Category: Volunteer and Intern Blog Posts

I would simpy say because I love sea turtle, I love swimming, me and my family love beach and my dream is to float with sea turtle at ease and peacefully. If I were asked to write an essay about why I have to protect my ocean, I would search on Google and stuffs to make my essay look perfect. But as for now, because I love the ocean so much, I chose to work on marine field for my thesis. I am currently volunteering at Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC). Thanks to MCC I got the chance to meet beautiful living things under the sea by taking scuba diving course and I think that is how I found my true inner answer about why I want to protect my ocean. Because the ocean is so much more beautiful than its name, the creatures underneath the sea is beyond imagination, it’s marvelous, gorgeous, and delightful that it would make you go speechless once you see them (go diving). When you go diving at daytime, you would see so many colorful lives and creatures but night diving, it’s totally different. It’s stressful of course because it’s dark and you can barely see things but the sparkling images underwater will make you go blank that you don’t want to stop diving. There was a time when I went night diving with my instructor, I was so nervous, and scared that I didn’t want to dive but something weird happened when I started diving, I strangely asked myself “How can it be this amazing? Can I just live here, underwater, with these beautiful little tiny living things?” I was so amazed by the view of my body, it was blinking like a twinkle star (like I have a magic body) which caused by bioluminescent plankton (I guess LOL). It felt like I was on another planet where there is only me and nature, so connected because I can see how beautiful and the importance of the ocean to the world. Unfortunately, Cambodian ocean has been destroyed rapidly by IUU fishing which turned the colorful creatures underneath the sea to blank, empty and dead. I think if I don’t protect it now, soon I will never be able to see the ordinary ocean again. Someone once said to me “If the forest is being cut, you know it’s cut. But if the ocean is being destroyed you don’t know” his words woke me up, changed my whole view of living and that is one of the main reasons keeping me going strong and doing what I am doing right now for my ocean.

“I love the positive vibe the ocean gives me, motivation, inspiration and I gain my inner strength of protecting the ocean whenever I go diving.”

Hello, my name is Chhorvida Khem. I’m a senior student from Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia and I came here with my team to do the Artificial Reef project for our thesis with technical support from Marine Conservation Cambodia. We believe that our project will help to provide more marine habitat and increase fish population in the region. You might see nothing on the surface, but there are so many beautiful creatures living underneath the sea and those precious marine lives surely need to be protected. I hope that what I’m doing will encourage Cambodian students to do more research and protect Cambodian ocean for future generation.

When talking about environment, the first impression of Cambodian people that I met they asked if I work for waste management? And then they make fun of students whom studying environment are all picking up trash on the street to make the city clean. At first, I feel angry, but then I started to understand these are their perceptions.

When I go to supermarket or market even small shops they use so many plastic bags. *For example: when you buy a gum, they’ll pack it in plastic bag for you.* What’s the point of this? You can keep the gum in your pocket. And they just keep giving away more and more. Some supermarkets force us to use their plastic bag which make me want to flip table sometimes.

I’m a girl from the city, I live with pollution everyday, I breathe in dirty air, I drive in crazy traffic and people rushing every single day because of money. When I see people eating wild meat, destroy the forest, destroy marine life, I feel shame to be human. Most Cambodian young people tend to develop themselves into materialistic and consuming too much. **They buy it and they throw it, and they buy it and throw it again. They don’t know how to keep that stuff for long-term use which is same thing to nature. They destroy one place and then they go find a new place. ** The luxury, the modernity make people go crazy and forget who they are and where they are living on now. They have no idea how much they pollute the environment each year. People will say “oh I love ocean!” “I want to see clean and beautiful beach to relax” but they still throw trash everywhere. Most people say “I love forest”; “Forest is so beautiful”, but they eat wild meat.

