centre (RSEC) in Dahab, South Sinai, initiated a reef monitoring programme with approval from the National Parks' authority (Nature Conservation Sector / Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency). The RSEC in Dahab has designed a reef-monitoring programme based on an extension of the standard Reef Check procedure. The aim of the extended Protocol is to provide more well defined data describing the status of coral reef health with respect to anthropogenic and natural impacts.

Team size
The Dahab Reef Monitoring needs a team of at least 8 volunteers for adequate implementation.  An assemblage of 2 teams of 8 volunteers each would be preferable.

Eligibility
Members of the Dahab Reef Monitoring Team should meet the following requirements:

Diving experience:

• Minimum certification of Advanced Open Water brevets or equivalent from renowned diving associations (e.g. CMAS, SSI, PADI) is recommended
• Minimum number of 25 logged dives is recommended

Desired biological experience:

• Advanced student in biology, or
• Master degree in biology, or
• Divemaster or dive instructor well familiarized with reef biology and ecology
• Having participated in Reef Check surveys (or other ecological surveys) earlier
• Reef Check EcoDiver is required *

* For all participants the Reef Check EcoDiver Specialty Training is required.

Costs
5 Weeks – incl. accommodation, 40 dives, training, airport shuttles and 1 boat trips 930*,- € per Person

*Price is excluding diving equipment! You can rent full dive equipment (except dive computer) for 5 € (+10 % sales tax) per dive at Sinai Divers Backpackers.

Application procedure
Please send a short e-mail with CV to christian.alter(at)redsea-ec.org. We will send you confirmation and invoice as soon as possible.

Dahab Reef Monitoring 2012-I: Bulletin 1

Since 10. March our team (Nik Petschko, Gwen Schumacher, Sophie Schmitter und Corinne L´Eplattenier) has been instructed by fieldstation manager Nina Milton (thanks Nina for the huge support!!!) how to do Reef Monitorings properly. It was pretty challenging for us laypersons to learn about all the indicators and substrates including the hand signals, but it was great fun :) Since last Monday we already completed three surveys at Rick´s Reef, Moray Garden and Blue Hole, which took us six dives in total. Our goal is to monitor the health of the reef and to recognise unhealthy trends at an early stage. For the survey we split up in buddy teams and collect data about fishes, invertebrates, substrates and trash on the reef. The data is collected in a belt transect of 4x20m on 10m depth. Thereby a balanced buoyancy and a certain amount of flexibility, as example for diving upside down, is very important. RSEC-assistant Abby Stevens tried to teach us these skills in three buoyancy dives last week ;) These trainings opened up completely new vistas in diving to us. Our today-highlight was when we detected a humphead wrasse at Blue Hole :) Now we are looking forward to the next days, which will certainly be at least as exciting as the previous!

Dahab Reef Monitoring 2011 - the last week in Dahab

We finished the last week of the Dahab Reef Monitoring program and most of us are back in Germany. We still had a few survey sites left, for example in Gabr-el-Bint, which means that we did our second boat trip. For many people Gabr-el-Bint is one of the most beautiful dive sites around Dahab because there you have a sandy lagoon, an amazing reef and a steep  wall. Also there aren’t so many divers. One day of week 6 we spent in the protected area of Nabq, which has many different habitats. Chris told us about the mangrove, the wadi and the sand dune and we also discovered the mangrove by snorkeling. The highlight of this week was the fluorescence-nightdive. Equipped with a light filter for our mask and a blue-light torch we dived   Bannerfish Bay with Abby. It was an amazing experience!

The last days were also a little bit stressful because we had to finish the analysis of our data but we managed it. On the last official evening we presented our results and we obtained our Eco-Diver certificate. To celebrate our last days together we went to the Tree Bar where we had a really nice evening. After this we had to say goodbye to Diana, Clarissa, Joschka, Nele and Luisa. It was a strange feeling after living and working together for such a long time.
I think everybody agree with me when I say that the time in Dahab was full of great and unforgettable moments.
Maybe we will be back again in Dahab. We hope so!

