Tag: hanifaru bay

Maldives eyes underwater festivals and bio-reserves among dive innovation efforts

This story was originally published on Minivan News’ spin-off travel review site, Dhonisaurus.

Diving has been a long-standing part of the Maldives’ attempts to appeal to tourists as a tropical island holiday paradise over the last 30 years. With almost every Maldives-based resort island now providing a certified dive centre to guests, the local tourism industry has begun looking at means to bring further innovation to underwater exploration.

Beyond the establishment of high-profile sub-aquatic spas and restaurants in the country, some resorts are opting to play up the emergence of nearby protected marine parks and reserves. Other properties have even moved to hold underwater festivals in attempts bolster interest in exploring life beneath the Maldivian waters.

With an estimated 95 percent of the Maldives landmass underwater, Dolores Semeraro, PR Manager at the LUX* Maldives resort in South Ari Atoll, believes snorkelling and diving are a must-try experience for guests visiting the country.

Underwater festival

In order to try and better play up the appeal of diving to guests of all experience levels, the LUX* Maldives resort this month hosted what is claimed to be the country’s first ever underwater festival. The event had a central focus on underwater photography, as well as the chance to spy some of the Maldives’ most exotic – not to mention attention grabbing – wildlife in the form of whale sharks and manta rays.

Experts including photographer Junji Takasago and free diver Jean-Jacques Mayol joined the resort’s Resident Marine Biologist Chiara Fumagalli during the week to oversee the festivities and provide special programmes and presentations on diving and photography.

To Semeraro at least, while Maldives tourism is often associated with resorts offering high-end, beach-side indulgence and relaxation, the country’s reefs and dive spots are a hugely important contributor to the destination’s overall mystique.

“Events like the underwater festival highlight positively the destination from this point of view and it is incredible to see how interested our guests are in subjects such as whale sharks, snorkelling, coral reefs and so on,” she said.

The festival, which ran during a seven day period this month, concluded on May 20 with a prize giving ceremony for underwater images captured by guests during the week that were judged to be the best.

The resort said the festival was designed to cater for a wide variety of guests; ranging from accomplished underwater explorers, to holidaymakers looking for a more sedate spot of high-brow after-dinner entertainment.

LUX* Maldives therefore promised guests in attendance during the festival a number of special programmes such as free diving courses, the chance to learn special free diving breathing techniques, and illuminated outings for night time reef exploration. Presentations and screenings by marine experts in attendance during the festival were also conducted.

According to Semeraro, after six months of planning, the festival passed with favourable reactions from both media and attendees. She claimed that on average, two full boats of divers were heading out daily with underwater photographers, or to take part in the free-diving and apnea (special breathing) programmes.

When addressing some of South Ari Atoll’s more unique dive sites available to the festival’s attendees, Semeraro claimed that the Kudarah Thila and Digurah Thila sites were among the area’s most notable and popular destinations for underwater exploration.

“It’s hard to choose the key dive sites, they are all amazing,” she claimed. “South Ari Atoll showcases a few dive sites of world-wide renown.”

Semeraro stressed that the resort had committed itself to try and make the festival inclusive even to guests unaccustomed to underwater photography or diving.

“Divers are always keen photographers while underwater. However, it can be disappointing to check your pictures and find out that they were out of focus or not properly set once back on the surface,” she said. “That is when our underwater photographers stepped in to coach divers of all levels on how to have a more confident approach to photography while diving. For the non-divers, we opened several snorkelling sessions guided by our resident marine biologist for guests who are keen on trying snorkelling/underwater photography.“

Semeraro said that all guests who stayed at the resort were invited to participate in the festivities with a complimentary discovery scuba diving session being made available for newcomers to acquaint themselves with the Maldives’ underwater environment.

Semeraro claimed that diving and reef-based events were being monitored “at all times” by its diving instructors and marine biologists.

