Govt divers train in new skills

Two local divers have qualified as Scientific Divers following a week-long course at the University of Algarve’s Centre of Marine Sciences.

Clive Crisp and Karl Netto from the Department of the Environment both qualified from a Global Underwater Explorers course undertaken last year.

The course taught the divers buoyancy control, trim, team awareness, gas management, dive planning and decompression.

The Dive Team will use these new found skills to continue to monitor the underwater environment throughout British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and for the benefit of nature conservation.

The course covered a wide array of topics including navigation, line survey techniques and elements of biology, archaeology and geology.

“We have made huge strides in improving and protecting our marine environment, and in equipping our team for more and better science,” said Minister for Environment Dr John Cortes.

“This is a tremendous achievement that would have been undreamt of just a few years ago. The collaboration with the University of Algarve, a leader in marine science, is also particularly satisfying.”