Reef Rangers 3: Amazing Mantas!

The third of twelve activities with the Reef Rangers Club was held yesterday, this time the children learned everything there is to know about manta rays from their feeding and social behavious, to their migration patterns and the threats these animals face.

The activity began with a presention to the 10 high school students in the boat followed by an hour or so of searching for manta rays to give the students a change to swim with these amazing rays.

Great thanks goes to the Maldivian Manta Ray Project for assisting with the search for the mantas and eventually leading us to three mantas giving the students an amazing opportunity to swim with these incredible creatures.

Welcoming the Reef Rangers onboard...

Introducing the days activity...

Manta rays are HUGE!

Teaching about the biology and behaviours of manta rays as
well as some of the threats they face...

With thanks to the Maldivian Manta Ray Research Project
the Reef Rangers finally get to swim with the mantas 

For more information on Manta Rays in the Maldives, visit:

www.maldivianmantas.com

Reef Rangers 2: Marine Protected Areas

In the second week of the Reef Rangers club the 10 high school students from Maalhos learned first hand about Marine Protected Areas. The students were taken snorkelling at the beautiful Angafaru MPA in Baa Atoll where they took note of the huge diversity of corals, high coral cover, large numbers of fish, and the large sizes of individual fish such as grouper. The students were then taken to an impacted reef with very little live coral, high ammounts of sedimentation and very few fish. Back on board the boat the students discussed the differences between the two sites, the reasons why the reef can become so degraded and what each and every one of us can do to help.



On the approach to Angafaru
Marine Protected Area

Reef Rangers gearing up...



Ready to jump...



Discussion about Marine Protected Areas



The Reef Rangers Club!

 

Baa Atoll declared as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

In recognition of the outstanding natural values of Baa Atoll, and commitments made by local communities and resorts, UNESCO  (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation ) has designated Baa Atoll as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. 

UNESCO coordinates a world network of 580 Biosphere Reserves in 114 countries. These are sites recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, which innovate and demonstrate approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They include famous sites such as Ayer’s Rock in Australia, the Galapagos Islands, the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil, the Niagara escarpment, the Sundarbans of India, the Amboseli National Park of Kenya, Komodo in Indonesia and now, Baa Atoll in the Maldives.

Biosphere Reserves have three key functions: conservation, learning and research, and sustainable development.  They are vehicles for knowledge sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making. 

Although Biosphere Reserves are under national sovereign jurisdiction, ideas and experiences are shared regionally and internationally.  They are ‘living laboratories’ for testing and demonstrating sustainable development.  They are about the future, and how local people can conserve the things they value –local knowledge, culture and the environment – whilst ensuring sustainable development.  

In other words, the designation is about encouraging and facilitating people to work together, to live in and manage the whole area for a sustainable future

Why Baa Atoll?

Baa Atoll, harbours globally significant biodiversity in its numerous reefs and demonstrates a long history of human interaction with the environment.

Baa Atoll harbours globally significant biodiversity. In addition to its species rich reefs, Baa Atoll has significant concentrations of whale sharks, manta rays and marine turtles, and also a unique diversity of benthic fauna, including rare pink hydrozoans corals (Distichopora nitida), Bryozoans (Bugula) and sea slugs (Tambja olivaria) that are only recorded from Baa atoll.

In addition, Baa Atoll has a particularly high density of the ring-shaped reef forms called faroes, a peculiar reef structure unique to the Maldives, as well as other unique reef forms. Baa Atoll also has one of the largest areas of mangroves in the central part of the Maldivian atoll chain, and one of only two roosting sites in the Maldives for the frigate bird (more than 10,000 individuals).

Faro's -circular reefs unique to Maldives

Baa Atoll houses one of two roosting sites in Maldives
for frigate birds

Approximately 12,000 people reside in Baa Atoll, distributed across 13 islands, and 6 resorts islands. The remaining 57 islands are uninhabited.  The most important human activities in the area are tourism and fisheries. Whilst resorts have become the main economic driver, tuna and reef fishing remains an important activity. Production of handicrafts and other materials for the tourist industry is also significant.  

Protecting the reefs of the Maldives through education & capacity-building

Six Senses Maldives resorts sponsor Biosphere Expeditions $79,000 over four years to:

• ...survey and monitor remote reefs of the Maldives
• ...educate and involve local people
• ...create a scholarship program
• ...and train and educate local staff

Biosphere Expeditions is working with a large number of partners such as Reef Check (RC), the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), as well as local businesses such as Soneva Resorts Maldives, operators and local communities to ensure its success.  The project is also supported by the Marine Research Centre (Maldives Fisheries Dept.)

 

For more details please visit:

 

 www.biosphere-expeditions.org/six-senses

 

A Beautiful Phenomenon in Soneva Fushi's Lagoon

Thousands of incredibly beautiful blue button “jellyfish” filled our lagoon recently, creating what looked like an enormous bath of blue flowers in the turquoise water.

These blue buttons are not jellyfish at all, and thankfully they do not sting!

Blue buttons are actually what we call hydrozoans which belong to the same animal phylum as the jellyfish - Cnidaria. They are closely related to the “true” jellyfish, box jellyfish, sea anemones and corals and share with them the group’s distinct fea­ture: specialized cells that carry stinging organelles. The blue button (Porpita porpita) however is harmless to humans as the stinging cells are unable to pierce the skin.

