Scuba Diving
Almost all of the Living Ocean Foundation’s scientific research is conducted via SCUBA diving. Since the start of the Global Reef Expedition in 2011, the Foundation has worked with 196 different scientists and has safely conducted over 6000 SCUBA dives, spending almost 13,000 hours diving unwater.
Safety is number one. 
Scientific divers are trained to maintain safe scuba diving practices while using a variety of equipment to survey and sample marine life and the physical environment. The intensity of our underwater diving in remote locations and challenging diving conditions requires a keen focus on safety at all times.
The research vessel we used for the Global Reef Expedition, the M/Y Golden Shadow, was equipped with a hyperbaric chamber and fully trained crew, including a highly experienced dive safety officer.
AAUS and Scientific Scuba Diving
The American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) was organized and incorporated in 1983 to oversee scientific diving activities. AAUS is a non-profit, dedicated to establishing and maintaining standards for scientific diving. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation became a member of AAUS in 2011.
With the adoption of AAUS standards throughout most of America’s academic and scientific organizations, divers from various organizations are allowed to perform underwater research together. AAUS is a perfect match for the Living Oceans Foundation collaborative model of Science Without Borders® which brings together scientific divers from around the USA to engage in the Foundation’s scientific research programs into marine life and aquatic ecosystems. AAUS also permitted visiting scientists from around the world to collaborate on our multi-year Global Reef Expedition.
Related Publications:
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2016
Back in the summer of 2013, while conducting the Global Reef Expedition mission to French Polynesia, a team of cinematographers and researchers from Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation were documenting shark feeding without the use of bait or other attractants. This article …
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2016
Putting Preservation on the Map: Living Oceans Foundation Restoring the World’s Oceans thru Science
This article, published in What’s Up Magazine of Annapolis (Maryland), features an interview with Living Oceans Foundation Executive Director Captain Philip G. Renaud and discusses the Foundation’s headquarters relocation to Annapolis along with their charter and mission of preserving and …
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2016
Yachting With an Eco-conscience
When science and superyachts come together, great things can happen. This article featured in the October 2016 issue of ShowBoats International Magazine highlights the Foundation’s use of HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan’s Golden Fleet to further coral reef research and …
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2015
Global Reef Expeditions Assess Coral Reef Health
Prince Khaled bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia had a dream: to fund research expeditions focused on the health of the ocean. The dream became reality when the Living Oceans Foundation was founded in California. Global Reef Expeditions Assess Coral Reef …
