Koh Tao’s Conservation Diving – What is a substrate survey, and how can it be applied towards conservation?
In a world full of pollution and rushing hours where people are less worried about where we came from; The Ocean. Still, we are one small movement and voice, trying to spread out the awareness of our ocean home by doing what we love. Survey, explore, and most importantly protect it.
As part of the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program on Koh Tao, one of our surveys for our ecological monitoring program is the substrate survey. This technique helps us gather essential research data, track changes in reef health, and support long-term conservation efforts.
What is the substrate survey?
A substrate survey is essentially a way to explore and analyze the seabed in a specific area and identify exactly what you’re looking at. For a conservation diver, being able to identify different substrates is essential. Substrates include live components such as corals, algae, and clams, as well as non-living components like sand, silt, rocks, and rubble. For hard corals, it’s important to further identify their genus, growth form, and health, which is why the substrate survey is often considered one of the trickier surveys to complete. It challenges divers to sharpen their observation skills and really pay attention to the fine details of the reef.
How to do the substrate survey? And how does it work towards reef conservation?
To do a substrate survey, divers lay a 100 m transect line, and at every 50cm, the substrate beneath the line is recorded on a slate. Once the dive is complete, this information is added to the online database. By collecting substrate data over time, we can better understand how Koh Tao’s reefs are doing, what changes are happening, and what conservation actions might be needed to help them thrive. For example, an area’s increase in sand may indicate that there is a sedimentation issue, which can smother corals. And by recording the coral genus, it is possible to monitor coral diversity over time as well. It’s a simple but powerful method that turns every conservation diver into a meaningful part of protecting our ocean home.
Where can you learn more about the substrate survey?
New Heaven Reef Conservation Program conducts the substrate survey as part of our EMP (Ecological Monitoring Program). During this program, participants learn everything they need to know, from understanding substrate types in the classroom to practicing real substrate survey techniques during conservation dives, to analyzing the data collected underwater.
The substrate survey is included in the first week of our program cycle, giving you a solid foundation before moving on to more advanced reef monitoring skills. If you’re interested in joining us for a conservation diving on Koh Tao and contributing to meaningful reef conservation work, feel free to check out our course availability and schedule. The better you understand the reef, the better you can help protect it.
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