Project Overview

The full title of the project is: “Factors Controlling Species Distribution on and around Brunei Shell Petroleum’s Hydrocarbon Production Facilities, Offshore Belait, Brunei Darussalam”.

The project is being executed on a voluntary basis by members of Panaga Sub-Aqua Club and the Brunei Garrison Dive Club.

Technical Supervision is provided by Dr. Steve Oakley, head of the Tropical Research and Conservation Centre, Kuching.

Funding to cover operational and supervisory expenditure is provided by BSP.

As always we rely heavily on the continued goodwill, vision and support of West Operations staff and BSP Management.  

Primary Objectives

1)   Promote awareness of potential positive impact of the oil/gas industry on marine ecosystems.

2)   By understanding local controls on species distribution, provide information to assist optimum placement of future artificial reef structures.  

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AUGUST 2005    SEPTEMBER 2005   DECEMBER 2005

 THE PYRAMIDS

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BSAC  DUKE OF EDINBURGH PRIZE  2004

Since the original proposal, the project has achieved quite some profile with an article being published in Salam (the BSP house magazine), two articles in Destinations (the Shell Outpost magazine), and recently one of John's photos was used as the backdrop for the BSP Annual Report for 2003. The project was presented by Steve and John at the Global Outpost Conference and the Regional Geophysical Conference in May 2004.

Each month, Steve issues a bulletin on the projects progress entitled PEPTalk

However, the scientific value of the project will lie in the conclusions drawn from the data that has been painstakingly compiled from dives on the platforms over the last two years. This weekend, Prof. Steve Oakley, our project supervisor, visited us and gathered six volunteers who sat down for four hours to analyse some of the data. 

Much has already been analysed as it was recorded, however, the huge photo montages take a concerted effort, and we hope to complete the job by the end of next week. The data will then pass through some clever statistical software, and we hope that conclusions may be drawn from this large, unique data base. It's not just software that will help us. If you have an idea about the project or want to help just let us know. We have to compile a comprehensive report by the end of the year.

The picture on the left is typical of the hundreds of photographs taken during the last two years. This one from AMDP-07, and designed specifically for the identification of 'small non-mobiles' shows the usual shallow arrangement of Dendronephthya sp., at the top of the bracing, with Tubastrea sp., and Acanthagorgia sp., below.

Many thanks to Steve and Elisabeth who gave over their house for the weekend!

With sponsorship from the Jubilee Trust, we commissioned Scubazoo of Kota Kinabalu to make a DVD based on a story-board prepared by Steve Holyoak and the cameramen, Roger Munns and Matt Oldfield. The weather allowed Roger and Matt each to film twice a day for a full week. They made 15 dives, including one night dive on the platforms, and a couple of local reef dives. The immense amount of footage and some BSP archive material was whittled down to a 20 minute documentary. The first version was good, but somehow lacking the impact that the material deserved. Ultimately, Scubazoo re-narrated the DVD and colour-balanced it. The product now carried that missing impact and the DVD has been extremely popular.

It was shown at local conferences and at the first Brunei Environmental Conference in November 2005 and at the BSAC Diving Offcers' Conference in London in December 2005.