Changing someone perception is the hardest thing to do in the world, but we can go slowly and start from now. What I mean of starting from now is to start from me. I learn different things, I learn how to live with nature just because I care and I want to see how beautiful nature in Cambodia. Foreigners come here to protect Cambodian’s nature, why not us? Why not Cambodian people? I’m trying to change people perceptions by start doing something that matter even it’s just a small thing, but I believe that in the end it’s not just benefit for me, but for the whole country and for future generation.

I have strongly believe that when Cambodian young people start to understand and fall in love with nature, they will see a huge different in their life and live in harmony. We should take care of the place where we’re living in, it’s like taking care of our house. The only people that make change is young people. They have to start now like what I’m doing right now.

INTERVIEWER: If you were stuck on the island with only one other volunteer who would you choose to be with?

ALEX: Well, from my couple of months here on Koh Seh, I’d have to say that one person springs to mind. There are a few really important qualities that set him apart from the rest (apart from his good looks and British accent, oh my god I love his accent…)

Firstly, I’d have to say general housekeeping is important on the island to keep the place looking nice and the only way to describe this guy is a domestic god. He is great at sweeping the bungalow daily and wiping down the table after meals. Lucky for me, I plan the weekly dishes schedule and weekend cooking so I try to pair myself with him as much as possible (I hope he doesn’t notice).

On the island it is important to be good with kids and this guy is a super good role model. He brought books from England to read to them and alternates with other volunteers teaching Jasmine and Fern math. He even has a collection of cartoons that he’ll play at night so we’ve watched The Jungle Book a lot recently.

A strong work ethic is another awesome quality to have and this counts for a lot on Koh Seh. This guy is so focused when we work on government proposals and island reef surveys. Speaking of strong, he always looks super chill when he is unloading the heavy dive tanks off the boat.

Sorry, I got a bit carried away, to answer to answer the question it would have to be Henry Wingfield.

Life on the island is an interesting mixture between extremely busy and extremely relaxing. There are always loads of people working on various amazing projects around the island, which is incredible because you get to learn new information from very passionate people. Projects include seahorse tagging, coral bleaching mapping, waste management development, gardening, report writing, and even planning a children’s play about the affects of trawling!

It’s good to be in a place where people care so much about protecting the marine ecosystem. I, personally, have come with five other students from University of Exeter and Falmouth and our project is surveying the impacts of trawling on the seagrass beds and bivalve populations. We are also working to complete a short documentary about the impacts of trawling on the Kep people.

            We have interviewed Paul (MCC founder), Amick and Delph (second in command staff leaders), as well as the marine police on the island to help gain perspective. MCC also coordinated our dives at Koh Pou and arranged interviews with the fishers there. We are going to combine all the information we have learned from the interviews and data collection to gain a complete understanding of trawling.

            MCC also has a partnership with the Royal University of Agriculture and three of those students came to spend two weeks living on the island; helping us translate documents into Khmer and learning how to snorkel.

            Our goal, along with MCC’s, is to help others learn and give tools to teach people for the future and increase understanding overall.  It has been an interesting experience and learning curve living on the island for weeks doing everything together: working, eating, rooming etc. Island dynamics require that issues be quickly resolved and asking for guidance as soon as you need it.

            With more time, I would have wanted to get more involved with the projects of MCC like seahorse surveys and the play. It is good to know the other work we could have done while here, and know if I return I would still be busy with continuing their research. If only we had more time!

A snippet of MCC:

There are many opportunities for a variety of different activities including diving, underwater surveys, and other projects at Marine Conservation Cambodia. Everyday there are large amounts of work that gets done on the island itself, for example, recycling, beach cleanups, and organizing the dive shed.

It is unnecessary to pack 22 t-shirts. When it rains, it is very easy to do your laundry with rainwater in bins or you can take your laundry to the mainland for $1 a kilo. Other necessities would be a rash guard or two because you will spend lots of time diving and snorkeling!

 I came with absolutely no diving experience. Within two days of my arrival, I was being taught how to dive, with little tricks about the area we were in. They provided the diving equipment and learning materials, but many people brought their own as well. We had a couple of volunteers who got ear infections from constant diving and they helped with creating a fishing community demographic census.

