Emperor Echo will be put to use recording important marine data over the next few months.
Dr Ahmed Shawky of the EcoPro Training Center will be leading guests on three separate week-long trips in June, July and November during which time they will take part in coral and reef checks as well monitoring and identifying marine life.
Dr Shawky – who has a PhD in the ecological behaviour of dugong as well two masters degrees in the behaviour of spinner dolphin – has worked for many years in the Red Sea national parks and has an indepth knowledge of the environmental issues they face.
The June and July trips will take in Emperor’s South & St Johns itinerary with the November expedition based on our Daedalus, Fury & Elphinstone route.
Dr Shawky said: “In the past I have worked with individual participants. But rather than do it at a distance I had this idea to collect all participants together to visit all the marine life in one place at one time
“In preparation for the trips I have run online courses with the participants so they are qualified by the time we come together. We will the spend our time on the trip monitoring and recording the marine life as well as having presentations every day.
“I select the seasons carefully for the trips. In June and July when the first two trips are going it is the high breeding season for green turtle and for spinner dolphin. In November it is the sharks.
“Each participant has their own account on coralwatch.org, reef.org and reefcheck.org and we will all record our findings and data on there.”
Dr Shawky chose to use Emperor for his first trips but hopes it will be a long-standing relationship.
“Emperor have been the pioneer for this with me,” he added.
“I have known Luke (Atkinson, Emperor Divers Red Sea general manager) for many years and he has helped me a lot. He knows this is very important work.
“Emperor have been very good in their assistance.
“Also, Echo is the perfect boat with the two decks which means one can work like a classroom.
“When these trips are a success we can hopefully plan for more in the years to come.”
There are still very limited spaces on all three trips and more information can be found by visiting https://www.ahmedshawky.net/Marine-Eco-Expedition.html. You can also speak to our friendly reservations team on +20 122 234 0995 (WhatsApp) or [email protected] if you would like to learn more.