Author: Kate Wilson

French research vessel on three year voyage stops in Maldives

French climate research vessel Tara Oceans arrived in Hulhumale’ today after an unnerving journey from Mumbai, a journey “rerouted close to India to avoid the risk of pirates in international waters”, according to scientist Celine Dimier-Hugueney.

Tara’s passengers and crew, consisting of five scientists, five crew members and television media, are stopping off in Maldives as part of a three year voyage around the world researching previously unknown and crucial marine ecosystems.

One of the main aims of the expedition is to look at the basis of the oceans food chain, phytoplankton, by “comparing the biodiversity of phytoplankton with previous expeditions to look at change according to pressures such as pollution and climate change” explains Celine.

Tara’s previous expeditions include ocean exploration in the Arctic, Antarctica and the seas around Patagonia, Greenland and South Georgia.

The current three year voyage began in 2009, a journey through the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, across the Atlantic, down to Antarctica, across the Pacific, up through the Indo-Pacific Region to Russia, Alaska and the Arctic, before heading back to Europe in 2012.

The voyage is managed by Tara Expeditions’ team and a scientific consortium, including major international laboratories, led by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Like the previous expeditions, it will sail under the auspices of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

Tara Oceans will host two events during its stay in Male’: a showing of the documentary “The End of the Line”, the worlds’ first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing, followed by a debate (in English) on April 8th, and a lecture on their current 3 year worldwide scientific expedition (in English) on April 9th. Both events will take place at 8:15pm at Aminiya School, in the big hall, on Chandhanee Magu.

Kate Wilson is a marine biologist with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).

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Earth Hour 2010 a global call to action

Earth Hour 2010 took place last night at 8.30pm (local time) and was a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community throughout the world.

It was a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future.

Iconic buildings and landmarks stood in darkness from the Indo-Pacific to Australasia, to Asia and Europe to the Americas. People across the world from all walks of life turned off their lights and joined together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later Earth Hour become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating.

MDNF walking through Male in support of Earth Hour 2010
MDNF walking through Male in support of Earth Hour 2010

Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Coliseum all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In one of Earth Hour’s most visually powerful displays of climate action, the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khailfa, flicked the switch from top to bottom – all 828 metres – along with other landmarks and icons including the Bujr Al Arab, Abu Dhabi Mosque and Emirates Palace.

The Maldives carried Earth Hour across the Indian Ocean last night. Rather than just turning the lights off for an hour at 8:30, as with much of the rest of the world, the Maldives went several steps further to spread the message on climate change: an enforced road closure took place Male’ wide at 4pm, remaining so until midnight.

This year “the road closure was better enforced” as “the Ministry of Transport called for an Rf750 (US$58) fine for any unapproved vehicles, in addition to a deduction of 15 points for any vehicles in violation,” says Zaha Waheed of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Awareness spread to local schools and environmental groups too.

“The Minister and deputy Minister of Environment, the Minister of Tourism, the Maldives National Defence Force, state dignitaries and staff of the Environmental Protection Agency attended a walk with around 500 students from four schools in Male’,” says Environmental Protection and Research Director, Ibrahim Naeem.

This walk was to “spread awareness for the environmental issues of the world, particularly climate change and energy consumption” he said.

Maldives resorts and hotels also played their part in raising awareness for climate change, with Male’s Holiday Inn stopping the generator and hosting a candle lit gathering with music from a local acoustic musician in the city’s highest venue, ‘Azure’.

People filled the rooftop terrace to witness the spectacle of Male’ carrying the momentum of Earth Hour across the Indian Ocean.

Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa, offered guests an organic moonlit massage using virgin coconut oil produced by a local community, Bandos Island Resort and Spa “sent awareness information to all guests and cut the whole island’s electricity for an hour,” says Zaina from the resort’s marketing department, along with many other sisland resorts which joined forces to spread the Earth Hour message across the atolls.

Kate Wilson is a marine biologist with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Science society hosts talk on manta rays

The Maldives Science Society in affiliation with Aqua Dreams Imagine (ADI) hosted a talk by Anne-Marie Kitchen-Wheeler on manta rays in the Maldives at Hiriyaa School.

The talk attracted around 120 people, mostly keen high school students eager to hear about the manta rays the Maldives is famous for.

After first visiting the Maldives in 1983 as a tourist, Anne-Marie has since dedicated her life to these creatures, conducting research for her PhD at the University of Newcastle in the UK alongside her work as a dive instructor. With over 4,000 dives in the name of research, she has spent almost half a year underwater.

Anne-Marie explained that mantas have evolved and adapted to their environment over 400 million years, and certain species can grow up to almost seven metres in length – the size of a London double-decker bus. However the Maldives mostly attracts smaller mantas, she explained.

“A typical day of a manta will begin hanging around 150 metres deep at dawn, to catch the plankton that has risen during the night,” she told the audience, adding that mantas don’t need to sleep.

“Early to mid-morning the mantas visit cleaning stations (where juvenile wrasse pick parasites and dead skin from the manta’s surface) and enjoy a massage. In the afternoon they snack, and in the evening they travel to deeper waters to continue feeding.”

Mantas are often confused with sting rays, but mantas do not sting and have a barb-less tail. In fact many mantas can be seen with their tails bitten off, typically by sharks.

The markings on the manta’s underside between the gill slits act as a fingerprint used for the identification of different individuals.

Anne-Marie explained that the Maldives offers one of the best chances in the world to see a manta in the wild, with groups of up to 200 individuals gathering to feed at certain times of year. The result is a huge attraction for tourists and big business for the dive industry.

Research suggests the populations are currently healthy, she noted. “Populations change year to year, but no general declines have been observed,” she said.

However mantas only reproduce every 2-3 years, and the single birth gestation takes 12 months. This means they need protection as an entire population can be wiped out by one year of continued fishing.

“The situation currently OK in Maldives though, as mantas are not fished and tourism brings in a very high price,” she said.

For the best chance of getting up close to a manta divers should swim low, she explained. Mantas are territorial and swim vertically belly-to-belly to size each other up, and the smallest one swims away low. By swimming low, divers can show they pose no territorial threat.

Kate Wilson is a marine biologist with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo by Lisa Allison

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