Biology courses and BSAC

[Hackric]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to know if there is any tradition of running biology courses in UK with BSAC?

Just seen on BSAC website, it looks like they are preparing a biology course... I do not know for how long they are saying this...
I think it is good to have such kind of trainings to keep a club busy during the winter.

Let me know your thoughts,

Cedric.

[Matt-75]

I dont know for BSAC, but i did a PADI OW as part of a Marine Biology course long ago. The same course assuming id stayed at that university then trained you over three years up to divemaster. For a nominal fee of course.

But the university was part of Operation Wallacea, and the people passing the courses were kind of expected to head out to Indonesia and Cuba (and some other spots) and conduct marine surveys every year. I never got around to doing one, as at the time raising £3000 for a 3 week working holiday (that included 2 days on a boat, traipsing through a jungle for 1 day to get to the place, plus the nearest chamber was 700 miles away) was not exactly high on the list of things i wanted to do, not to mention sounding somewhat unsafe at the time.

I dont know for the BSAC course, or in general. I think i just landed at one of those universities that made some extra effort.

[allen]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to know if there is any tradition of running biology courses in UK with BSAC?

Just seen on BSAC website, it looks like they are preparing a biology course... I do not know for how long they are saying this...
I think it is good to have such kind of trainings to keep a club busy during the winter.

Let me know your thoughts,

Cedric.
There's a Marine Life ID course that's been run in Plymouth for some years, but it needs a specialist to run it - I'm not sure if it runs anywhere else. There are occasional courses that are someone's pet project and they set it up and run it under the BSAC banner - Marine Oceanography was one such that I did a few years ago, but has since disappeared.

If you want to improve your id or recording skills, I'd suggest you get on a Seasearch course - http://www.seasearch.co.uk/ - we've arranged to run these in branch (along with nautical archaeology) to broaden members interests, and brighten up those winter months....

[Dawn Watson]

Dr Frances Dipper is available to run marine ID courses; I've attended BSAC and Seasearch versions with her. She's based in Cambridgeshire. She's doing a fish ID course for us in Yarmouth next Spring and we'll run the marine id the year after.

[~Zissou~]

Hi there,
I also wondered if there was any news on the marine appreciation course or similar course?
The bsac site has said the course is 'under development' for a while now, which is a shame as I really wanted to do it this summer.
Does anyone have any info as to what kind of Marine biology courses are available besides the Marine ID course for an Ocean Diver?
Basically I'm interested in Marine Biology and would do a degree in it if I could, but right now I can't. I've considered doing a PADI wreck course also as an alternative to BSAC wreck as I can't seem to find a wreck course thats still running this summer, but the only PADI ones I've found have been about 3 times the price :(
Any info appreciated! Thanks !

[allen]

Hi there,
I also wondered if there was any news on the marine appreciation course or similar course?
The bsac site has said the course is 'under development' for a while now, which is a shame as I really wanted to do it this summer.
Does anyone have any info as to what kind of Marine biology courses are available besides the Marine ID course for an Ocean Diver?
Basically I'm interested in Marine Biology and would do a degree in it if I could, but right now I can't. I've considered doing a PADI wreck course also as an alternative to BSAC wreck as I can't seem to find a wreck course thats still running this summer, but the only PADI ones I've found have been about 3 times the price :(
Any info appreciated! Thanks !

Try Seasearch for marine ID/recording - see my earlier post and a maybe a NAS course - the Intro and Part 1 are good, as is the metal shipwrecks course - see http://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/

[~Zissou~]

wow thanks Allen!
Seasearch is only for Sports Divers is it not? At least that's what the website says, and I am currently researching into taking the Sports Diver qualification this summer, if I can find somewhere not busy on holiday! Also I'd need to wait for the courses to trickle back near me, as I've just missed the ones in my area! gutted. But I'll be sure to check back in with seasearch after those hiccups.
As for NAS, thanks again! Seems like a great organisation, I'm definitely looking into the BSAC wreck course with them, its a shame its not on the bsac website..
thanks a bunch Allen! :D

[Dawn Watson]

You do have to be a Sports diver with at least 20 dives (10 of which must be UK sea dives) to do any diving with Seasearch, but you can do the theory day in the meantime.