We were in the classroom all day today, starting from 8am. No diving, no mantas, but today we learned how to be good researchers, conservationists, marine ambassadors and future leaders. We love class time!

We started by showing the final version of our Week 1 Video Diary. We have learned a lot about conservation communications over the past week, and you know video is a great method to share our story. This is the first video we have made, but all the interns have tried to add soul and spirit to our video, and to share our information and experiences. Hopefully next week’s video will be even better.

Next we were surprised with a special guest. Sarah Lewis from the Manta Trust joined us today to tell us about mobulid fishing, the challenges and successes for manta conservation, and to encourage all of us interns to preserve Indonesia’s unique natural resources for future generations. We learned a lot from Sarah, and it was very inspiring.

In the evening we all had dinner together at TreeTop Cafe, and continued our discussions together. So an amazing end to an amazing day. Thank you to MantaWatch, Manta Trust, and Sarah Lewis. Manta Mantap!!