Perhentian marine Research Station

At the end of 2016, the Perhentian Marine Research Station (PMRS) was established when it was handed over by the Blue Temple Conservation, and it is now under the social enterprise Fuze Ecoteer. In the past, PMRS was involved in seagrass mapping, assessing the health of coral reefs along with encouraging recycling and waste separation schemes around the island. From 2019 there has been a shift in its focus; PMRS started its Direct Action Conservation scheme by constructing trial plots of artificial reefs, and it also focuses on liaising with the local stakeholders (dive shops and resorts) to implement waste management initiatives such as jumbo bags and mesh recycling bins for collecting plastics and managing waste around the islands.

PMRS is small scale research station with basic facilities and limited workforce. Therefore, they mainly focus on the practical aspects of marine research and conservation. This also means that they can accommodate a wide range of volunteers who undergo training in marine life identification and underwater survey techniques, prior to the acquisition of data.

perhentian marine research station logo colour
Marine conservation research diving Perhentian islands Malaysia

Impact Stats in 2019

Aim

to create a sustainable Perhentian Islands in partnership with the other FE projects and the local stakeholders.

Objectives

  • To create a baseline of data to continue to monitor the environmental impacts surrounding the islands.
  • To preserve the reefs & marine life from tourist impacts, & create awareness to the community & stakeholders so we can eventually become obsolete.
  • Assess the effectiveness of artificial reefs at attracting fish life.
  • Educate tourists to be more sensitive to the marine environment.
  • Facilitate recycling and waste separation schemes by resorts & dive centres

Internships

If you want a career in rainforest research & conservation then an internship would be suitable for you. Especially bird lovers.






Volunteer

If you want to physically play a part in grass roots marine conservation then there is no need to look any further. The Perhentian Islands are paradise under and above the surface. If you join us then you will help with research and other direct conservation actions.

Buy Our merchandise

If you want to support the cause but unable to join physically then the best way to support our cause is to buy merchandise where 51% of the fee goes to the project.



Find out more detailed information about
PMRS below

seagrass research perhentian marine research station Malaysia

Research

Fish Assemblage And Species Diversity

 

Perhentian Island is rich with fish species around the island. Fish diversity is one of vital reef health indicator. Fish species richness and abundance of reef fish communities have often been related to structural complexity of the reef particularly.
Higher complexity within the area may promote high abundance and diversity because of ecosystem services provided by coral reef. As coral  reef is well distributed around the island, fish diversity is impressive and PMRS acknowledge 
their present and look forward to establish our reef  fish database for selected indicator species for health reef such butterfly fish, wrasse, sweetlips parrotfish and grouper.

Most popular indicator species for a healthy coral reef is shark. Blacktip reef sharks are abundant (juveniles and adults) in our waters, but no documented data on their nursery or hunting ground. Hence, PMRS is aiming to understand the  distribution and abundance of shark species around the islands. PMRS will be compiling the database records of every shark species observed along with location, sex, size and any observed behaviour, i.e., feeding, swimming, etc.  Divers and local dive shops are encourage to contribute their survey data which will increase our survey capacity around the island.

Here you can see a paper produced by the Perhentian Turtle Project Team using the photo ID technique

Using photographic identification to monitor sea turtle populations at Perhentian Islands Marine Park in Malaysia

 

 


Sea grass Mapping

Seagrasses play an important role in improving water quality, provide shelter to micro life and are also an important food source, especially for sea turtles.  Currently, seagrass in Perhentian beds are abundant but fragmented around the island. .

In 2018, PMRS has mapped most of the seagrass beds around the islands, and also surveyed seagrass habitats using the Seagrass-Watch methodology to monitor abundance and assess their ecological values. Moving forward from the surveyed data, PMRS will focus on understanding the impacts of the monsoon season on the mapped seagrass beds. The size and intensity of the waves increases during the monsoon which can affect the seagrass beds around the island. Therefore, PMRS

aims to conduct annual seagrass surveys before and after the monsoon period and continue study the impact.

Additionally, PMRS aim to work closely with the  Perhentian Turtle Project  (PTP) to measure the abundance, spatial density and diversity of seagrasses around both islands. PMRS will also share any data on the distribution of seas turtles around the seagrass beds to PTP.

**is based from our mapping data we and this research will be internal project research, not part of volunteer dive program. Planning for one survey in May/June at Teluk Pauh with PTP.

Scuba diving conservation project reef clean up Perhentian Malaysia

Conservation in action

Artificial Reef

PMRS uses discarded glass bottles to create new substrata to attach coral it is simple yet an effective technique to build artificial reefs. The glass bottles used are collected from bars and resorts around the Perhentian Islands.

Artificial reefs normally use the coral fragments found on the seafloor since they are dismally abundant due to boat strikes and snorkellers damaging the corals. However, PMRS are aiming to start a coral nursery, where fragmented corals (1-2cm) will be tied onto several lines, and once suitable, they will be transplanted onto the artificial reefs.

The first artificial reef, the Amex reef, was constructed in April 2019 and is gradually growing and being used by different species as their home – including goby fish, damselfish, moray eels and even fish eggs during fish identification surveys.

Stakeholder Engagement

PMRS actively engages with local dive shops and resorts where PMRS gives weekly awareness talks in collaboration with the Perhentian Turtle Project. This educates their guests and customers on marine conservation, plastic pollution issues, and eco-snorkelling and diving practices.



PMRS also aims to involve and persuade the local dive shops to build and maintain artificial reefs and coral nurseries around the islands. This is crucial in achieving our main aim – to restore and preserve our coral reefs – once dive shops start taking responsibility for their dive sites and divers.

Plastic Free Perhentian

Plastic free Perhentian conservation project fuze ecoteer

In collaboration with the Perhentian Eco-Education Project, PMRS is aiming to reduce the amount of plastic on the Perhentian Islands by collecting and sending the plastic for recycling on the mainland and any type 2 and type 5 plastic being recycled on island utilising the Precious Plastics machine.  PMRS along with the other FE projects are campaigning for single use plastics to be banned from the islands.  PMRS has initiated

  • providing mesh bins and jumbo bags to local dive shops and resorts for collecting plastics, which will be sent to a recycling facility in the mainland.
  • Provide jumbo bags with plastics at the local school to be used for upcycling with the Precious Plastic Machine.
  • Set up a weekly Conservation Education Station booth at the Panorama Divers to brief snorkelers and divers on eco-friendly practices along with educating the public.
  • Organise weekly beach cleanups in collaboration with other FE projects
  • Conduct micro-plastic surveys with Portsmouth University.

Support our causes and buy some merchandise

You can support the Fuze Ecoteer projects and supported organisations by buying their merchandise.  A minimum of 60% of your fee goes directly towards the conservation cause linked to that product.  The other percentage is for production costs.

Turtle Adoption

You can adopt one of our turtles in the Perhentian islands.  Through our turtle photo ID database we have identified over 260 turtles that have been seen around the Perhentian Islands.  Support our important conservation and adopt today.

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