For the second year in a row Aquacat has continued its support of the Bahamas National Trust (BNT )Dive Tag Iniatiave. This year in addition to purchasing Dive Tags they donated 3 Sony Video Cameras with ikelite housings to assist in monitoring activities in the parks.

Aqua Cat is one of a fleet of live-aboard vessels owned by Bruce Purdy, offering catamaran cruises from Nassau to the islands of the Exumas. Their weekly visits to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (ECLSP) have lead to a longstanding relationship with the BNT. Aqua Cat values the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park as a destination for their guests and supports the management of the protected area with an annual donation.

Aqua Cat has included the Dive Tags as part of their package. By purchasing a tag, divers get to show off the fact that they have been diving in The Bahamas by hooking the tags to their dive equipment.

“Our corporate mission here at Aqua Cat is to help preserve and protect the tourism product that we all so heavily rely on in The Bahamas,” said Captain Des Greyling, Aqua Cat Captain, who visited the Retreat to present the donation. “We have a great desire to continue our relationship with the BNT and deepen the partnership by offering our support to the organisation whenever it’s needed.”

Managing 32 National Parks many with marine components is costly and in order to create sustainable funding for these marine protected areas the BNT developed a Dive Tag Programme to generate income to support educational programmes, maintenance and enforcement in marine parks and installation of moorings to protect reefs and the sea bed. Funding will also be used to support research for expanding the marine protected area network, fisheries species research and other sustainable activities that promote the health of the Bahamian Marine environment.