NEWS
GARMIN Partnered with LAMAVE for the Descent Mission
GARMIN partnered with the Large Marine Vertebrate Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE) in their recent Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign, the Descent Mission, to unite divers from across Asia to support scientific research for the conservation of marine megafauna and their habitats.
“GARMIN and LAMAVE share the same ethos that science-based technology, people, and knowledge is key. We believe that great things happen when we can work together.”
The campaign started with the Dive For Purpose Charity Auction, which saw influencers from all over Asia raise USD 6363.45 (after fees) by auctioning their Descent Mk1 dive computers online. The proceeds were donated to LAMAVE to support various marine conversation efforts in the Philippines.
The campaign also highlighted the use of citizen science for marine research in the Every Dive Counts photo competition. Citizen Science is the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public as part of a collaborative project with scientists.
The competition saw more than 1,800 submissions from all over Asia of 638 marine species encounters. Hosted on the iNaturalist.org platform, these observations were analyzed, added to global scientific catalogues, and shared with other scientific projects on the site.
Scientists from LAMAVE were able to:
An esteemed panel of underwater photographers and marine conservation scientists chose the winners based on the entries’ photographic merit and scientific contribution.
The team from LAMAVE also chose Bert Klangpremchitt as the winner for the "Best of LAMAVE Mission". His observation best represented how we want the public to use the platform to share information when they encounter any marine species. He also contributed the most (with 183 observations!), showing his commitment to the mission of recording biodiversity.
This campaign would not be possible without the help of the kind people from GARMIN, our esteemed judges, our brilliant influencers, and the public who bid and sent in their entries.
A massive thank you to everyone who was involved in this campaign!
To read more about the Descent Mission’s impact, download the report below.