Join forces with Sea Shepherd and fight marine crime

March 8, 2016 Have you ever gone diving and saw something illegal taking place? Perhaps some poaching occurring in a marine park, or a ship wantonly dumping waste materials into the sea? Besides calling the local authorities yourself, you can also report the crime to Sea Shepherd Dive. This is a new initiative by the Sea Shepherd organisation, developed as a "support and report" network to enable the dive community to fight poaching and other illegal activities that take place within the marine environment. Divers who witness such crimes can email an account of the incident to Sea Shepherd Dive, which would then notify the local, national or regional authorities about the criminal activity. If they fear any repercussions or consequences, they can choose to remain anonymous and indicate this preference in their report. "Sea Shepherd Dive takes the world's more effective marine conservation organisation and joins forces with like-minded environmental-conscious dive centres. This formation of a global report network will enable Sea Shepherd to have eyes on the ground in far flung destinations where wildlife crimes, habitat destruction and over-exploitation is occurring daily," said Sea Shepherd Dive Director Gary Stokes. In addition, Sea Shepherd Dive also supports divers by collaborating with responsible dive operators and providing information on environmental training programmes that educate divers on what they can do to protect the marine environment. Dive operators who wish to partner with Sea Shepherd need to observe the organisation's Code of Conduct, designed to maximise enjoyment of the oceans while minimising negative impact on marine creatures and their habitats. As a partner, they can gain more business via exposure to Sea Shepherd's global support base.