I brought malaria medication, but did not end up using it for more than a few days because there is a very small threat on the island. Everyone takes care to cover freshwater all the time and to keep an eye on puddles after the rain. I brought a biodegradable insect repellent and borrowed some other volunteer’s deet after the big rainstorms. Also a basic first aid kit would be good with Band-Aids, Neosporin and an ear rinse. The kids will find any excuse to use your Band-Aids if they are patterned, so keep that in mind.

It is very easy to leave the island and explore. Volunteers can either go back to the mainland for the weekend or stay on the island; the boat leaves Fridays and Sundays. Volunteers will often go to Kampot (the nearest city) for weekend adventures or to pick up supplies that are harder to find.

MCC is, in my opinion, truly a family. Not only does Paul and his family live on the island, the volunteers and staff have to work together on most duties to keep things running smoothly. We had a weekly dishes cart and helped make food on weekends in order to give Sao a break. The children love to learn and you can put them to work crushing cans or painting buoys in exchange for reading them a story or coloring with them. Often we would go swimming because of the heat, and the dogs would join, which is just as much fun as it sounds.

56 minutes into a seahorse survey, and no seahorses. How unfair that such beautifully impressive creatures are also so agonisingly elusive! I take a glance to my left to see my buddy painstakingly scanning the seagrass bed beneath us… with just four short minutes left to survey, I can tell he’s as anxious as I am to catch a glimpse of this almost mystically dragon-like fish. We’re told in our survey training that seahorses are the masters of camouflage; effortlessly vanishing into their surroundings, but all of a sudden it seems backward, and almost every strand of seagrass deceptively appears as a seahorse. Damn. I stop for a moment and hover underwater, concentrating hard on my surroundings to properly observe the life around me. A couple of wasp-fish lie motionless and hidden in the dense seagrass, a small chocolate-drop sea star lurks next to them in wait of food, to my right three shimmering fusilier fish dart after one another, and there… finally! A seahorse. Strikingly yellow, this is undoubtedly the most impressive I’ve sighted during my six weeks on the island so far, and I can’t help but smile as I signal to my buddy to come over for a look. I can tell that the two of us could be captivated by the golden female for hours. The skilful way the body sways back-and-forth in the swell while its curled tail holds fast to the seagrass is almost hypnotically mesmerising. After allowing the seahorse to accept our presence as unthreatening, I carefully take a few measurements and photos, identifying its species as H. kuda, before the two of us surface for a ceremonial fist bump – survey success!

Hi, I’m Chloe Hatton and I’m staying on the beautifully remote island of Koh Seh and working with MCC for a total of three months. After being accepted to study BSc Marine Biology in the UK next year, I decided to look for some hands-on, practical experience in the field of marine conservation. MCC’s studies into seahorses really intrigued me – particularly the aspects relating to the human and environmental interface in Cambodia and using them as an indicator species for the health of local ecosystems – and here I am! The waters surrounding Kep Archipelago have been decimated by damaging methods of overfishing in the last decades, and the seahorse is a key species that can be monitored to follow recovery in the area with environmental protection brought through MCC’s work. Now half way through my time here, I couldn’t be more pleased with my decision to fly half way around the world to join the (albeit mildly dysfunctional) family of volunteers and staff! Each day I learn something new, laugh at something new and go to bed exhausted!  

The Hippocampus. kuda like my buddy and I found is a smooth bodied seahorse, and one of eight species that the volunteers at MCC learn to identify. The studying begins with presentations from the project’s very own seahorse expert, volunteer coordinator and ‘surfer dude’, Amick. From there, each volunteer receives an iSeahorse Toolkit document to revise from before a small test, ensuring all have a good knowledge of seahorses and substrates before beginning surveys. In addition to this, longer-term volunteers can choose to study fish, substrate or invertebrate ID in depth to assist with reef surveys – something which I’m currently attempting! Information collected on seahorse surveys is added to a database daily, where it can be scrutinised by any volunteers senseless enough to enjoy statistical analysis, and conclusions can be drawn about changes in the population in the waters around Koh Seh.