Dahab Reef Monitoring 2011 - Week 4 & 5

Although there were still 2 weeks to go it felt like the project would be over very soon. Because some of us had more dives than the others it was a little complicated to plan the surveys. But besides the surveys there was plenty of work to do outside the water anyways. On Saturday the 17th of September we joined the International Clean Up Day to clean the beaches of Dahab from all the rubbish. Dive Centers and locals were informed about the upcoming event a week before and so we hoped to see a lot of them helping us. Motivated and equipped with trash bags and gloves, we splitted into two groups and started to clean the beach at Lighthouse and also at Mashraba Bay. We were very happy to see that some of the locals decided to grab gloves and join us, although there could have been a lot more. Nevertheless we managed to collect a lot of trash. Maybe the locals will understand soon how important it is to keep the beaches and the water clean, also for their own good. There was especially one survey in week 5 everyone was looking forward to – Blue Hole. Of course, you can`t compare a survey with a fun dive, but nevertheless it was a great experience to dive along the wall with nothing but blue underneath your feet. On this week’s day off some of us decided to climb the famous Mount Sinai to watch the sunrise. After a 2 hour drive we finally arrived at the mountain at about 01:30 in the night. From there it was just a 2 ½ hour walk to the top of the mountain. If you can ignore the masses of tourists walking in a row and if you don`t mind feeling like a camel being pushed up the hill by your guide, it is a really great experience to watch the sunrise up there. On our way down we also visited the St. Catherine’s which is built on the exact same place where the “burning bush” has been.
The tasks for the next week will be to finish the surveys and do all the office work that needs to be done. But we are also looking forward to our second boat trip to Gabr-el-Bint and a trip to the Nabq protectorate to see the mangroves and the Arak dunes.

Dahab Reef Monitoring 2011: Report for week 3
Surveys
We spent the third week carrying out surveys in Ricks Reef, Lighthouse, Moray Garden and Abu Helal collecting satisfying results and enjoying the diversity of underwater life. Especially in Abu Helal the view was breathtaking and we saw an incredible amount of farmer fish.

Office work
During the surveys we took overview pictures documenting the transect lines. These pictures needed to be corrected and sharpened due to the colour change under water and assembled in their right order.  Working on them using Adobe Photoshop took us a lot of time, especially the saving process.

Clean up dive & planned beach clean up
We spent two days collecting rubbish underwater in order to protect animals and especially corals from damage. These dives were not only useful for marine life but it was also an amazing experience as we encountered a huge turtle having its lunch in the bay. It did not care about our group approaching so Kathi was able to take awesome photos. Finally, it floated gently to the surface. We left the water carrying huge trash bags. But not only marine life needs to be protected from pollution, cleaning the beaches of Dahab is equally important. Due to this necessity we started planning a beach cleanup event for the 17th of September joining the worldwide beach cleanup day, inviting tourists and locals to participate.

Free time activities
On our day off our group was divided in two: The majority went for a dive to the Islands and was overwhelmed by the size of porites corals. The minority enjoyed a wonderful trip to the Coloured Canyon getting to know the desert side of Egypt. Not only our day off was used for group activities: On Tuesday the whole team went  to the Tree Bar for a farewell party since our Greek team member Sophia is going to leave on Monday L
All in all we had a lovely and successful week with loads of sunshine.

Week 7 bulletin - The End

Monday 13.09.2010
After the nice trip to Ras Mohammed and Ras Umm Sid, we had to do another Survey. The way led us to the south, where in the morning the 5 m transect in Umm Sid was done. The wind was very strong for the last days and therefore it was a very hard work we did on the 5 m. This was the reason why we decided to cancel the 5m survey in Southern Oasis and to go to the Caves and cut out fishing lines instead. At this dive site you have to jump into the water from the steep edge, which makes the exit more difficult. Under water it became clear that the clean up was necessary; a coral block on 20 m  was full of fishing lines. After a while of cutting fishing lines we discovered the beautiful caves. On the ceilings were a lot of sponges and black corals growing.

Tuesday 14.09.2010
This time Christian wanted to do the 10 m transect in Abu Helal...but as it was usual the last days the wind was too strong and the waves were too high. When there is a high wave action the entry and exit is almost life threatening for the divers and for the corals growing there for sure. After a short consultation, we decided to go to Blue hole instead. On the saddle of the Blue hole Christian found some corals, which were eaten by the Crown-of-Thorns-Starfish and he signalled us to look for the starfish, but we didn’t find it.
In the evening we had our big Good-Bye-Party, where we had some presentations on our data we collected during the project, we got our certificates and had our following party.

