We often get the question: what do we do with all the data we collect. Well I am here to tell you!
We go on 8 dives a week ….
and you would be amazed how many things we do on those dives; no day is the same. So, to start off with we aim to drop our BRUV (baited remote underwater videocamera) 4 times a week, though some weeks we drop 6 or 7. This isn’t the full dive and usually takes place before and after a normal dive. This provides us with plenty of videos that we watch to try and see sharks and other interesting stuff, we keep a copy of this for our own work and share it with an organisation called Global Fin Print. The videos are about an hour long and give us good insight into the Gili Matra Marine Recreational Park when there are no people around.
Checking left and right…
Linked to the BRUV is our Fish and Benthic survey dives, we aim to do 2 or 3 of these week. This is very similar to reef check and takes 4 people about an hour. There are several jobs in this survey and each member takes one. Person 1 rolls out the line which shows the area being surveyed. Person 2 and Person 3 hover 2.5m either side of the line and move forward slowly, counting all the fish. Behind Person 1 there is Person 4 who records the makeup of the seafloor every 50cm. Then on the way back Person 2 and 3 record the invertebrates and any damage to the reef. This paints an accurate picture of the sea floor and the fish which dwell within the reef. Using this we can show the effectiveness off the Marine Protected Area that surrounds the Gilis. This is our newest project and we aim to show various things with it.
Counting Sharks & Naming Turtles…
4 Dives a week are then dedicated to roving survey dives. During these dives we count any and all indicator fish. These are fish that we fish and sharks eat. The more we see in a dive site the more likely there is too be sharks. During these we also count, measure and record all the sharks, rays and turtles we see. This data is shared with the Indonesian government, University of Hull, Shark Base and E oceans.
Finally, we do one dive a week that everyone asks us about. Our famous turtle ID dives. We go out and get pictures of turtles, measure them and then take the pictures back to be analysed by software called i3S where we compare it to other turtle pictures we have saved. If it is a new one then we name it. Fancy naming a turtle? Send us your pictures of turtles from around the Gilis to sharks@gilisharkconservation.com and if it is a new turtle we will call him or her whatever you want.
