Whitetip Reef Shark

It is probably the most common and easily observable shark in the entire Red Sea.

The “Triaenodon obesus”, better known as the white-tip shark, is a shark in all respects and, as such, it has its great ecosystem importance and, to make it more special than you might think, is the only representative of the Triaenodon genus.

Recognizable especially from the white tip of the first dorsal fin and of the caudal, as well as from the wide and squared muzzle and the almost triangular shape particularly, in the majority of cases, when it’s seen from above.

The white tip reaches 2 meters in length, although very often it is smaller.

Very sedentary and “stick-in-the-mud” shark, we categorize it among “those who... look at the reef” though actually it just looks at it very closely.

Most of the time, in fact, we see it solitary or in small groups resting on the reef, from a few meters of water up to about 40 meters deep, while at night it shows its most active behavior by going hunting for small fish and crustaceans.

It seems hard to believe, but often the white tip is mistaken with the oceanic whitetip. In English, though, the difficult ambiguity remains: white-tip reef shark and oceanic white-tip shark.

Yet, observing them thoroughly, both the color and the behavior (not to mention the nearly two meters of difference in maximum size) make the two sharks very different from each other ...

But speaking of sharks, you know that often comes out of the most irrational side of the human being...

It has probably already been written in other tabs, but this must become a sort of Tibetan mantra that every diver must remember: never swim against it; never fall upon it from above.

If it rests on the bottom, get very close to the bottom itself and approach slowly, maintaining a distance so to not disturb the animal. In case the shark is swimming, especially if at night, do not force it to sudden changes of direction that would certainly bother the shark, and could be misinterpreted by the over-zealous diver.

Trash Waste Solutions and Celebes Divers as partners in a new type of project in the sustainable control and recycling of garbage and plastic on the idyllic island of Siladen in the Bunaken National Park - Manado

Trash Waste Solutions (TWS) is a non-profit association founded in 2019 with its headquarters in Switzerland. Our vision is to free the underwater world from garbage and to protect it sustainably.

We want to understand the bigger picture of the problem and get to the root of it. We want to prevent further waste entering the environment by recycling the waste in a circular economy and avoiding it at the source. The solutions should be planned together with the local population and administered by them and supported financially and structurally by our NGO in Switzerland.

Our project starts in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, where the beautiful marine life needs immediate protection.

To this end, we have developed concepts for complete material cycles (plastics, compost, metal, not metals, etc.) and bring holistic disci-

plines with us, such as training in environmental awareness and generating jobs on site in the recycling industry.

In Switzerland we coordinate events to raise environmental awareness, such as diving for trash in lakes and rivers, and take part in cleanup campaigns.

In the medium-term / long-term, we would like to develop holistic zero waste concepts that significantly reduce the amount of waste that has been generated so far, as far as possible no more waste ends up in

landfills and recycle the waste that arises, i.e. adding the material cycle as a secondary product (recycling and / or organic recovery).

To this end, synergies between actors at all levels (civil society, private sector and politics) are promoted.

As a target area for our first project, we have chosen a small island called Siladen near Manado (Indonesia / North Sulawesi).

Siladen is a beautiful island in the heart of the Coral Triangle in Indonesia and is one of the many islands in the Bunaken National Park, which was designated a UNESCO Heritage Site in 2020. It is one of the most popular diving hot spots in the region.

The island is surrounded by a coral reef full of life, with a wide variety of sea turtles, all types of corals, nudibranchs, algae, tropical fish and even some reef sharks to be seen in the area. The beaches are often used by the turtles for nesting. As the first sub-component of our project in North Sulawesi, we deal with the recycling of plastic waste. Hard plastic packaging in particular has a high volume in the environment and on beaches and is comparatively easy to recycle.

In the first step, before we can conceptualize and scale up complete material cycles (plastics, compost, metal, not metals, etc.), we build a small pilot plant for the material recycling of plastics.

For the pilot plant, we use the open-source idea from Precious Plastics, in particular the shredder and extruder components. Precious Plastic is an open-source hardware plastic recycling project.

The basis is the feasibility study (AS-IS study) by Trash Waste Solutions, which was developed by the core team with a 3-month stay in Indonesia.

Also important is the master’s thesis `Approaches to reduce marine litter - a baseline study in the pilot region of North Sulawesi, Indonesia` (2018, Julia Giebel / Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal), an East Java recycling report from Holland and the support of the Sam Ratulangi University in Manado. The project was started by Dave Hakkens in 2013 and is now in its fourth iteration. It relies on a range of machines and tools that grind, melt and inject recycled HDPE, enabling the creation of new products from recycled plastic on a small scale.

All information produced by the project, such as codes, drawings and source materials, is available online free of charge under the Creative Commons License: “Creative Commons

Attribution - Share Alike International 4.0”.

I Concept Precious Plastic a diving center. Both are located directly on the beach and are perfect for a relaxing diving and snorkeling vacation.

Celebes Divers has been focusing on environmental protection for years and has already taken numerous measures to, for example, reduce the amount of waste and minimize the ecological burden on the environment and has been actively involved in sustainability and environmental protection for years.

As a product, we define the result of a recovery process / recycling product (upcycling), e.g. plastic products or plastic semi-finished products, metal and non-metal intermediate products, composted soil, etc. In 2019 Celebes Divers was certified as the first climate-neutral tourism resort in North Sulawesi.

The product from the precious plastics plant can have different shapes depending of the molding.

In our pilot plant we would like to produce bricks for building houses, cottages and walls, see photo below. We use HDPE plastic waste (high-density polyethylene (HDPE / PEHD)) as the base material. Building houses with such bricks has already proven itself in Colombia.

Celebes Divers is proud to be a partner in this project

Celebes Divers, founded in 2000 by a family of marine biologists, operates 2 resorts on the island of Siladen, the Onong and the Kuda Laut Boutique Dive Resort, both resorts with Celebes Divers not only wants to involve its employees, but also its guests. With a minimal amount per night and per guest, you can help ensure that further projects in the field of environmental and climate protection can be implemented.

Trash Waste Solutions www.trash-waste-solutions.com Markus Kurath

Celebes Divers PT www.celebesdivers.com Klaus Schnappenberger

Sea Save Foundation has created these fundraisers as a service and are taking zero percent of any funds raised.

Please consider helping your favorite crew: https://seasave.org/scubaambassadors/

Hannes is an award-winning underwater photographer and scuba instructor with a particular passion for capturing images of sharks and other big animals, as well as actively supporting their conservation.

He began his underwater adventures in 2003 in a dark and very cold lake in Germany.

Since then, his travels have taken him to many of the world’s most exiting diving destinations.

Hannes is currently the resident photographer at The Cortez Club in La Paz, Mexico where he offers all services related to underwater photography: workshops and private guiding, as well as photo shoots.