Wednesday 15.09.2010
This was the last day for most of us and we had to be in the Office at around 11 am. We went all together to the Yalla for having breakfast. The data were checked and the things were packed and in the evening was the big good-bye.

Thursday 16.09.2010
Official end of the Dahab Reef Monitoring & Reef Conservation Project
While most of the volunteers were leaving a small group went with Nina, Lydia and Steffi with the boat to Gabr el Bint.

Bye Bye and Auf Wiedersehen, see us next year.

Text: Christina Hörterer

Week 6 bulletin – last days of the DRM 2010 (by Sahil Puri)
Sunday 5.9.2010
On this particular day it was time for the “Thistlegorm”. The Thistlegorm was an English warship which was sunk in 1941 by a German Bomber near the entrance of the Gulf of Suez. The famous Jacque Cousteau has rediscovered this ship for the modern sport divers and so we can now enjoy it down on 30m. Down there one can admire lots of interesting stuff such as army rubber boots, motor bikes and air defence canons including old bombs. Two dives were planned for this wrack. We were supervised by some beautiful red soldier fish looking at us with their huge eyes through the light beam of our diving lamps. The third dive was reserved for the Shark-& Yolanda Reef located at the Ras Mohamed National park. The wrack of the sunken Yolanda was dashed down to 600m depth in the meanwhile. It carried cargo items such as toilets which were distributed all over the bottom ground of the Reef flat. Beside these objects we could admire 3 huge Napoleons, 2 Stonefish, 2 Crocodile fish with their amazing camouflage techniques, 9 Moray eels and two blue spot sting rays chilling in the sandy ground. As we returned to our base camp at night we could say Hi to a just freshly landed Diploma student from Germany. His aim of his stay will be to learn more about the ecology of so called Vermetides (Vermetidae or Wormshells).

Monday 6.9.2010
Today we visited the famous coloured- and white canyons with a tour guide who helped us with one of our beach-clean-ups. They are located in northern Dahab next to a city named Nuweiba. With us on the tour was a lovely Iranian guy holding a Swedish passport with which one could enjoy a lovely round of Back Gammon in the evening to finish off the day with a chilled out activity. Two of our Swiss volunteers had to stay back with ear problems, colds, etc. for several days and had therefore no chance to dive. Instead they were enjoying some nice Antibiotic drops.

Tuesday 7.9.2010
Today we had a survey at the dive spot Islands North on 15m depth. Again there was a strong current and so we had to calculate enough air for diving all the way back from the survey sight against the current. During the survey we were visited by a giant turtle and could watch it from short distance while it was feeding on several algae species. Additionally there was new stuff to learn about. Some people imagined to have seen a black band disease (coral disease) but it rather turned out that this was a normal warzone between two hard coral species (incrusting and porites columnar) which were involved in a chemical war to win territory. Back on land the last ID-tests were carried out for some freshly arrived volunteers. Congratulations go out to Steffi and Nicole. At night there was a fluorescence dive at Banner fish Bay including Stone fish and fire worm.

Wednesday 8.9.2010
This day was more or less carried out in the “dry” office. Office day, yeah! With cleaning utensils and improvised cleaning instruments we gave back the glory and shining look to our yard. After the floor soaked up all the water, we were able to start working on the transect images in Photoshop. Parallel to this great procedure the second group was on the way to the Nabq national park to admire the mangroves and the halophytic plants there. Meanwhile Christian (the Boss) got a phone call from Australia about our rescue operation of the small Turtle Nessaja. The call came from a well-known activist who used to live in Dahab for years. He had analysed our pictures and found out that something was wrong. With his hint and with counting the head-plates again, we found out that the small turtle was not a “Hawksbill”, but a “Loggerhead”. Loggerhead turtles are pretty rare here in this region.

