We’ve had a fantastic first week with Love The Oceans, and it’s definitely flown by!

After a few of us completed our Open Water diving qualification the week before, we were ready to get stuck into our training week. The weather was great, and we started the week with an afternoon of paddle boarding and snorkelling.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday involved lectures on LTO’s projects, which got us up to speed on the research activities we will be helping with. We also completed our first scientific dives, where we carried out coral reef transects. These were great fun, and also gave us the chance to spot some exciting species such as green turtles, moray eels and lionfish.

There was a lot of humpback whale activity this week, and we were lucky enough to capture a pod of 12 whales, as well as a whale shark and giant mantas using the drone. On our early morning walk to the fisheries, we were blessed with a beautiful sunrise and had the joy of seeing multiple whales breach in between collecting our data.

We got our competitive sides out during a fun filled treasure hunt and ended the day with some team bonding. All in all we had a great week and can’t wait for our next adventures.