Seagrass evaluation in the Al Wadjj Lagoon

Today, I (Felix) would like to say a few words myself! While Susann has been diligently working on her doctoral thesis in the past week, I went on a small expedition to the lagoon near Al Wadjj, about 500km north of KAUST. As part of the "Vision 2030", a hotel landscape with leisure and holiday offers is planned to be created in the entire area. Our task was to assess the seagrass stocks there as a basis for further development planning. So it was not purely a scientific expedition, as it was noticeable through the space in the car and staying in a real hotel!

After a somewhat bumpy planning phase, we started directly on the first day with successful dives and a lot of seagrass. Throughout the week, we were able to identify further seagrass stocks and update the distribution maps created in advance using satellite images. Unfortunately, we didn't see as much of the much-praised reefs ("Maldives of the Red Sea"), but we were able to work in a fantastic environment instead.

Unfortunately, the bad weather repeatedly forced us back to port, and in the end, we only had 2.5 working days left.. Maybe we'll go back soon, Inshallah! ;)