Thursday 9.9.2010
Clean Up day...and action! The same procedure as every Thursday. We hang up the “Clean Up”-Sign at our terrace and the Clean Up-Box was prepared. At the last beach Clean up an employee of the “Lazy Camel“ restaurant had promised us two Pick Up’s, but as everyone knows, a good plan is no plan, so the Jeeps were not available. “No problem, next time” we thought. The last time the Seven Heaven Dive Center had promised us free dives, while they were cheering at us and thanking for our work. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get our free dives, because we had a lot to do during our Reef Conservation Project. The first thing we did on this day was the under-water-clean-up at Bannerfish Bay. In the afternoon before the beach-clean-up we had another mission. At Bannerfish Bay was a beautiful bubble coral, which had broken into pieces a few weeks ago. Several pieces were lying in the sand. We went under water to fix it and tried to recreate the habitat it had been offering to so many fish and other animals. In a group of five helpers we tried to put it piece by piece together again like a puzzle. The mission was successful. Afterwards we made our beach clean up before we went to have dinner, while the Ramadan came slowly to an end.

Friday 10.9.2010
A survey in Abu Helal was planned. The dive site was to all of us (nearly all of us) completely new. Abu Helal is in the north of Dahab, right before the Canyon dive site. The wave action was very high at this morning. The forecast of “windguru” failed – again. The author of this article wasn’t lucky at all. His O-ring of the regulator got broken and the spare stuff was defect as well, so the dive was cancelled for him. BUT, what a surprise, there was enough work on the beach. Equipped with a rubbish bag and a rubber glove the prevented diver went along the beach, while the others were in the cool water. At least he was accompanied by a desiccated blue spotted stingray and a spotted Eel.

Saturday 11.9.2010
Day off

Sunday 12.9.2010
After a day of relaxing we went on the desperately desired Trip to Ras Mohamed. Three dives, two at Shark- and Yolanda Reef and one at Ras Ghozlani, were planned. But after the first dive there were some complications with one of the tanks and a little mass panic broke out. Because of this we had to go back to Sharm el Sheikh to exchange all tanks. Therefore we had to cancel one dive and went to Ras Umm Sid. Here we recognized that some snorkelers were standing on the reef table right in front of the hotels. After a short discussion that they should not be standing on the corals, we were able to start our last dive. Ras Mohammed was a very nice place for diving except for all the noises made by the ships’ motors.

Dahab - Week 5
Week five in Dahab containes a lot of different mottos: Thrill in Tiran, Romance in the desert by night, fun in the waves in front of Ras Abu Galum and of course the surveys. Some brave participants made out to watch out in the deep of Tiran for hammerhead sharks, which stay there between may and September. Previously the others had a lot of fun to tell them legends about the meetings between divers and sharks. So they narrated of aggressive sharks or they imagined how to behave, if you are circuit by a swarm. That this is not really realistic was clear for everybody but it was fun anyway. But some of us were really lucky, they saw sharks, but most of them were far away. Anyway all the members enjoyed the dive in the deep, blue water, because it felt like flying and some did a very nice water dance like Susi-I remember :-)))
A spirit completely different was while we did our desert excursion. The mystic atmosphere during the Bedouin dinner leads to a rare, devotional calmness. We all liked the flickering light of the campfire, the starry night, the sweet flavor of the Bedouin tee and the tasty food and dreamed of life in the desert. Some of us climbed a small mountain next to the camp. With the coming down Martin w as very creative, he used his flip flops to surf down the mountain. The search for the mars brought us in the desert again. So in this night we should see the mars next to the moon. The intense stare to the beautiful sky - we could not see the mars - made us so tired, that after one hour more or less half of the group felt in a sleep.

Our third boat-trip brought us - finally - to Ras Abu Galum, famous for its unique coral reef and steep face. Before we could enjoy this, we had to pass the two hour trip with the boat, which went through big wave crests. So the trip, especially in the front of the boat was more like a wet rollercoaster. So the entry in the water was delicate, because the boat was swinging, that two of us - ready to dive - nearly flew of the ship. But the beautiful underwater world compensated the strains.    

   
We did the surveys at known and not known dive sites like Um Sid, Moray Garden, the canyon and Southern Oasis. In nearly every trip was a small highlight: attacks of small cleaner wrasses, who did not only clean mouth and ears, the bit the anguished divers also in the legs, a huge one meter big grouper, who did not like the moving around a so he did a big bite in the transect line, or an octopus, who cowered under a coral and thought that we did not see it.

Hope a lot more of those experiences will wait for us!!!  

