Coral reefs have continued to impress and amaze scuba divers for many years, the vibrant colors and the magnificent structures each one different to the next. They are a fascinating ecosystems and creates the perfect habitat for marine life which is what makes them so good for divers to explore.

Created begins its life as lava, traveling with the flow of water, eventually they lay to rest. After finding a convenient place, a change occurs, known as metamorphosis. It then becomes a primary polyp, the foundation of a successful coral reef. It will then clone itself to create a colony of polyps, over a period of several months. The coral will begin to grow. The polyps feed using tentacles, these pick up plankton floating in the water, once its food is caught its passed down through the mouth into the main body, after which the nutrients are consumed.

Coral reef will grow in shallow, tropical waters where sun light is in abundance. Much like trees, they grow up, towards the light and therefore the surface of the water. The reef, when it reaches the surface it will often struggle to cope with the harsher conditions, will grow out horizontally, this creates large expanses of reef potentially stretching for miles. Currents will bring much needed nutrients, this means that coral reefs will thrive in areas with large water movement.

Coral is reproduced in a similar way to other animals, they simultaneously release eggs and sperm, this happens each year, usually after a full moon. Once the egg is fertilized a lava develops within a few days and is released to begin its own journey to find a suitable place to rest, when it has, again metamorphosis occurs and the cycle is repeated.

There are 3 main types of coral reef ‘Fringing Reefs’ which lay near to shorelines, expanding seaward and also parallel the shore. ‘Barrier Reefs’ which are similar, forming along shorelines, except, further out than fringe reefs – A large expansive of open water will separate the reef from the shore. Then we have ‘Atoll Reefs’ where they rise from the water creating islands circling a lagoon within.

Not only are coral reefs great for scuba divers to explore but they play an integral role in maintaining a successful habitat for marine life. 71% of our planets surface is covered with ocean. Although coral reef makes up less than 0.5% of the ocean, its estimated that 90% of all marine species are dependent on coral reefs, directly or indirectly.

Last week six students, including myself, completed the first Dive Centre Operations Course at Davy Jones Locker. This course is run by out tech guru: Dave Polley. Dave has a wealth of experience in Dive Centre Operations, as he has previously owned and managed his own dive centres including a tank rental and filling station, and also has many years of technical diving and instructional experience.

The course is run over six days and includes theory and hands on operating and maintenance of all of the critical areas of a dive centre. At the end of the course we gained three qualifications: Compressor Operator, Advanced Equipment Maintenance Specialty and Trimix Gas Blender.

The course is aimed at people who want to have a full understanding of the operating and maintenance procedures of a Dive Centre, and are considering either moving onto leadership positions in the dive industry or who would like to work in remote locations such as liveaboards or who are interested in technical diving.

The Compressor Operator section of the course covers the theory of how a compressor works, the design of an ideal compressor room, and practical sessions on filling tanks, logging compressor run times and when essential maintenance should be carried out, changing air filters, changing compressor oil and basic maintenance on compressor motors and engines.

The Gas Blending section of the course covers the theory of Gas Blending, how to build a simple Gas Blending System, how to build a Nitrox Stick, and practical sessions in Continuous Flow Blending and Partial Pressure Blending.

The Advanced Equipment Maintenance section of the course covers the theory of how tanks inspections and valve inspections should be carried out, the theory of how a balanced and unbalanced regulator works, and the theory of how to oxygen service equipment. The course also includes a full set of service manuals for the most common types of tanks, tank valves, and regulators.

From a practical point, we spent time actually oxygen serving tank valves, completing visual inspection and hydrostatic testing of tanks, oxygen servicing unbalanced and balanced regulators, and serving BCD inflators.

I have completed DSAT Trimix Gas Blending Instructor qualifications before, so it was nice to be able to contrast the different courses. The Davy Jones’ Locker course was a very hands on course compared to other courses I have attended. Theory was covered and a full set of instructional materials were provided. But as leadership level divers you are expected to read much of this in your own time. The classroom time is spent actually filling tanks and blending gas, completing general maintenance on compressors and completing serving on regulators and BCD inflators.

The Advanced Equipment Maintenance Specialty was actually written by Dave himself. So this part of the course is a unique specialty. Dave soon hopes to have this part of the course also endorsed by Apeks. This will allow you to be qualified to service Apeks regulators.

The next Dive Centre Operations Course will be run at Davy Jones’ Locker on December 17^th. If you are interested in joining the next course please email info@davyjoneslocker.asia for more details.