1.1 INTRODUCTION
As divers, we have a vested interest in protecting the marine environment. In many cases, divers do not have environmental information about their own local sites. This specialty is designed to increase the Open Water Diver’s understanding of marine and freshwater environments, the problems facing these unique ecosystems, and the role that divers can play in protecting our marine resources.

1.2 WHO MAY TEACH
Who may teach this course?
1. An active SDI Instructor or Assistant Instructor that has been certified to teach this specialty.

1.3 STUDENT – INSTRUCTOR RATIO
Academic:
2. Unlimited, so long as adequate facility, supplies and time are provided to insure comprehensive and complete training.
Confined Water (Swimming pool-like conditions):
3. N/A.
Open Water (Ocean, lake, quarry, spring, river or estuary):
4. A maximum of eight (8) students per Instructor. However, it is the instructor’s discretion to reduce this number as conditions dictate.
5. The Instructor has the option of adding two (2) more students with the assistance of an active Assistant Instructor or Divemaster.
6. The total number of students an instructor may have in the water is twelve (12) with the assistance of two (2) Assistant Instructors or Divemasters.

1.4 STUDENT PRE-REQUISITES
7. Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver.
8. Ten (10) years or older.

1.5 COURSE STRUCTURE AND DURATION
Open Water execution:
9. Two (2) dives are required with complete briefs and debriefs by the Instructor.
10. Dive plan must include Surface interval, Max no-deco time, etc. to be figured out and logged.
Course Structure:
11. SDI allows instructors to structure courses according to the number of students participating and their skill level.

1.6 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS
Administrative Tasks:
12. Collect the course fees from all the students.
13. Ensure that the students have the required equipment.
14. Communicate the schedule to the students.
15. Have the students complete the Liability Release and Medical history forms.
16. The Instructor should review the Liability Release and Medical Forms before starting on the course.
Upon successful completion of this specialty the instructor must issue the SDI Marine Eco System Awareness Diver specialty experience card. The Instructor must:
17. Issue one of the following cards:
A SDI Insta-Card.
Use either a SDI diver registration form or a Pre-paid Diver certification form to file for the specialty certification card if a SDI certification card is requested.
Award card and certificate.

1.7 REQUIRED EQUIPMENT
18. Basic SDI Open Water SCUBA equipment as prescribed earlier in this manual.
19. Marine Life Identification Guide or equivalent.
20. Diver’s Slate.

1.8 APPROVED OUTLINE
Instructors may use any additional text or materials that they feel help present these topics. The following topics must be covered:
21. Physical Attributes
A. Temperature and Thermoclines.
B. Salinity and Halocline.
C. Dissolved Gases.
D. Light (as it applies to photosynthesis).
E. Nutrient circulation.
F. Waves and Tides.
G. Currents and Nutrient Cycling.
22. Topographical Features.
23. Marine Organisms
A. Plankton
I. Zooplankton.
II. Phytoplankton.
B. Aquatic Plants
I. Types of algae.
II. Seed Plants.
III. Specific Local Plant Life.
C. Aquatic Animals
I. Sponges.
II. Cnidarians.
III. Mollusks.
IV. Arthropods.
V. Echinoderms.
VI. Chordates.
D. Specific Local Animals.
E. Aquatic Food Webs.
F. Behavioral changes due to daily cycle.
24. Ecosystems
A. Tropical Reef.
B. Temperate.
C. Freshwater.
25. Environmentally Friendly Diving Techniques
A. Buoyancy control.
B. Kick technique.
C. Local considerations.
26. Issues Facing Marine Ecosystems
A. Issues of local interest.
B. Global habitat destruction and pollution.
C. Over fishing.
27. Coral Bleaching.
28. Diver Animal Interactions
A. Intrusive.
B. Non-intrusive.
C. Feeding.
D. Treating marine life injuries.
29. Observation Techniques
A. Grids.
B. Passive observation.
30. Collection Methods.

1.9 REQUIRED SKILL PERFORMANCE AND GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Dives should be completed at two (2) different sites or at different times of the day. Students are required to successfully complete the following:
31. Open Water – Dive one (1)
A. Buoyancy Control.
B. Make General observations
I. Location.
II. Bottom Composition.
III. Marine Life.
IV. Special Characteristics.
V. Indications of Human Impact.
C. Grid Observations
I. Make two separate sets of grid observations during the dive.
II. Describe all Marine Life for later identification.
III. Record behavior.
32. Open Water – Dive (2) (Complete this dive at a different site or time of day than dive one (1))
A. General Observations
I. Same as Open water dive one (1).
B. Specific Observations
I. Same as Open water dive one (1).
33. Site Debrief
A. Compare and Contrast dive sites.
B. Discuss the effect of Human impacts.
C. Discuss ways to minimize human impact.