Abdullah Al-Aqab: Rehabilitating coral colonies and implementing the programmatic work plan for marine management projects at the association.
Engineer Abdul-Amir Al-Jazaf, Vice President of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, said that providing “a specialized training course in security and safety for the diving team of the Society aims to qualify Kuwaiti youth at this time and is very appropriate to invest the time lost by the youth due to the Corona pandemic with systematic training until the country reaches the fifth stage of opening up and the gradual return to normal life.”.
M. Al-Jazaf explained that “the diving course specializes in security and safety, which benefits the young volunteers who are members of the diving team in the association in their professional careers and helps them in volunteer work to protect our marine environment, as well as engaging in the association’s projects and programs that include marine wildlife, whether it is documentation, monitoring and follow-up, or the preservation, protection and maintenance of coral reefs, marine habitats and their creatures.”.
For his part, Abdullah Al-Aqab, head of the association’s diving team, confirmed that “the team members are specialists in diving and have specialized and accredited professional certificates, and the stages of the course and its internal and external activities work to qualify them to contribute to the rehabilitation of coral colonies, as well as to implement the programmatic work plan for marine management projects developed by the Kuwait Environment Protection Society.”.
Al-Aqab explained that the course includes training three young members of the team, noting that they are training to jump with full diving equipment from high and varying heights in field locations that require environmental monitoring. He added that “the young men receive training sessions inside pressure-modifying capsules to withstand high pressures and equalize their oxygen pressure.“ He explained that they conduct descents into special tanks to go through the stages of testing the ”full mask” face coverings and to equalize the pressure, which is different from the regular mask, in addition to supplying air through the air board tube. He pointed out another training session to descend into the water without a mask in case of poor visibility to get used to performing the required tasks, carrying weights and equipment, and performing tasks by touch, in addition to practicing solving underwater problems, searching for small parts, untying and assembling them in extremely cold conditions. All these training activities take place in special water tanks designed for training.” He announced other upcoming courses for team members to emphasize the comprehensiveness of their preparation and qualification to carry out the tasks assigned to them by the Kuwait Environment Protection Society.