Sustainable promotion

Amidst the outspoken attempts of former President Mohamed Nasheed to try and put the Maldives on the global map during his tenure with an ambitious carbon neutral plan, Maldives tourism authorities had previously sought to promote the destination under the banner of “Always Natural”. After receiving a mixed reception, the branding was dropped earlier this year by the new government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Alongside claims by resort operators of their commitments to bring their operations in line with international sustainability standards, the country has begun to see the formation of marine parks and other underwater reserves that may have implications for their properties in the future.

Over in Baa Atoll for example, which has recently been awarded the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve status, properties like the Reethi Beach Resort are uncertain as to the direct impact protected marine areas may have on their operations.

Resort General Manager Peter Gremes told Dhonisaurus that while obtaining the UNESCO reserve status last year was a “prestigious” accolade for properties in the atoll, it was unlikely to impact visitor numbers on a significant basis.

With the UNESCO reserve area situated on the other side of Baa Atoll, Gremes claimed that he expected a negligible impact on the number of divers already coming to his resort to explore local underwater sites.

“We have a very high occupancy rate here at the resort, so we don’t really need to use the reserve in terms of a marketing tool,” he said. “At present, discussions are still taking place on how the atoll will aim to make use of its status as well as the costs involved. A lot of unanswered questions remain on this.”

The resort manager said he did welcome increased regulation and protection measures to the waters of the atolls that would – in theory – mean much tighter restrictions on the amount of divers coming to the area at any given time.

Gremes pointed to developments in the country’s renowned Hanifaru Bay area that previously led some tour operators and local people to raise concerns about the huge traffic of visitors coming to an area deemed to be of significant natural interest.

In 2010, amidst a 260 percent increase in tourist arrivals to the area, local island authorities raised concerns about the number of safari and dive boats that were attempting to cram themselves into the bay – a small enclosed reef the size of a football field.

Increased government regulation in terms of diving and other activities conducted in the area were likely to be beneficial in the long-run for local resorts, at least according to Reethi Beach General Manager Peter Gremes.

“After some of the issues we have had with the number of safari boats coming to dive sites, this will be beneficial for us at the resort,” he claimed.

Local NGOs have welcomed the previous government’s commitments to establish and extend several protected ecological preserves in areas like Baa Atoll, despite calling for amendments to the efficiency of collaboration between different ministerial branches in ensuring eco-protection.

Environmental NGO Bluepeace said last June that government action to protect marine areas was an “encouraging development”, despite wider concerns about the efficiency of collaboration between different ministerial branches over eco-protection.

Ali Rilwan of Local environmental NGO Bluepeace said at the time that he supported government in regard to environmental protection across the southerly atoll, yet insisted the measures were more of a “first step” towards a comprehensive national preservation system rather than a finalised commitment to conservation.

Yet Baa Atoll is not the only stretch of the country’s waters to be afforded greater enforcement in protecting its reefs.

Within the seclusion of the country’s northerly Noonu Atoll, the Hilton Iru Fushi resort has began working with the country’s first Marine National Park (MNP) at Edu Faru in a bid to play up the surrounding natural appeal of the area for guests.

According to the MNP’s management, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the previous government in August 2011, guests staying at certain nearby properties like the Iru Fushi resort are cautiously being welcomed to explore the protected underwater habitats.

“The project is still in its early development stages and we are working towards having an official opening ceremony at the end of 2013,” said a representative for the MNP.  “The level of protection is yet to be determined in collaboration with the government and experts in the field.”

As a marine reserve, the MNP’s management team have said they continue to work on outlining exact policies for resort guests coming to the area.  A representative for the MNP told Dhonisaurus that balancing tourist interest in the area with the need to preserve coral and other inhabitants would always create “ecological challenges” for its operations, but it was working to overcome them nonetheless.

“The MNP will rely on marine-based tourism such as scuba diving and snorkelling,” the MNP spokesperson said.  “We strive to achieve a balance between recreational use and preservation of ecological values that form the MNP and the biological carrying capacity and prevent overuse of the site.”