Text: Nina Liebrecht

Photos: Christian Alter & Volunteers

Week 4 bulletin - Profit and Loss at RSEC

The Austrian Team’s score is 2:1 – after the substrate-dreamteam Verena and Gerald has been replaced by Newbie Stefanie, who however has to pass lots of exams in order to obtain a similar status. Germany is happily superior in numbers now, thanks to Nicole. Rubina, the Drupella-Whisperer, leaving way too early, has turned the Swiss into a sad minority.

Last but not least, Dr. Moshira Hassan, our beloved German/Egyptian marine biologist.. Wait, stop, until now, we can’t find the words to describe her departure. She spontaneously took over the supervision of the volunteer-family because Daddy Christian left for Reef Check work in Safaga. Putting heart and soul into our trainings and surveys, and of course because of her amazing knowledge of the marine flora and fauna, our underwater performance improved a lot. Questions have been discussed as well as coral feeding snails despite their perfect camouflage and feeding scars of the Crown of Thorns been spied.

Also on land Moshiras and our interest in the wonders of nature knows no bounderies. That’s why some of us took the chance to go to Nabq with Moshira, learning about the deserts flora and enjoying a unique snorkelling trip in the mangroves of the Nationalpark.

All in all, we will miss Moshira’s enthusiasm, but we totally got infected with it. As well as the many beduines who helped us with cleaning up the beaches around the divesite Blue Hole and laughed with us while drinking tea. 

Despite of goodbye tears it still was a beautiful week!!

Text: Sofia van Moorsel / Edith Heinrich

Week 3 bulletin. Happy faces!! The surveys are running pretty well in the meantime – after the daily group assignment and the essential buddy check we are rushing into the water, well knowing where the bottles are stored and what to do under water. The data is collected within one dive and absolutely useable. But that's not the only reason for high spirits. The end of lectures and open questions provides the opportunity to use the spare time for activities off the timetable. Nightdiving at the so called Lighthouse is only one of the possibilities. Even if the spot is one of the most crowded one's around Dahab, it shows unseen beauty by night. Spanish dancer, colourchanging octopus, hundreds of red eyes leading you to crabs and shrimps hiding in the corals, featherstars and moving sea urchins are the faunal highlights of the week.

The Ghazala VI - not a gazelle of course, otherwise we're back in the world of animals – the Sinai Divers Backpackers boat took us to one of the best spots the Sinai offers. Gabr El Bint has the most amazing live coral coverage we have seen and examined so far even though it´s not an insider´s tip at all. Apart from that we enjoyed the boat trip in total. Taking a nap or reading on the sundeck, jumping off the boat, snorkeling and, my compliments to the cook, a wonderful lunch.

For the ones interested in culture and hiking there was another major event this week. About 3000 steps led them up to 2200m, to the top of the Mount Sinai to watch the sun rise. Covered in warm clothes and tired after a sleepless night, even the most exhausted ones knew why they hiked up the mountain. Visiting St. Katherine's Monastery and other famous holy sites made them even forget about paying 5 Egyptian Pound per pee.

More about hours of cutting and editing pictures, data input and analysis, report writing and so on, probably next time.. - the mood is just to good at the moment!!

Text: Edith Heinrich

Pictures: Nina Milton & Volunteers 

Week 1 bulletin (30.-7.8.2010) from the Coral Reef Monitoring Camp in Dahab, Egypt.
Allah Akbar…every day we can hear the calls for the prayers from several Mosques behind our Camp office terrace. It still seems to be a great mystery for us volunteers why the ancient people of Egypt worshiped the sun. Even though we do have some cooling winds, the average temperature of 40°C is exhausting. One day we actually measured 49°C in the shadow. But, thank god, this is not the normal temperature here. Sometimes at night it gets even warmer than during the day when there is a sudden wind breakdown. In those moments we would really love to have air condition in our rooms. Already after the first two days we also had some people with stomach problems, which were probably caused by salad and ice cubes inside the soft drinks. And now a few words about the dives and our actual work.    
Everybody completed the first training dives successfully. As preparation for the actual work each one of us had to learn all the fish, invertebrate, coral and substrate ID’s on the roof of the Sinai Divers Station in our cozy class room. The actual goal is that we are able to differentiate indicator organisms from all the other beautiful creatures on the reef, within the upcoming week. This is a rather challenging task, considering the great biodiversity in the Red Sea. However, while walking past all the restaurants in the evening, sadly, one can see a lot of the indicator fishes and invertebrates lying on ice, which we can hardly find anymore in their natural habitat beneath the ocean surface. To be able to discuss the different species underwater, we had to learn and memorize our own sign language with specific hand signals for all the organisms. We even had to learn some special Latin and biologically relevant words. As already mentioned it is quite difficult to use all the acquired knowledge with all the fascinating beauty of the underwater fauna.  
Since all of the 17 volunteers received their own RSEC uniforms (t-shirts) all of us have been moving like an organized fish swarm between the restaurants and shops as a united “coral reef army”. Every now and then we dive into local supermarkets to save some money. However, as usually here in Dahab, we can observe extreme daily fluctuations of prices (obviously it depends weather you are a tourist or not). Now each of us only has to pass the final exams about ID’s and then we can get started with the surveys. Everyone is looking forward to start the actual work, because we all have a common dream and goal: saving this wonderful and valuable ecosystem.

