Panda meat, anyone?

Pic 1376 - 1378.

Panda meat anyone?
No?

If you are horrified at the thought of eating a panda, you should be just as horrified about eating tuna.
Or cod.
Or shark fin.
Or any endangered animals.

Yes, now you see, there are double standards the world maintains toward endangered animals...

Well, ok, you don’t eat shark fin soup. You don’t eat turtle.
But how about cod? And tuna? Wait..., tuna?

Be informed.
Learn more at www.panda-meat.com
and watch www.youtube.com/user/hughsfishfight

...and decide for yourself. And for your children.
And for the next generation.

Ps. No animals of any kind were harmed in this project.

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: Unexpected great companions

Pic 1396 - 1402: Seventh part out of seven.

#1 always accompanied me for morning walk along the beach.

#2 and #3 always accompanied me for late afternoon reading and sunset time. Couple times they were staying on my front porch in the evening, #3 was doing that more often than #2.

Oh the joy being around the animal...

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: The place I often had my dinner

Pic 1391 - 1395: Sixth part out of seven.

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: Sunset

Pic 1387 - 1390: Fifth part out of seven.

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: Wreck on the beach

Pic 1380 - 1386: Fourth part out of seven.

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: The sky

Pic 1376 - 1379: Third part out of seven.

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: Diving

Pic 1368 - 1375: Second part out of seven.

Diving again after absent for six months seven days! Two weeks full of new things, new pespective, new ideas. Eco Koh Tao team was superb; feel priviledged that they let me get involve on their eco efforts in Koh Tao. Thank you!

Big thanks to Nath that had arranged things so that I could learn a lot of stuff within the limited time: EFR, Rescue diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy specialisation, Fish ID specialisation, Project AWARE specialisation, Reef Check EcoDiver program and Marine Resource Management program. Zillion thanks that I was given the opportunity to participate on maintaining coral nurseries and afrtificial reefs, and even transplanting coral fragments... truly priceless experiences. And last but not least, more thanks for opening my eyes that we, an individual, should do something, no matter how small it is. Every little helps!

The first pic was us after Coral Watch survey in Mae Haad Reef. The background is our school along Mae Haad beach. The third and fourth pics were us after cleaning up Lighthouse Reef from coral-eater Drupella snails, which for some unknown reasons, have grown far too many without predators and hence creating lots of coral damages.

The fifth pic was my survey result from Coral Nursery at Mae Haad - pretty happy with the job! The sixth was me transplanting coral fragments into electrocuted dome structure at Hin Fai Biorock artificial coral project - a special experience left a special impression on me. The seventh was me with a Strapweed Filefish at Junkyard Reef, Mae Haad, during my last dive on this holiday.

Pic of the three ladies and pic of me transplanting coral were shot by Nathan Cook. Pic of me with the Filefish were shot by Jennifer Dowling. The pic of me about to do my giant step was shot by Simon Dowling.

Koh Tao, Apr 2011: Intro

From Wikipedia:
"...Ko Tao (also often Koh Tao) is an island in Thailand located near the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand... In the 1980s the first travelers discovered Ko Tao and their special backpacker network quickly made it widely known and a popular destination... In the 1990s the island finally became known as a diving site..."

In the water around this island I obtained my Open Water and Advance Open Water diving certificates during my year-end holiday couple years ago. So it is only proper if I went back there to get my Rescue Diver certification. However, the key reason why I decided to go back there is Eco Koh Tao, a great school for Marine Resource Management and other environment related courses.

These two weeks in Koh Tao have opened my eyes on how ignorant we, human being, are. There are many big noble things we can do, but there are more than many small things we can do too as an individual. After this trip, I have now been trying harder to participate as much as I can one way or another.

Thanks Nath and the team, you guys are fantastic, the tireless eco warriors...



Pic 1364 - 1367: First part out of seven.

The first picture is Mango Bay dive site. The second picture shows some structures made by Eco Koh Tao for the Junkyard Reef.

From Eco Koh Tao page on Facebook, here is the description of Junkyard Reef:
"... Our (Eco Koh Tao) own artificial reef located a few hundred metres offshore from the dive school. It was developed by a hardy band of eco-warriors a little over a year ago. It is small but interesting and the aim was, and still is to make it a viable place to dive with courses and recreational divers alike. Those divers interested in the ‘little stuff’ can probably spend a dive there while many others find it a little monotonous..."

The last picture is the Thai's style of Maneki Neko - just guessing though :) Taken from the school's restaurant.