REEF TO RAINFOREST

Malaysian Borneo July 2019

IntroductionSEASFiRE organizes citizen science, marine education, and adventure programswhich enable you toexplore nature,discover theworld around you, and createmedia documenting it, publishing articles, photos, videos, and podcasts, on adedicatedwebsiteandonsocialmedia.

Wemixscubadivingwithscienceeducation,conservation,anddigitalproductiontocraftauniqueexpeditionthatallowsyoutoexperienceamazingenvironmentsandexpressyourselfinwaysyouneverthoughtpossible.

Wehelpyoureachyourpotentialthroughexperientiallearning,groupactivities,andindividualprojects.Ourexpeditionsallowyoutoexperiencetherealitiesofclimatechange,andtocontributetoourunderstandingofitsimpactonthemostvulnerableecosystemsonearth.

Werunpositiveexperiencesfortheparticipantandtheplanet.Conservationisattheheart ofwhatwe do, but the program is predicated on teamwork and enormousamounts of fun. All the pictures in this document were taken during SEASFiREprograms.

ProgramStructureThe twelve-day SEASFiRE@Summer program will take place from 12 to 23 July2019 in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. You can learn to scuba dive, or if you arealready acertifieddiver,youwill learnandrefineunderwaterskillswhilestartingtomake and document conservation dives. Throughout the program, you willpublish regularupdatesandyourresearchoutcomesontheSEASFiREwebsiteandtointernationally-recognisedconservationorganisations.

Theprogramissplitintothreedistinctphases:1. Dive/ConservationTraining2. RainforestConservationandWildlifeExpeditions3. CoralReefConservation

DestinationThe program will take place in Sabah,Malaysia. The diving will take place inTunkuAbdulRahmanMarinePark,whichisnear Kota Kinabalu, the capital city ofSabah. For the rainforest conservationactivities, we will travel to the Sandakanarea,ontheeastofthestate.WhileinKotaKinabalu, we will dive with Down BelowMarineandWildlifeAdventures,stayingintheirhostel,whichisinanewdevelopmenton thesouthernendof town.The lodge isopen only to DownBelow guests, has 24-hourstaffcoverandCCTV.Eachday,wewilltravel to the Down Below dive centre onGaya Island or on Manukan island in themarineparkfortheday’sactivities.

SEASFiREModulesTheprogramincludesthefollowingSEASFiREModules

• What’stheProblem?• MarineLifeIdentification• IntroductiontoBlogging• CoralReefBiodiversity• TheJunglesofBorneo• TheSecretLifeofCorals• MarineDebris

SEASFiRElearningmaterialswillbeprovidedtoallparticipantswell inadvanceoftheprogram.ThecontentsofthemodulesaredescribedbelowtheDraftSchedule.

Dive/ConservationTrainingDaystwotofiveoftheprogramaregivenovertodivetraining.Ifyoudonotknowhowtodive,willbeenrolledinthePADIOpenWatercourse.Uponcompletion,youwillbecertifiedtodivewithabuddytoamaximumdepthof18metresanywhereontheplanet.Ifyouarealreadyacertifieddiver,youwillreceivetraininginunderwaterphotographyandmarinelifeidentification,completingseveralconservationdives.

RainforestConservation&WildlifeExpeditionsOnDay6,wewilltravelacrossBorneotovisitanumberofconservationareasandanimalsanctuariesintheSandakanarea.TherearelongjourneytimeswithinBorneo,buttravelingbyroadenablesyoutoseefirst-handthelevelsofdeforestationontheisland.

LabukBayProboscisMonkeySanctuaryNamed for their distinctive long noses, theproboscismonkeyisendemictoBorneo.Proboscismonkeys’habitathasbeendestroyedsystematically over the past 40 years, and thepopulationhasshrunkbyabout50%inthattime.LabukBayProboscisMonkeysanctuaryisasmallhavenhemmedinbyseveralpalmoilestates.Dueto the small size of the sanctuary and thedeforestation of the surrounding area, naturalfoodsourcesarescarce.Monkeysaregivenfruittosupplementtheirdietbystaffatthesanctuary.Thisisolatedpopulationofmonkeyshassurvivedasaresult.Howsustainablethissanctuary is inthelonger-termremainstobeseen.

SepilokOrangutanRehabilitationCentreSepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC) was established in 1964 torehabilitateorphanedorangutans.Thecentrestretchesacross43km2 ofprotectedland,andishometobetween60and80orangutans.About25orphanedorangutanslive in a special nursery on-site. The centre nurses injured orangutans and otherwildlifebacktohealth.Orphanedorangutansareteamedwithanadulttolearntheskillstheywouldlearnfromtheirmotherinthewild. Initsfirst50years,Sepilokreceived 758 orangutans. Of these, over 600 have been successfully rehabilitated,with500releasedintothelocalreserve.

BorneanSunBearConservationCentreNextdoor toSORC, theBorneanSunBearConservationCentrewasestablished in2008. Drawing inspiration from their neighbours, the Centre is dedicated to therehabilitation and release into thewild of the smallest bear species in theworld.Sufferingfromdramatichabitatlosscausedbydeforestation,rescuedbearscanbeobservedfromadedicatedcanopywalkwayandviewingplatform.

KinabantanganRiverWewill travel toBilitAdventureLodge,which is inside the Sukau-KinabantanganWildlifeSanctuary,anareaofsecondaryrainforestsouthofSandakan.Wewillcruiseupanddowntheriverinsmallspeedboats,spottingwildlifeneartheriverbanks.Inthe past, SEASFiRE expeditions have seen wild orangutans, pythons, proboscismonkeysandpygmyelephants.Atnight,wecanwalkintothesecondaryrainforest,lookingforsleepingbirdsandsmallnocturnalcreatures,suchascivetcatsandavastrangeofinsects.Wewillplantsomebelintreesintherainforest,contributingtotherepopulationofthelocalironwoodpopulation,whichisVulnerable,accordingtotheInternationalUnionfortheConservationofNature.

CoralReefConservationUponourreturntoKotaKinabalu, theentireteamwillparticipate inresearchandmedia-focusedscubadivesandothermarineactivities.

CreatureFeatureDiveOnceyouhavelearnedessentialMarineLifeIdentificationskills,youwillbetaskedwithphotographing,thenidentifyinganddocumentingatleastonecreatureduringadive.YouwillinputdataabouttheorganismintotheSEASFiREmarinelifedatabase.

MarineLifeSurveysThe number and range of fish and other organisms living on the reef is a strongindicatorofthehealthofthelocalecosystem.Youwillperformamarinelifesurvey,lookingatinteractionsbetweenmarinespecies,thepresenceofdifferentorganisms,andwhatthismeansforthehealthofthereef.

CoralHealthCheckCoralbleachingisoneofthemostdramaticillustrationsofenvironmentalpressuresonacoralcolony.Coral’scolourisagoodproxyformoregeneralcoralhealth.Youwillrecordobservationsonacoralhealthchartandadataslate.AlldatacollectedissubmittedtotheCoralWatchprogram,whichisrunbytheUniversityofQueensland.

ArtDiveOneofthehighlightsoftheexpeditionisatrulyuniqueexperience–theSEASFiREartdive.We take you to a shallow reef and ask you to draw the corals and fish youobserve on a canvas. Learning to draw underwater is a fun challenge, and yourdrawingisanamazingsouveniroftheSEASFiREprogram.

CoralRescueHowwouldyouliketogrowyourowncoralreef?Onthelastdayoftheprogram,wewillvisitanareawherecoralisvulnerabletobeingbrokenandfragmented.Wewillsnorkeltorescuebrokenpiecesofbranchingcoral.YouwillbringthesecoralsbacktotheDownBelowdivecentre,anduseepoxytogluethemtoclaydishes.Oncethecoralshavehadanopportunitytogrowintheirnewbases,theDownBelowstaffwillreturnthemtothereeffromwhichtheywereremoved,inthehopethatanewcoralcolonycansuccessfullygrow.