In bringing guests to the site, the Hilton Iru Fushi resort has presently been set strict guidelines by the MNP on how guests can visit the site.

At present, guests are able to enter the house reef of the reserve for snorkelling and diving expeditions on the basis of private, non scheduled tours consisting of a small number of people.

Additionally, boats used to transport guests are also not permitted to anchor with the MNP area over concerns about the potential damage to the coral.

“At this stage, we prevent guests going ashore the islands within the MNP until we adequate knowledge about the specific biological values and vulnerable species and habitats and how they can best be protected,” said the MNP spokesperson.  “Therefore, we will have to seek more advice to develop appropriate management strategies for the marine-based tourism industry.”

In terms of costing, the MNP’s management said that as a non-profit organisation, the scheme would be run on grants and donations.  A sum of US$10 will be donated to the MNP project by guests who visit the site, the project’s management added.

Master plan

Marine parks and bioreserves are currently said to be among the “wide number” of options being considered by Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adheeb to try and diversify the appeal of the country’s tourist properties.

Adheeb claimed that the exact nature of there diversification plans was as yet undecided.  Authorities are now trying to devise a fourth Tourism Master Plan outlining developments in the country’s travel industry.  The third master plan was concluded last year.

“My predecessor, [Dr Mariyam Zulfa] explored a number a number avenues in terms of diversifying tourism here,” the tourism minister said.  “We have been provided with a large number of options.”

Adheeb claimed that with a fourth Tourism Master Plan expected to be completed later this year, discussions were currently taking place with industry stakeholders and bodies like the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on what direction future developments in the country should take.

“Before making decisions we need to know what is the current situation with the tourism industry here.  We need to see what the industry feedback is as well,” he said.  “What I can say right now is that we are already seeing bio-reserves and marine parks being set up here in the country.  Some of these have already by endorsed by the UNESCO.  A lot of value can be added to the market from these programmes.”

Adheeb stressed that it was also important to account for shifts like the growing interest in the Maldives from Asian markets like China when devising future plans to develop the industry.

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‘Dolphin Lagoon’ to offer conservation, education, recreation

The government’s decision to lease a lagoon to a dolphin habitation and family recreation project proposed by top tennis player Amir Mansoor will not force the marine creatures into captivity, and will support conservation efforts for one of the ocean’s most personable yet at-risk inhabitants.

On October 4, the Cabinet deliberated on a paper submitted by the Finance Ministry to lease a lagoon, location unspecified, for a dolphin habitation and training center.

While program specifics have not been officially released, an individual who has participated in such programs elsewhere and is familiar with the Maldives’ project informed Minivan News that the lagoon project is as much a conservation effort with educational motives as it is a recreational enterprise.

Correcting local media’s use of the word “trainer”, the source said the project will create “an open water program during which the dolphins will accompany the care takers on daily unstructured excursions,” and defined the role of caretaker as “taking a dog for a walk. This isn’t a Seaworld enterprise, with hoops and balls for public entertainment.”

While the lagoon program does not aim to put dolphins on display for commercial purposes, the source acknowledged that “it is an industry, you can’t deny that. People want to swim with dolphins. But this program is saying, ‘make it sensible.'”

Demonstrations will be offered but sources say they will be educational, not commercial.

“The demonstrations will show what dolphins are capable of, their speed, their use of eco-location, and other details. It will be fun, but education is the goal. Many people don’t know the basic facts of a dolphin’s lifestyle,” said source.

She added that reachout programs will be established with local public schools, handicapped organisations and orphanages.

The site is also being planned as “a place to spend the day,” featuring billiards, table tennis, photography, a restaurant, and play areas. With daily ferries from Male’, the cost will be friendly to locals.

“Above all, we’re trying to offer both locals and expatriates something to do. The dolphin program is a part of this larger recreational plan,” she summarized.

Freedom: the benchmark for success

The dolphin program includes two lagoons: a 1 kilometre living area surrounded by nets and allowing for free flow of water and fish, and a second, much larger area for excursions. The design is intended to simulate a natural habitat.

