Careers in Scuba Diving

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PADI Instructor, Martin Edwards married his bride, Thassanee, onboard the luxury diving vessel, SeaQuest.

July 16, 2009 turned out to be a perfect day for the wedding, which took place on a trip to Norman Reef – located 90 minutes out of Cairns in Queensland. Local celebrant, Nicola Beulke, had prepared their unique wedding ceremony in two parts commencing on the bow of SeaQuest. Thassanee dazzled in a traditional handmade Thai wedding dress her parents had sent from Thailand. The captain, Greg Brooker, gave her away.

For the second stage of the ceremony, Thassanee wore a beautiful white wedding gown, also handmade in Thailand - sent from her sister, Sumarlee. Over this went her scuba gear and still looking every bit as stunning alongside Martin, they took the plunge together from SeaQuest to 15m below.

Captivating divers on the way to “Troppo’s Lounge” dive site, they exchanged wedding rings and signed the Certificate of Marriage.Martin recounts, “The dive was great fun, seeing the expressions on other divers’ faces when they came across us underwater made the day...for everyone.”

Martin is a passionate diver, inspired by the early TV series, Sea Hunt and later, Jacques Cousteau underwater documentaries. He considers himself fortunate to have shared with a diverse range of people what diving and the Great Barrier Reef has to offer.

But when Martin first met Thassanee, swimming and diving were not pastimes she was into.“14 months ago Thassanee couldn’t swim and was scared of the water to say the least, so many things were - and still are - new to her”, says Martin. “With the help of excellent PADI Instructors from Deep Sea Divers Den in Cairns, her confidence and competence grew.”

Thassanee is now a certified PADI diver and recently completed her 100th dive.

“Coming to Australia has been a big thing for me and my family, so many things are different here”, relates Thassanee. “Martin wanted me to make up my own mind as to whether I would learn to dive. All of the crew were very helpful and supportive. Now I love diving and I am learning how to take underwater photos as well”.Martin adds, “Going out on SeaQuest is the highlight of our week, we enjoy working with the rest of the crew, each other and diving together. It seemed natural that we would share our commitment whilst doing something we both enjoy.”

Please join everyone at PADI in wishing Martin and Thassanee a long and happy life together and many more wonderful diving experiences on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.

Photo’s courtesy of Lauren Sando, Vili Baleilevucha and Greg Brooker.

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PADI would like to draw your attention to this year's European Shark Week, 10 – 18 October. Most European shark populations are declining from overfishing. This event is a unique opportunity for shark advocates and European citizens around the world to demonstrate their support for shark conservation and effect urgently needed changes.

PADI and the Project AWARE Foundation have been members of the Shark Alliance for many years contributing to the coalition’s great successes for shark conservation. Project AWARE is a member of the coalition’s Steering Committee since 2009.

The Shark Alliance currently counts 72 members and is more than ever before committed to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies.

At the beginning of 2009, the European fisheries ministers debated over the European Commission's Plan of Action for sharks and adopted it thanks in large part to support from Shark Alliance Members including PADI divers and Project AWARE supporters who took action during last year's European Shark Week.

European Shark Week 2008 saw the collection of more than 100,000 signatures. This was a huge success for the Shark Alliance and more importantly for shark conservation not only in Europe but worldwide.

Let's make European Shark Week 2009 even bigger to ensure European Fisheries Ministers follow through on the Shark Plan's initiatives and truly safeguard sharks. This year's European Shark Week petition is calling on Spain's Prime Minister Zapatero (Spain takes over the EU presidency from January 2010) to promote sustainable shark fisheries management including urgently needed revisions to the EU finning ban.

Shark Facts:

• Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year
• Most European shark populations are declining from overfishing
• 1/3 are threatened with extinction
• Even the world's fastest shark, the shortfin Mako, can't out-swim fishingfleets on the high seas
• The lucrative market for shark fins is estimated to be increasing by 5 percent each year
• Restrictions on international trade are in place for only three sharkspecies - basking, whale and white sharks
• Europe includes some of the most important shark fishing nations in theworld
• In 1997, Spain reported the world's largest catch of sharks (followed byFrance, the UK and Portugal)
• There are no limits on the amount of blue sharks taken in European orinternational fisheries

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