This week we’re hosting a guest speaker, Maarten Dear Brauwer, a marine scientist from Curtin University.
Maarten has worked as a dive instructor for 8 years in Southeast Asia, the Maldives, and Australia. His research interests include extinction risk of fishes, ecology of soft sediment habitats, and the role of coral reefs to coastal communities in developing countries. His recent work focuses on small cryptic species that live on soft sediments in Southeast Asia. Sandy bottoms inhabited by obscure species like frogfishes, scorpionfishes, or seahorses seem like a far cry from the pristine coral reefs people associate with the Coral Triangle. While sand might look less appealing to the untrained eye, the animals inhabiting these habitats attract thousands of scuba divers each year who love nothing more than going “muck diving” to find rare critters.
In this talk Maarten will talk about his research into muck diving and the critters that drive it. He will discuss the economic value of this particular type of tourism, the habits of the species that drive tourism, and the impacts that scuba divers do (or do not) have on these amazing critters.
Time& Location:
Wednesday, Sept. 26th
6:30 pm
Dalkeith Hall
99 Waratah Ave, Dalkeith WA 6009