Text: Sahil Puri

Photos: Christian Alter

Fishing net Assalah Beach

On September 20 th  2009, thirteen divers went to Assalah beach. A specific task was on the days agenda. Jessica of DESC volunteer ranger in Dahab, and some volunteers from the Red Sea Environmental Centre went out to free a certain area from several abandoned fishing nets that were covering significant parts of the reef and corals. Moreover, fishing nets can also be a threat to marine life, as fish or turtles can end up in the nets and eventually die. Jessica, who discovered the net a few days ago, realised that it was impossible to cut out the nets snorkelling. Hence, she asked RSEC and some volunteers for help.

Arriving at the dive site, it became obvious that the entrance is not going to be easy. Nevertheless, shallow water and a fairly choppy sea couldn't stop the volunteers from diving. Lacking a proper entrance, the volunteers had to find their own way to get over the reef flat. First and foremost, everybody had to watch out for the corals underneath, as nobody wanted to cause any damage to them. This factor certainly hampered the project, however, after a while everybody got in safe and sound.

The divers discovered a twofold situation. On the one hand, the reef was in a well good condition and a lot of fish accompanied the team during the dive. Due to the fact that not many divers or snorkellers have been to this part of the bay, e.g. the amount of broken corals was significantly less concerning than in Bannerfish Bay or Lighthouse. Schools of barracudas, unicorn fish, snappers and many rudderfish observed the 'operation'. On the other hand, there were more fishing nets found than expected. As already mentioned, these nets can be a serious threat to the marine life. A few days earlier, a turtle's corpse was found at Assalah beach and even though one can not be 100 per cent sure, this incident might well be related to the fishing nets. Turtles can either get stuck in those nets or careless fisherman catch turtles accidental and throw them away afterwards.
After an exhausting dive, lasting for more than 100 minutes, the team decided to come back the next day as so much more nets have to be removed. After all, the two days at Assalah beach were well worth the effort. The amount of fishing nets removed during the two dives was outstanding and everyone involved was satisfied with the outcome.    

        
Regarding the obvious threat those nets pose, it is of substantial relevance to propel the removal. Hence, it would be of much help if any nets found somewhere in the Dahab area, are reported to the RSEC. If reported, the RSEC can take appropriate measures to remove them immediately to prevent them from causing any further damage.  

Text: Sarah Schnurr & Jan Kliem

Photos: Nina Milton

Reef Check Survey at Nemo Reef

The Nemo Reef is a small fringing reef in Masbat Bay, situated at the central shore of Dahab, right in front of the Red Sea Environmental Centre. Due to its favourable position in Dahab and the easy access the bay offers, it is highly frequented by snorkelers. Furthermore, six restaurants are bordering directly to the shore. Consequentually, a high degree of anthropological influence to the reef seems to be inevitable. The aim of our survey at Nemo Reef was to record the biodiversity and the degree of coral damage of this site. This objecitve is predominant in each survey conducted as part of the Dahab Reef Monitoring, which is an extended Reef Check survey where several dive sites of Dahab are surveyed by a Reef Check team.

We recorded four types of data: Fish, Invertebrates and Trash, Coral Damage and Substrate. 
Only organisms which are indicators of overfishing, overharvesting and aquarium collection were considered. Three different transects that were positioned parallel to each other at a depth of approximately one to two meters were surveyed. We did the surveys on three days between the 4th and the 11th of September.

