Day 18 : Focussing on Education

by | Oct 4, 2013 | Intern's Diary | 0 comments

Day 18 : Focussing on Education

It struck me today that we are rounding the 3rd week of the internship program. This month seems to have whirled past in lightning-fast speed and I am saddened that we are starting to come to our final chapter. I have had a very good time getting to know the interns and seeing them get to know the mantas.

However, this week has not been a good one for manta sightings, despite the tremendous support from the local operators. In the past week we have had several opportunities to visit more than one known manta site each day, including The Cauldron and Tatawa Besar, in addition to many visits to Karang Makasar and Manta Point. While the mantas have been elusive, we did meet many other underwater inhabitants, and we’ve all been busier than ever focussing on other tasks.

hawksbill turtle

A hawksbill turtle greets the MantaWatch survey team

Today we spent most of our day in the classroom, and turned our attention to creating engaging lesson plans for students of various ages. Our goal is to support the local environmental science curriculum through teaching resources about manta rays, their values and the new local sanctuary. Vidlia and Ranny developed a catchy slogan that has stuck in my head all morning, and I have no doubt that it will be a hit with the children!

Ranny's lesson plan

Ranny’s lesson plan for the primary school

Riza's lesson plan

Riza’s Manta Mantap lesson plan for secondary school

Meanwhile I spent some time preparing this week’s Manta Mantap talk, a fun and informative introduction to the life of manta rays for divers and tourists that will be held at The Sky Bar- The Lounge tonight at 8pm.

I’ve also had a sneak peek at some of the prizes donated by local dive operators for this year’s Manta Month awards, including the MantaWatcher Prize for the person who captures the most individual manta ID photos in a single day! There are some exciting prizes, too bad that as a judge I’m not eligible to enter!

The prizes so far:

manta month awards

This year’s Manta Month Awards!

Elitza Germanov

Elitza Germanov

From Elitza’s first glimpse beneath the sea’s surface, on a family trip to Cuba, her curiosity for the underwater world was piqued. After learning to dive in 2008, the sea always seemed to beckon. In 2009, she took what should have been a “short” sabbatical from here career as a cancer researcher, in order to pursue her PADI Divemaster certification and hasn’t looked back since! In 2011, Elitza was fortunate to visit Komodo National Park and witness a rare manta ray congregation of over 50 individuals and became entranced by these majestic animals. Since then she relocated to work as a SCUBA diving instructor in Komodo and loves to share manta encounters with others. Through her work, she has found a new calling in raising awareness on the plight of manta rays and collecting as much information on manta rays in the hopes of changing current policies and having these magnificent species protected once and for all.