“The proposed lagoon is the largest for the small number of dolphins that will inhabit it in the world,” said one source. “It’s so spacious that if the dolphins don’t want to participate in an activity or hang around divers, they can just swim off. The philosophy is, ‘we’ll reward what you like, but you ignore what you don’t like’.”

The program follows a blueprint first attempted by the United States Navy in the 1960s. Since then, several conservation-based facilities have opened in the Caribbean with consistent levels of success.

Freedom is a critical benchmark: “Since the dolphins accompany trainers on daily excursions to the open ocean, it is clear to most people that the dolphins are free to leave or choose to return ‘home’,” said Director of Dolphins and Programs for the Curacao Dolphin Academy and President of the Southern Caribbean Cetacean Network (SCCN) George Kieffer.

Dolphins have allegedly exhibited natural behavior in these facilities including hunting, breeding and social ranking.

Though given the option to swim off, sources observe that dolphins willingly return to their enclosed living space when excursions are over. “They like to be intrigued and challenged, so the programs are always offering new exercises. If you were to put dolphins in a lagoon and just feed them, they would be very unhappy. As long as the challenges keep coming, the dolphins appear to be happy.”

“Make it sensible”

While some activists criticise any form of animal captivity, others suggest that open water programs are protecting the dolphin species.

Kieffer said programs similar to that proposed in the Maldives receive significantly less criticism than marine parks or inland aquariums, and nearly all negative claims have been “demonstrably untrue.”

“The success would appear to be measured by all three [existing facilities] having not only self-sustaining breeding populations, but increasing populations,” he said. As these populations surpass facility capacities, others such as the Maldives’ lagoon program are being endorsed.

“Once these animals have been bred and raised in open water programs, they can’t be released into the wild,” said a source familiar with the programs. “It’s better to find a way to keep them healthy. The program in the Maldives is good because these dolphins need a place to go.”

Rather than capture and train indigenous bottlenose dolphins, the Maldives’ lagoon program will import dolphins already bred in similar facilities. The bottlenose does well in human care, said Kieffer, preferring “small numbers within a social group and shallow water. [Maldives’] local dolphins such as the pan-tropical spotted dolphin and the spinner dolphin prefer deep water and hundreds of individuals within a large moving social group.”

Minivan asked Kieffer if the world’s oceans are safe for dolphins.

“Sadly no; they are vulnerable to the swift and diverse pressures human activities are placing on the sea. Dolphins and whales have endured over 50 million years of the ocean’s natural stresses and strains. And now in just the past several decades, our impact on the seas has rendered them fragile.

“Dolphins are a charismatic species that attracts human attention. The popularity of aquariums, zoos, and interactive programs highlights this point. When people have the opportunity to intimately view and interact with dolphins, they have the potential to form a cognitive and emotional connection – one that has the potential to arouse individuals to care for their new-found friends and become involved in marine causes.”

Local objections

Reports of the ‘dolphin lagoon’ were earlier published by local daily Haveeru. Individuals affiliated with the program said responses have not been positive.

Local dive magazine Scuba Tribe subsequently launched a campaign against the dolphin lagoon on social media outlets Facebook and Twitter.

Scuba Tribe’s argument begins by stating that “little is known how this project would proceed.”

“A training center for dolphins or a lagoon where tourists would come up to see them by paying a fee to see them is out of the question as they all can see them in the wild every single day. Local resorts and dive centers have regular dolphin watching cruises that happen on a daily basis,” reports the Scuba Tribe website.

A source familiar with diving practices in the Maldives claimed that many tour boats are not trained to approach dolphins, and that excessive diving in popular sites such as Hanifaru Bay has pushed fish populations away from these locations.

