Volunteering For Ocean Conservation Projects In Africa

By Harold Moore


Ocean conservation is the protection of the ocean and sea environment, namely from man intervened. The oceans and seas are vulnerable to the advancement of the human race. The ocean is also susceptible to manmade pollution. The fish and other water animals are susceptible to man's desire for food. Men also hunt fish and other water animals for sport thus harming the delicate water ecosystems. For many centuries, man has taken advantage of the oceans and seas, but there are some organizations that practice Ocean Conservation.

You can find whale sharks in warm and tropical oceans and live for around 70 years. Although they were thought to feed mainly on plankton, the BBC program Planet Earth caught a shark feeding on a school of small fish. Their anatomy has evolved to allow them to be very effective when they are feeding and their large mouths which can be up to 1.5 metres wide allow them to collect and filter their food.

Research the Orcas- Working with Orcas in Africa involves not only hands-on research but also educating the community further about these marvelous creatures. As a volunteer, you will be deeply involved in all forms of research and help develop long-term strategies to ensure the survival of the Orca. You will be taking too much time in the water, diving and collecting samples and having lots of contact with all different types of sea creatures, not just Orcas. You will work on projects cleaning up the coastline and participate in lessons teaching about marine preservation and its importance to the future of Africa.

The tuna industry is supposed to take the time and make an effort to check all catches and clear their nets of dolphins from their nets. But some tuna fishing boats ignore this requirement and allow dolphins to be processed with the tuna that is caught in their nets. It is difficult to regulate and monitor the tuna industry because there are limited resources available and not all tuna fishing boats can be watched as they make their catches.

The Great White Shark is endangered due to culling and the changing sea environment, and the program works to educate people about the importance of sharks and keeping the Great White Shark an important part of the sea eco-system. This is a true gap year adventure, including actually being able to dive with the sharks and thus learning more about them and their environment.

In the Maldives, the preservationists do not tag the sharks but instead use scientists and volunteers on preservation projects to track them by taking photos of the shark's gills. Interestingly, like a human's fingerprints, their gills are unique meaning that on a collection of photos and location data the scheme can track where the sharks have traveled - rather clever.

The whale shark is currently targeted by many commercial fisheries, the overall population of this particular fish is unknown, and along with six other species of shark, it is considered as vulnerable. Although they continue to be hunted in many areas for commercial purposes, the fishing, selling, importing and exporting of the species has been banned in the Philippines, India, and Taiwan. With more conservation wildlife projects taking place, hopefully, eventually the population will be recorded, allowing there to be some more hard facts on the future of the whale shark.

As the seas are complex environments, your work in preservation can virtually take any shape or focus. Depending on your interests, your experience could include working with fish, mammals, invertebrates, coral, mangroves, sea grass, fisheries or even communities that depend on the fishing industry. Location-wise, you could help out in a local UK coastal town or even volunteer to do some work in preservation in some of the world's more exotic locations.




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