SUBIOS 2008 celebrated the theme, ‘Wrecks as Ocean Habitats’. From 6th to 12th October, the week-long event possessed a strong underwater focus and, through its various activities, aimed at different target audiences the islands once again celebrated their marine heritage in the form of the SUBIOS Underwater Film and Image Festival.

The main activity for this event was the underwater image and video contest where divers could submit to six different categories: Image Contest, Best Image Shot in Seychelles, Public Choice Award for Image, and similar categories for Video.  Throughout the week there were photo shoots where the participants registered to take images and then hand them over for judging.

‘This year’s candidates had remarkable photographs and captivating videos which made it hard for the panel judges to choose the winners,’ stated the Events and Product Diversification Manageress, Ms. Selma Magnan, ‘we had good participation this year, however we are working towards increasing the number of divers to participate at both international and national level.’

The first prize winners of each category, excluding the public voting for the best image shot in Seychelles, was awarded a return ticket to Seychelles to participate in the following year’s SUBIOS. The list of winners for this year appears below and they each received a SUBIOS trophy.

This year, local school children participated in SUBIOS-inspired painting, writing and poetry competitions as well as a special exhibition of maquettes around a marine theme.  There were also special presentations for schoolchildren and intro dives for beginners sponsored by a local dive centre.

‘I am impressed with the SUBIOS festival,’ said Dr. Andreas Fitchner, ‘and I believe that Seychelles’ underwater life has a lot to offer to new and experienced divers. Having the opportunity to contribute to the festival and its increasing potential for this year was very fascinating, leaving us wanting more, so I am looking forward to coming back next year.’  Dr. Fitchner is an expert in Dive Medicine and was a Guest Speaker for SUBIOS.  He also gave a tour of the medical centre with a decompression chamber which he runs on Labriz Silhouette.

The 2008 theme enabled divers to explore and enrich their knowledge of the numerous wrecks in the Seychelles waters and the rich past of shipwreck tales partly conveyed in the immobile and worn structures of the wrecks themselves, and sometimes by artefacts carried by the ocean currents. There was a raft of activities that included dedicated SUBIOS soirées with special presentations at Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Hotel, Fairyland Restaurant and La Fontaine Restaurant, plus at the National Institute of Education and the International Conference Centre of Seychelles.  The dedicated SUBIOS soirées incorporated cultural experiences for the benefit of the international participants that proved very popular and which were very much enjoyed by all.

Other activities included the annual SUBIOS Man & SUBIOS Woman triathlon event with running, swimming and Kayaking legs that took place at Beau Vallon on the last day of SUBIOS in front of a crowd of supporters. Another popular event was the cyber treasure hunt which, this year, featured clues about famous wrecks in Seychelles that appeared every day in the media for treasure hunters to follow.

One of the most enticing episodes was the revelation of the sinking of two old ships, from the harbour, which were sunk by the Seychelles Tourism Board around Mahé as an attraction to the divers but more importantly to aid in the study of the evolution of wrecks as ocean habitats. Already, the two wrecks have become homes to several fish and even to some coral species and their evolution as habitats for more species appears promising.