“Tourists can be seen jumping by the dozens into the water, pushing to see the animals,” she said, noting that in August up to 17 boats could be seen at Hanifaru at one time. “This year was really disappointing for diving, because it was out of control. Why aren’t groups like Scuba Tribe worrying about this? Crowding on dive sites, disappearance of species like the whale shark from their favored areas, these are issues that are affecting the natural world and will soon affect the tourism industry as well. Everyone is involved.”

Hanifaru reef became a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in 2009 and a Core Area of the Biosphere Reserve after “intense tourism activities…threatened [the site’s] sustainability.” Activities are now subject to a site management plan.

Dolphins are most challenged by the impact of human activity in their habitat. Pollution, entanglement in fishing gear, collision with boats and unsafe fishing practices are a few examples. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society cites coastal development, particularly for marine tourism, and chemical pollution as leading threats.

“Dolphins are also killed unintentionally in gill net, drift net, and purse-seine fishing practices around the world,” Kieffer said.

Purse seining, a fishing method whereby a vessel deploys an enormous net to encircle and capture entire schools of fish at once, “is very cost effective but indiscriminate, and generates a large amount of bycatch,” wrote Minivan News in a recent article. The practice is allegedly done in waters fringing on the Maldives’ national borders. “Nothing escapes,” Solah Mohamed, Head of Production for the Maldives’ Felivaru fish cannery, said of the practice.

Director of environmental NGO Bluepeace Ahmed Ikram said the NGO did not have a position on the lagoon program but was soliciting public opinion.

“We are aware of the project and are publicizing it through Facebook and Twitter to see what the public response is. Then we will analyze and discuss the results in the next week.”

Ikram said that the Maldives’ many environmentally-relevant projects has kept Blue Peace busy and made it difficult to focus on individual projects, such as the lagoon.

“This seems to be part of a progression of projects aimed at eco-tourism which do not quite live up to expectations,” he surmised. “It looks like everything is for sale, and most of it is for tourism.”

The downside of publicity

Publicity is a driving factor in Maldives tourism, however one source suggested that it can be too much.

“National Geographic did a report on Hanifaru Bay, and now tourists are all coming and saying, ‘We want to go to Hanifaru.’ As a result, it became a protected area. To protect the dive site, you have to control traffic.”

In 2009, documentary film “The Cove” turned the international eye on Japan’s dolphin hunting culture and industry. Its implications for dolphin centers have proved damaging.

According to the film, Japanese fishermen entrap dolphins and sell them to international buyers, some of whom work for marine entertainment organisations such as Seaworld. The remaining dolphins are slaughtered and sold as food, often labeled as fish or whale meat, “The Cove” website alleges.

Dolphin meat has been debated as unsafe for human consumption.

A source argues that the film’s implication that dolphin centers around the world cooperate with the Japanese industry is inaccurate and harmful to legitimate conservation programs.

“Dolphins which are exported or sold for business purposes go through very strict documentation procedures,” she said. “None of the parks in the US, Caribbean or Europe have dolphins that originated in Japan, and they have the proper paperwork to prove it.”

The source added that the film’s message has made dolphin program development more controversial. “If we did import dolphins from Japan, we would be accused of sustaining slaughter,” she said.

Minivan News subsequently learned that the Maldives’ lagoon dolphins will not come from Japan, and will be examined by American scientists to ensure that local wild dolphins are not negatively affected.

Avoiding the tourist trap

Keiffer shared his understanding of the Maldives’ facility with Minivan News: “From what I’ve learned, your local facility will not be a run-of-the-mill tourist trap looking to “cash-in” on dolphin popularity by any means necessary. On the contrary, I believe it is striving to be one of a very few organizations setting the standards by which dolphin display facilities are expected to meet if they truly intend to convey a sense of respect and appreciation for the animals under their care.”

He added that the facility’s success would demand caretakers be able to support the dolphins’ physical and emotional needs.

A local source compared the proposal to other operations. “Dolphins are in appalling conditions in some places. Aquariums, for instance – that’s a real cage. People should be opposing those. But this is a totally different ballgame.”

If approved by the government, the facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. An official title has not yet been selected.

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