Aside from collecting data in surveys, MCC also offers the opportunity to be involved with all kinds of projects; Mangrove cultivating, patrolling for illegal trawlers, coral planting, seagrass mapping, aquaculture schemes and even involvement in writing proposals for marine protected areas. In fact, one of the most ground-breaking investigations into underwater seahorse tagging is centred at MCC. Monthly dives take place in which seahorses are safely injected with a polymer dye to form four small coloured marks to identify the individual. When the tagged seahorses are sighted in future, it is then possible to ascertain data regarding the pattern of its movement, growth rate, and any other changes to the individual. Watching the tagging process has been one of my personal highlights whilst on the island and something I will never forget as the most interesting investigation technique I’ve witnessed.

Although the island is a hub of activity each day and everyone is dedicated to the work going on, there’s no shortage of time for play! From volleyball matches to late nights relaxing in hammocks and morning meditation to stargazing, Koh Seh has something for everyone and is impossible not to fall in love with.
MCC is a small organisation operating on so many fronts to fight for conservation, so working here as a volunteer can really give you the feeling of making a difference.

The best part? It all starts with a seahorse.

Word has it that the Liger Learning Center was named in honor of Napoleon Dynamite’s favorite animal. As devoted fans of the movie, that alone was enough for me to be excited about the arrival of twelve students and three teachers from Liger for a week of firsthand experience with marine conservation. However, soon after they piled off the boat, settled in to their bungalows, and began to explore the little island of Koh Seh, my excitement doubled. Why? Because it was apparent these were exceptional students: exceptionally bright and inquisitive, and exceptionally gracious and polite.

They were eager to learn about all aspects of our marine world such as seahorse and coral reef research and MCC’s stand against illegal trawling, but no amount of factual information could compete with the founding of their sensory connection to the sea. For many, it was their first time playing in the gentle waves of the ocean at the end of each day. Only the combination of dinner and dusk could get them out of the water. When they had the opportunity to snorkel over the reef, their eyes lit up and their spirits soared in that particular way that says, “Yep, I’m hooked!”

So many amazing events happened throughout the week: picking up 130 kilos of trash off the beach, flying a drone over the island for an awesome perspective of land meeting sea, student-guided experiments, bunker exploration, dance parties, sunset watching, a campfire, stargazing and spotting bioluminescent plankton.

The best part is that this is only the beginning of their experiential education while partnering with MCC. As a project-based school, over the course of the next year Liger students will likely tackle an important aspect of the addressing the local trawling issue: providing a viable alternative livelihood for illegal fishers. Through researching and developing a sustainable algae-based aquaculture market, these inspiring teens have the power to substantially heal Cambodia’s biologically rich and diverse coast.

{YouTube}RLDXH0W5ng4{/YouTube}

My first night patrol with MCC was an intense but seriously awesome experience.

I didn’t really know what to expect or how everything would go so I sat back and just tried to take everything in! one of the first things we noticed as we headed out was the bio-luminescence . My amazement of this was equalled by the crews ability to locate the illegal trawler boats in the pitch black simply by listening.

As we approached the trawler boat I felt excited, nervous and intrigued all at the same time!! The boat was using electric trawling gear which was a great intercept but things only got more interesting when they tried to make an escape! Their efforts were in vain as we quickly caught them, confiscated their gear and had been given the instructions to take the boat back to our pier. This was crazy for not only me but everyone else as well, as MCC had never actually seized an illegal fishing boat before! From there the fisheries department stepped in and dealt with the situation.

As we returned everyone was filled with a sense of achievement and satisfaction as we knew all the hard work we were doing was sending a strong message to the illegal fishing community and helping to preserve the marine life and underwater environment.