If you are among many of the Britons looking for an exotic summary holiday this year you might consider the area around the Indian Ocean.
Working as a volunteer in the Maldives allows you to swim with the fishes and examine the coral reeves in all their glory.
Your tasks as a volunteer will include measuring under water corals and vegetation.
Taking pictures of the fish and its habitat is also important.
The information gathered can be used to ensure informed management, education and conservation decisions can be made by governments.
It also allows the local population to learn about the wildlife they live next to and ensure they take every precaution to keep it save from extinction.
Alongside the expedition's biologists, local people might be the best source of knowledge about how life in the ocean has changed over the years and what they are doing that affects it.
Whale shark conservation is also one of the main aims of many volunteer holidays in the Maldives.
This data gathering is more opportunistic than planned as they cannot be tracked in the same way land animals can.
Whale sharks are extremely large animals and can be recognised by the many yellow dots covering their surface.
A fully grown whale shark is 1.
5 meters wide and its mouth runs across most of this length.
Inside its mouth you will find more than 4,000 teeth, however they are fairly harmless and only measures 0,3 cm high.
The whale shark is often seen as a protector of other fish as not many hunting fish will dare to come close to it.
The most important thing for an expedition coming close to a whale shark is to try to get pictures of its gill area.
This has the same qualities as a human fingerprint.
Many expeditions have a boat as the base and most of the time you are there will be spent on the boat.
This allows you to focus on the work and be as close to the water as possible.
It also allows you close proximity to the species you are studying and easy transport between study sites.
There is often a chef on board the expedition vessels that cooks all meals and allows you to taste the flavours of the local food.
IF you are lucky they might teach you a thing or two.
If you have your scuba diving licence you should definitely consider spending your holiday working as a volunteer conserving the magnificent ocean life around the exotic Maldives islands.
Working as a volunteer in the Maldives allows you to swim with the fishes and examine the coral reeves in all their glory.
Your tasks as a volunteer will include measuring under water corals and vegetation.
Taking pictures of the fish and its habitat is also important.
The information gathered can be used to ensure informed management, education and conservation decisions can be made by governments.
It also allows the local population to learn about the wildlife they live next to and ensure they take every precaution to keep it save from extinction.
Alongside the expedition's biologists, local people might be the best source of knowledge about how life in the ocean has changed over the years and what they are doing that affects it.
Whale shark conservation is also one of the main aims of many volunteer holidays in the Maldives.
This data gathering is more opportunistic than planned as they cannot be tracked in the same way land animals can.
Whale sharks are extremely large animals and can be recognised by the many yellow dots covering their surface.
A fully grown whale shark is 1.
5 meters wide and its mouth runs across most of this length.
Inside its mouth you will find more than 4,000 teeth, however they are fairly harmless and only measures 0,3 cm high.
The whale shark is often seen as a protector of other fish as not many hunting fish will dare to come close to it.
The most important thing for an expedition coming close to a whale shark is to try to get pictures of its gill area.
This has the same qualities as a human fingerprint.
Many expeditions have a boat as the base and most of the time you are there will be spent on the boat.
This allows you to focus on the work and be as close to the water as possible.
It also allows you close proximity to the species you are studying and easy transport between study sites.
There is often a chef on board the expedition vessels that cooks all meals and allows you to taste the flavours of the local food.
IF you are lucky they might teach you a thing or two.
If you have your scuba diving licence you should definitely consider spending your holiday working as a volunteer conserving the magnificent ocean life around the exotic Maldives islands.
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