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Thai divers remove fishing nets from coral reefs

Divers removed over 29,600 square feet of fishing nets

that were covering coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand

Location: Pattani province, Thailand

40 divers took part in the two-day operation

which revealed long lines of coral bleaching inside a protected area

(SOUNDBITE) (Thai) VOLUNTEER DIVER, CHANCHOT PIRIYASATIT, SAYING:

"The fishing net that was over the coral reef created complex tangles. The hardest part of this operation was to remove the fishing net from the staghorn corals because the reef was full of branches and fragile."

The reef is expected to recover in two to three months

(SOUNDBITE) (Thai) MARINE, SKOL SUKHEESAN, SAYING:

"The mission was accomplished due to the good photographs that were captured by the diver who found the fishing net. It made our operation much easier in terms of planning and preparing the equipment. This helped us to finish the mission one day earlier than planned."