Marine Conservation Program at ISS
Being brought up on a beautiful island paradise is something most people will never experience and here at ISS we want to make sure that we maximize every opportunity possible for the students to engage in and respect the beautiful surroundings in which they are lucky enough to grow up in.
With the environment being such an important factor in our future we want our students at ISS to know about the world beneath the seas and introduce them to some of the most important characters and how they contribute to our existence and consequently how important it is we ensure their protection and sustainability for our future.
Students can learn a lot from living here on Koh Samui, a huge hotspot for tourism in Asia. We want our students to think about the results and consequences of a growing economy and what environmental impacts and knock on effects can be anticipated. What does the increase in rubbish and plastics have on our beaches? How does land development affect our waterways? And how does all of this affect the existing beauty of the oceans which surround us?
So with the goal of instilling an environmentally aware and conscious community at ISS in 2021 we began working together with a team of Marine Conservationists & scuba diving enthusiasts from Big Blue Diving on Koh Tao who inspire and educate divers as well as contribute to global and domestic research, conservation and education initiatives in the Gulf of Thailand. Big Blue Conservation engages in monitoring reef systems and whale shark, turtle and seahorse populations while implementing a range of projects such as artificial coral reefs, and the installation and maintenance of mooring lines around Koh Tao.
With their professional guidance we are delighted to welcome them regularly to keep our students at ISS informed on what we can do to protect and preserve our environment while instilling a desire within the students to get involved with conservation programs and charity work.
During the program, each year group will be presented with a different aspect of Marine Biology & the Environment and will be learning aspects of our world including ocean currents, the impact of global warming & climate change, symbiotic relationships within the animal world especially marine life, the responsibilities of a career in Marine Biology. We will also be looking at the inevitable problems of overfishing and the dangers of plastics as well as a lot of other educational fish facts that we hope will instill a feeling of fun, enjoyment, responsibility, and optimism in the future as we learn to respect our oceans and our environment.
As an additional bonus we will also be offering an opportunity during the program to experience scuba diving in the school pool under the direct supervision of a professional scuba instructor. Students will be introduced to their scuba unit how it works and then will get to experience breathing underwater for the first time in a safe environment in which they can stand up if required.
We are the first school on any of the 3 main islands in the Gulf of Thailand to offer a Marine Conservation Program with lessons from qualified Marine Biologists and field trips for research purposes, including scuba diving on Koh Tao, and firmly believe it to be an integral part of our students' knowledge as ‘islanders’.