Although related to jellyfish, blue buttons are in fact colonial animals that are characterised by the cooperative action of small polyps with different functions; some are responsible for defence, some for feeding, others for reproduction etc. These pelagic colonies cannot actively move/swim but drift on the surface of the open sea, partially using a central disc-shaped float made up of numerous chambers and blue or green tentacles that are used for feeding on microscopic organisms near the water surface. Their colour is usually a dark blue, which is thought to help avoid predation by birds.

Sustainable Tuna

The Maldivian Skipjack Industry, a 100% pole and line process, is the dominant economic fishery activity in the country, and is also recognized as one of the most environmentally sustainable skipjack fisheries in the world supplying many international food chains.

Maldives tuna tins in UK supermarkets

Felivaru was the first tuna cannery in the Maldives, established in 1977. It has been expanding ever since, but still cannot meet the rising international demands for sustainable Maldives tuna as there just is not enough fish. The Maldives pole and line fishery, according to Green Peace, is “one of the best-known examples of a successful coastal state-run tuna fishing operation“. However the fishery is under immense pressure from international purse seiners who target the tuna as they migrate out of Maldives waters. The positioning of high tech fish aggregating devices (FADS) on the edge of Maldives EEZ by international purse seiners is disrupting migration patterns and putting further pressure on Maldives stocks.

Green Peace declares pole and line as a successful and
sustainable fishing method

Since time immemorial, the method of fishing employed in the Maldives has been the pole and line method. Traditionally, the fishermen set out at dawn in search of bait fish, which are caught and kept alive in a specially prepared compartment of the dhoni. Eight or nine men do the actual fishing, using short poles with a line, and hook. It is a highly selective and sustainable fishing method with no bycatch. Net fishing in Maldives is in fact banned, other than for bait fishing in lagoons.

Traditional bait fishing net -the only nets permitted in Maldives

Throwing the live bait to attract the tuna

 Soneva Fushi’s Executive Chef, F&B Coordinator, Purchasing Manager, Marine Biologist and Guest Relations Manager visited the Felivaru Cannery to begin a supply of sustainably sourced, local tuna.  Upon the visit, we were presented with a wealth of sustainable and organic products that they produce in addition to tuna. Our hosts our currently building on this relationship and are looking at purchasing not only sustainable tinned tuna, but also a range of exciting traditional Maldivian products that are fully sustainable and organic.    

Guest Relations Manager Abulhi and Purchasing Manager
Rajesh trying out a whole range of organic products

Executive Chef Bjorn trying Kuhli Roshi
- traditional Maldivian waffles

www.felivaru.com

Turtle Rescue

Waste in our oceans is a serious threat to marine life, with plastic bags and drifting nets of particular impact to turtles.  Drifting nets are called 'ghost nets' as although they are no longer in use -they continue to capture fish and other marine animals for decades after being discarded.

This video shows just how significant this impact is -four turtles caught in one discarded net. 

Soneva Fushi's Mr. Friday Zidhan was accompanying his guests on a picnic on a remote uninhabited island, when him and his guests came across these turtles. Luckily they were floating at the surface so could breathe.  With the help of his guests he was able to free all four turtles -a great outcome -but also a lesson learned about the impact these ghost nets have.

We ask any guests if they see such nets, to please take them out of the water, or to contact one of our hosts.

One of four turtles trapped in a ghost net

Mr Friday Zidhan hard at work to free the turtles

Cutting the nets away

Releasing the first turtle

Releasing the second turtle

All four turtles survived and were released...

 

Catch and Release training

Soneva Fushi water sports hosts certified as Catch and Release crew following the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) internationally recognized procedures.

At present, many fish around the world are being caught before they reach maturity -this means they have not been able to reproduce to replenish the population, leading to rapidly dwindling fish stocks.

To ensure sustainability of both fish stocks and the sport of fishing, fish under a certain size must be released into the ocean to give them time to reproduce.

Soneva Fushi welcomed Captain Mike Tan from Singapore who trained our water sports hosts in both theoretical and hands on standard procedures for catch and release to increase the chances of survival for the released fish, and also how best to explain to our guests the importance of releasing unsustainable fish.

This training will have an impact in our hosts individual communities as they are keen to pass on their knowledge to their islands nearby.

Finally caught a fish!

Dehooking

Quick pic!

...and release!

Wahoo revival

All in all, a great success for sustainable fishing in Baa Atoll, and a training program that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Launch of "Reef Rangers" after school club

Soneva Fushi Launches Reef Rangers After School Club at Maalhos

July 2011 marked the launch of the first of 12 Reef Rangers activity at neighbouring island Maalhos.  

Soneva Fushi’s marine biologist has put together a 12 week activity program for 10 high school students that are passionate about the marine environment and that are keen to learn more.

The program covers a range of marine themes from sustainable fishing, to marine protected areas, to waste management and permaculture, through a hands on approach and getting the students out onto the reef.

The program was launched by extreme artists ‘olly and suzi’ who worked with the students, inspiring them about the nature of island ecosystems through art and introducing the plight of the manta rays. The sandy beach at Maalhos underneath the shady palms created a perfect setting for this first activity.