Australia has some of the most exciting scuba diving and unique marine life
flora and fauna in the world.
For 40 years Neville Coleman has been recording and photographing
the marine life of Australia's amazing world of water.
In 1969 I set out to encourage a nation to care about its marine life.
To do that I first had to create a visual expression of life by displaying the true beauty of the nature around us and hope someday that I could also encourage humans to discover the importance of the nature within us.
( Montage by Jorina van der Westhuizen)
The lack of biological data is the most critical threat to all aquatic creatures,
for without it we have no understanding of what exists,
let alone how to manage, or conserve it!
"I believe that by taking good care of nature, we are in essence,
taking good care of ourselves.
In order to take good care of nature, we must understand nature.
We need more people dedicated to that understanding." NC. 1981
Today, is Yesterday's Tomorrow
The future of the oceans of the world and all they support depends on the ability of humans to discover and learn the many secrets of marine life interdependence. We can only do this if we have the foresight and the ingenuity to provide those who make decisions with the information of what lives in our oceans.
This role of discovery, recording and education of our World of Water was once the revered role of science, but science is no longer in a position to explore the World of Water because it does not have the capacity, the funding, or the personnel.
What was once thought about the oceans diversity has multiplied a thousand times over and there are not enough trained scientists and taxonomists in the entire world to deal with what we need to know, now!
We need more marine scientists and taxonomists in order to expand our knowledge and make more people aware of the plight the world's oceans are in.
However, we do not have the luxury of time, the work of discovery, recording and education, must be expanded, as there is no longer, 'time to waste'.
Today's divers are the only ones in a position to take stock
( a photographic inventory) of the ocean's creatures (Marine Resources) and to record and monitor the details of species and their interactive behaviour at our major Dive Sites.
Divers are the only ones that have a chance at saving our seas,
because we are the only one's in the water, and we are the only one's with the opportunity, the motivation and the means to do it.
Leading by Example
This entire Marine Life Inventory of Asia/Indo - Pacific Dive Sites is set up to show by example that we can institute a change in attitudes towards the oceans
and their inhabitants by illustrating just how fantastic the
World of Waters "LIVING TREASURE"
really is!
By encouraging divers and people all over the world to take up the challenge and become UNDERWATER EXPLORERS,
we give the Greatest Adventure Activety on the Planet a purpose,
far beyond, the diving experience.
By photographing the fantastic marine life which inhabits the thousands of
Dive Sites we visit, we can establish base line studies which could be added
to on, on a regular basis.
Today, there are thousands of divers skilled in underwater photography and thousands of new creatures to discover.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Not only does this project provide a basis for learning more about the oceans and their inhabitants it lays the groundwork for divers to become more conservation minded.
It gives divers the opportunity to become local experts in their chosen field of study. We know so little about some life forms that just by recording even the most basic knowledge and images there is every chance to improve on our understanding of nature.
The concept also ensures an excellent basis for shootouts and photographic competitions.
The Diving Industry would benefit enormously by showing the world that WE are prepared to put our resources on the line to provide the means to survey the oceans.
WE could invite the world to join in and become part of the
Greatest Adventure Activity on the Planet
Scuba Diving!
WE are all explorers, and given half the chance,
many people would love to be !
Underwater Explorers!
They just need encouragement
and a good enough reason.
Helping to Save our Seas by taking part in
Marine Life Inventories of Dive Sites
might just "Fit the Bill."
Read more ... click links below
Marine Life Inventory - History
Marine Life Inventory - The Belief
Marine Life Inventory - Realization of a Dream
Neville Coleman's expeditions, fauna surveys, photographic fauna surveys marine life ID courses include every major group of marine life.
Neville Coleman's expertise in living taxonomy and marine life ID extends to the identification of Algae, Sea Grass, Mangroves, Forams, Sponges, Stony Corals, Soft Corals, Sea Anemones, Sea Jellies, Zoanthids, Corallimorphs, Black Corals, Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Crustaceans, Barnacles, Shrimps, Rock Lobsters, Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Molluscs, Chitons, Univalves, Bivalves, Cephalopods, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid, Opisthobranchs, Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs, Bryozoans, Sea Mosses, Echinoderms, Sea Stars, Feather Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Ascidians/Sea Squirts, Marine Fish, Sharks, Marine Reptiles, and Marine Mammals, all found in the waters around Australia.