BeachCleanupOfthesixmilliontonsoftrashthatenterstheoceaneachyear,50to80percentofitisplastic.Plasticiscloggingupourseasandenteringthemarinefoodchain.Becauseit takeshundredsofyears forplastic todegrade, itwashesupeverywhere.Plastictendstofloat,andsowashesuponshoreorcanbefoundintheshallowwatersoffthebeach.Wewillcleanupabeachareaneartheisland,documentingthetrashwecollect.

DraftScheduleDay Non-Divers CertifiedDivers Stayovernight

July12 ArrivalinKotaKinabalu.Pickupfromairport&transfertoDDBLodge

DDBLodge,KKSEASFiREModule:What’stheProblem?

July13 OpenWaterTrainingDay1

SEASFiREModule:IntroductiontoUnderwaterPhotography

2dives:Fundiveandpracticewithcameras

DDBLodge,KK

SEASFiREModule:MarineLifeIdentification

July14 OpenWaterTrainingDay2

CreatureFeatureDiveMarineLifeSurvey

DDBLodge,KKSEASFiREModule:IntroductiontoBlogging

DocumentorganismsinSEASFiRE’smarinelifedatabase

July15 OpenWaterTrainingDay3

2Dives:GrouperHunt;CatchingButterflyfish

DDBLodge,KKSEASFiREModule:CoralReefBiodiversity

UploaddatafrommarinesurveystoearthDive

July16 OpenWaterTrainingDay4

TrophicLevelsSurveyCoralHealthCheck

DDBLodge,KKSEASFiREModule:JunglesofBorneo

UploadCHCleveldatatoCoralWatch

July17 TransfertoSandakanbybus

VisitLabukBayProboscisMonkeySanctuarySepilokJungle

Resort

Day Non-Divers CertifiedDivers StayovernightJuly18 VisitSepilokOrangutanRehabilitationCentre

VisitSunBearConservationCentre

TransfertoBilitAdventureLodge,

KinabantanganRiverCruise

NightJungleWalk

BilitAdventureLodge

July19 RiverCruise

TreeplantingBilitAdventure

Lodge

SEASFiREModule:Underwaterphotography

July20 BusTransfertoKotaKinabalu DDBLodge,KK

July21 CreatureFeatureDive

MarineLifeSurvey DDBLodge,KK

SEASFiREModule:SecretLifeofCorals

July22 CoralHealthCheckDive

ArtDive DDBLodge,KK

SEASFiREModule:MarineDebris

July23 Snorkelforbrokencoralandcoralplanting

BeachcleanupN/A(leaveKKintheevening)

CostsTheprogramcosts$2,500.Thisincludes:

• Accommodation on dorm-sharing basis in Kota Kinabalu, and up to four-peoplesharinginBilitAdventureLodge.SepilokJungleResortistwin-sharing.

• Alldiverequirements,includingtrainingandcertificationasappropriate.• AlltravelwithinSabahrequiredbytheprogram.• AllSEASFiREtrainingmaterialsrequiredfortheprogram.• BreakfastandlunchinKotaKinabaluonalldayswhenwevisitGayaIsland.• AllmealswhentravellinginSabahoutsideKotaKinabalu.• Entryticketsforallcentresonthedraftschedule.• Website,support,andmediarequirements,includinguseofcamerasonthe

surfaceandunderwater.

Theprogramcostsdonotinclude:• DinneronnightswhenweareinKotaKinabalu.• Softdrinks,alcohol,andotherdiscretionaryspending• TravelfromyourhometoKotaKinabalu.• Camerapermitsfortheconservationcentreswevisit.

ConclusionThe SEASFiRE@Summer program exposes you to scuba diving, environmentalactivismandconservationscience.Evenwiththeenvironmentaldegradationyouwilldocument, Borneo is still an incredible place to visit, and you will see thingsimpossible to find elsewhere. The program is an amazing, rewarding and funexperience, unlike anything else you’ve ever experienced. Please email us atjschneider@inverhills.edutoregisteryourinterestortoaskanyquestions.