Indicator fish like Butterflyfish, Bluestreak cleaner wrasses, Surgeonfish and „Farmer fish“ were recorded. In addition, we found groupers up to a size of 30 cm.
 Notably, the number of Long spined sea urchins was striking: Both, in the inner and in the middle transect belt over 200 individuals per 20 meter segment were found, in the outer transect at least 100. Also Purple coral snails were overrepresented with numbers of 112 to 224 in the inner transect belt.
A high rate of predation was noticed, especially a notable amount of damage caused by Purple coral snails (Coralliophilia violacea), a small snail, usuallay found on Porites corals. There was also a high percentage of detached coral colonies or colonies with breakage.
Another noteworthy point is the hard coral coverage in the shallow area (inner transect belt), which is quite high. The rest of the substrate consists of algae, rock, rubble and sand.

One of the greatest threats to coral reefs is mass tourism. At the beginning of peak season, corals are exposed to high impact caused by snorkelers and swimmers, standing on the corals of the reeftop. Even in Nemo Reef we can find numerous traces of human impact. Besides human impact, also extraordinary amounts of urchins can devastate their environment, creating what biologists call an urchin barren, devoid of macroalgae and associated fauna (ref. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2007).
Another major issue at Nemo Reef are the restaurants along the beach. Some are fishing occasionally, hence causing damage to the reef. We found numerous fishing lines and fishing nets that covered and killed a lot of corals in the reef. Many of these fishing lines and nets have already been removed  during several underwater clean-up dives by volunteers from the RSEC.

In order to prevent any further damage and to maintain a healthy reef, everybody can contribute without too much personal effort but with great positive effect on the reef. Eating a responsible amount of indigenous fish in the local restaurants is one aspect. Another thing everybody can do is being careful with the movement of fins or feet whilst snorkeling or swimming and nobody should throw rubbish anywhere but in the bins provided.

Concluding, it is to be mentioned that people should be aware of Nemo Reef, of its beauty as well as of its problems. The fact that this beautiful patch is perfectly situated right next to the shore implies advantages as well as threats. Tourists and locals must not take its relatively well condition for granted, nor should anyone put this condition at risk.

Text: Sven Schleifer & Marlen Fröhlich

Photos: Christian Alter

Dahab Reef Monitoring Project 2009

The Dahab Reef Monitoring (“DRM”) project was set up to run over six weeks during the summer, from the start of August until 12th September. It is part of the global Reef Check initiative but has been expanded by RSEC to also record data specific to the region.

RSEC has had around 25 volunteers take part this year. Whilst the majority are German there are also volunteers from England, Spain and Switzerland, plus the staff at RSEC and the dive centre it is associated with (Sinai Divers) include Norwegian and Egyptian nationals, so overall the group has been pretty mixed! Some volunteers have just stayed for just 2 weeks but many are students, teachers or on a career break and so have been able to commit to the full six weeks of reef monitoring.

The DRM began with one week of training, which comprised a series of presentations to teach volunteers about the indicator species in each of the four categories to be surveyed. The four categories are: fish, invertebrates (lobster, shrimp, shells, snails, sea cucumbers etc), substrate (recording what is on the sea bed, e.g. coral, rock, sand) and coral damage. Volunteers were taught how to recognise certain indicators and then taken on training dives with a Reef Check trainer to test their new-found knowledge.

Text: Penny Cygan

Photos: Christian Alter

Dahab Reef Monitoring & Reef Conservation Project started 1.8.2009

Today, twelve motivated volunteers began training for the Dahab Reef Monitoring. In a first scuba dive, they identified different families of fish as indicators for the local reef’s health. During the next days, they prove their talents in recognizing further inhabitants of the reef.

Fishing net Assalah Beach

On September 20 th  2009, thirteen divers went to Assalah beach. A specific task was on the days agenda. Jessica of DESC volunteer ranger in Dahab, and some volunteers from the Red Sea Environmental Centre went out to free a certain area from several abandoned fishing nets that were covering significant parts of the reef and corals. Moreover, fishing nets can also be a threat to marine life, as fish or turtles can end up in the nets and eventually die. Jessica, who discovered the net a few days ago, realised that it was impossible to cut out the nets snorkelling. Hence, she asked RSEC and some volunteers for help.

Arriving at the dive site, it became obvious that the entrance is not going to be easy. Nevertheless, shallow water and a fairly choppy sea couldn't stop the volunteers from diving. Lacking a proper entrance, the volunteers had to find their own way to get over the reef flat. First and foremost, everybody had to watch out for the corals underneath, as nobody wanted to cause any damage to them. This factor certainly hampered the project, however, after a while everybody got in safe and sound.

The divers discovered a twofold situation. On the one hand, the reef was in a well good condition and a lot of fish accompanied the team during the dive. Due to the fact that not many divers or snorkellers have been to this part of the bay, e.g. the amount of broken corals was significantly less concerning than in Bannerfish Bay or Lighthouse. Schools of barracudas, unicorn fish, snappers and many rudderfish observed the 'operation'. On the other hand, there were more fishing nets found than expected. As already mentioned, these nets can be a serious threat to the marine life. A few days earlier, a turtle's corpse was found at Assalah beach and even though one can not be 100 per cent sure, this incident might well be related to the fishing nets. Turtles can either get stuck in those nets or careless fisherman catch turtles accidental and throw them away afterwards.
After an exhausting dive, lasting for more than 100 minutes, the team decided to come back the next day as so much more nets have to be removed. After all, the two days at Assalah beach were well worth the effort. The amount of fishing nets removed during the two dives was outstanding and everyone involved was satisfied with the outcome.    

        
Regarding the obvious threat those nets pose, it is of substantial relevance to propel the removal. Hence, it would be of much help if any nets found somewhere in the Dahab area, are reported to the RSEC. If reported, the RSEC can take appropriate measures to remove them immediately to prevent them from causing any further damage.  

Text: Sarah Schnurr & Jan Kliem

Photos: Nina Milton

Dahab Reef Monitoring 2007 - 17.8.- 8.9.2007

Scientist Christian Alter from the Red Sea Environmental Centre (RSEC) in Dahab has designed a reef-monitoring programme based on an extension of the standard Reef Check procedure. This extended Reef Check protocol, the ‘Dahab Reef Monitoring’, aims at a significantly higher resolution of both qualitative and quantitative information of selected reef areas. In short, the surveys on fishes and invertebrates, respectively, hold additional indicator species, and the substrate survey offers a diversification of over 30 categories. A forth survey, on coral damage, provides a comprehensive data set on coral injuries produced by natural causes (predation by coral-feeders) as well as human impact (breakage and abrasion). The survey uses volunteers for data recording. The volunteers are trained in identifying the indicator organisms and the different types of coral damage.

The training for Dahab Reef Monitoring 2007 started on the 17th of August with presentation of the theory. The next day we practiced under water with training transects. On day three we had a test to see if everybody could identify the indicator organisms.
The surveys started on day four at Abu Helal, a dive site north of Dahab. During the next weeks we went to different dive sites all around Dahab.
We surveyed the amazing Blue Hole with its great steep wall. We visited Shaab Said, a dive site which is not often visited by divers. Here you can see lots of enormous coral blocks which are still in good condition. At Gabr el Bint we got a big surprise, a huge whale shark was passing by right after we finished our transect. This was not the only amazing visitor we had during the Reef Check, at Golden Blocks a manta ray was swimming right over our heads.
But we didn’t always have good company. One day some divers cut our transect line and tried to take it away but we caught them and got back our lines.
However, usually we got good backup from the tourists and also from the locals.
To join the Dahab Reef Monitoring was a really nice experience and all of us learned a lot about marine life and how to protect it! We are very glad that we could make a little contribution to help protecting Sinais’ unique environment.

Teams
Coral Damage: Barna Kasiba and Nina Milton (Austria, Norway)
Fish: Claudia Pogoreutz and Julia Schnetzer (Austria , Germany), Vicky and Tobias von Mach (Germany)
Invertebrates: Katja Trübenbach and Susi Greiner (Germany, Austria), Laurent Guyard and Kevin Lee Payne (France, South Africa)
Substrate: Team Scientist Christian Alter (Germany), Dr. Alexander Keck
GPS and Preparations: Karsten Block and Marie-Kristin Fonfara (Germany)

Authors: Julia Schnetzer / Nina Milton