Thursday, December 22, 2005

Christmas with Blue Ventures

On Friday night the Blue Ventures London-based contingent met at the office for the Christmas party, which involved copious amounts of….pizza (kindly donated by Pizza Hut) and general festive tomfoolery. A great time was had by all (we hope)!

Friday, December 16, 2005

RCUK

'Reef Conservation UK', the annual meeting of the UK's coral reef science and conservation community, took place at London Zoo on Saturday 10th December. There was an excellent turnout for the event, with three sessions of stimulating presentations, discussing recent progress in coral reef ecology and conservation management.

Blue Ventures' marine scientists David Griffiths, Ellie Latrobe-Bateman and Emma Doherty, delivered three presentations discussing findings from the Andavadoaka project, details of which can be found on the research section of the BV website by clicking here. Additional research posters were also presented by the BV team, summarising findings from recent fisheries and TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) research efforts in Andavadoaka.

Thursday, December 15, 2005



We would like to congratulate Tom Hardy and Amelia Curd, our BV scientists, on their recent engagement. It would seem Andavadoaka's island paradise really is just too romantic! Richard has even bought a new hat.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

According to a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA), 75 percent of Switzerland's glaciers will have melted by 2050 as a result of climate change. This will see populations concentrated in the centre of the country with deserts spreading in the south and ice sheets melting in the north. The previous 10% loss of Alpine glaciers during the summer of 2003 has been unprecedented in Europe for 5000 years.
Currently Europeans are travelling further and more frequently and therefore consuming the planet’s natural resrources at twice the world’s average rate, whilst becoming the fastest growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Executive director of the EEA urges politicians to be farsighted, saying ‘We need a gradual shift away from taxes on labour and investment towards taxes on pollution and the inefficient use of materials and land. We also need reforms in the way that subsidies are applied to transport, housing, energy and agriculture. We need subsidies encouraging sustainable practices and efficient technologies.’
This serves as another warning that we need to actively strive to reduce carbon emissions and slow down.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

News News News

Last week Blue Ventures staff were involved in meetings of all partners in the Andavadoaka project which BV is involved in. Field scientists Tom and Amelia gave presentation on BVs work on Finfish and Octopus monitoring and the ecological monitoring and Socio economic research coordinator Minna Epps gave talks on the village of Andavadoaka as well as progress of socio economic research, fisheries. Scientist Daniel Raberinary presented a history of the creation of the three new octopus reserves as a result of recent village meetings.

On 29th December a delegation of BV staff and volunteers, WCS and IRD went to the village of Lamboara to participate in the fomba for the closing of their new octopus reserve at Ampisaronga. We stopped to collect the president of Ampasilava on the way – who was going to Lamboara to inform them that the village of Ampasilava had agreed to join Lamboara in creating the reserve and participate in the salary of the guardian. The presidents of other surrounding villages of Lamboara, Tampolove and Ankilimalinike were also present to show their support of the reserve. We were treated to some dances and singing from a group of local women. We will also be visited by various local dignitaries including the Chef de Region, the Chef de District and the Mayor of Befandefa who will be taking part in a big ceremony in Andavadoaka to update the communities on the progress of the Andavadoaka project to jointly celebrate the closure of the three new Octopus reserves and to exchange ideas between communities.

This week has been a good one for charismatic megafauna - dolphins were seen on the way to a dive and a white tip reef shark spotted on another dive.


Staff and volunteers were also treated to two fascinating talks from our visiting taxonomic experts – one on the biodiversity of reef fish by Gerry Allen and the other about corals by Doug Fenner.

Meanwhile, the temperature continues to rise both on and out of the water in Andavadoaka and a short wetsuit is now plenty warm enough in the water. The rains have started inland but for the moment the coast is, as they say, clear.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Madagascar conquering the world….almost!

The final of the Confederation of African Rugby's Top 9 competition will be played in Paris at Stade Claude Luboz in the northern Paris suburb of Gennevillers on Saturday afternoon - an historic encounter. You might remember from a previous blog posting how the Malagasy team, known as the Makis, reached the final after a shock victory against the South-African amateur team. Joining the Makis in the final are Morocco, who whipped the Namibian team in Casablanca.
It is a special achievement for Madagascar in a special year because this year the Federation Malgache de Rugby is celebrating its centenary. This is the 3rd time the Makis will be playing in France, however it is their 1st test game.
Madagascar is presently ranked 43rd in the World, however with burgeoning interest and the Confederation final coming up, hopefully this is all about to change.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Better Late than Never - an Onsite Field Update

BV played Football against the village on Sunday. Men lost 2:1, Women lost 2:1. We are closing the gap. Victory is within our reach, so watch this space…again!

Two bird experts from Bath University visited the site to catalogue the species of birds found here. Amongst other things they discovered an unusually high population of the threatened Madagascar Plover – possibly the best population in Madagacsar and they are keen to do more research into the numbers.

We also have a team of world renowned experts currently visiting the site including Gerry Allen author of Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide and Doug Fenner who are studying and cataloguing marine biodiversity. They are finding exciting things every day.

The nearby village Lamboara carried out their fomba ceremony yesterday for the closure of their octopus reserve on 1st December. A team from BV and WCS attended to assist with the ceremony and meet with the village. We will continue to keep you updated with how this is closure progresses.

Organisations Unite

Several international organisations (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Foundation, International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) and Conservation International (CI)) have joined forces with WWF to provide funding for the conservation of Mozambique’s unique marine habitat and wildlife in and around the country's Primeiras and Segundas Islands. The new partnership will complement the efforts of the government of Mozambique in implementing an integrated development plan for the region's marine and coastal resources. This will include working with locals on sustainable fish and prawn management, and promoting tourism development in the region.

Montreal climate talks hold key to saving the world’s coral reefs

Blue Ventures has been represented in Canada this week during the writing of the United Nations’ Youth Declaration on Climate Change.

Governments from 190 countries are meeting in Montreal, Quebec, for the United Nations Climate Negotiations, which hold the key to future action on tackling emissions of greenhouse gases and stabilizing the world’s climate.

The negotiations take place against a backdrop of mounting evidence that climate change is already happening around the globe. The 10 hottest years on record globally have occurred since 1991, and in that same period global sea levels have risen by around 20cm. Global warming represents one of the most significant threats to marine environments and coral reefs worldwide.

Blue Ventures is committed to raising awareness of the causal link between global warming and coral reef bleaching, a phenomenon which has been responsible for causing unprecedented levels of coral reef degradation throughout the world’s tropics and subtropics in recent years, and threatens the future survival of these critically important marine ecosystems. Effective global emissions reductions strategies will be fundamental to the survival of coral reefs – as well as many other vulnerable habitats around the world – in the face of global warming and other manifestations of climate change.

During the climate talks, the first meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol – those countries which have signed up to the international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the period 2008-20012, Alasdair Harris from Blue Ventures represented the United Kingdom in a global youth Delegation calling on governments to protect the earth from climate change.

“As youth, we have the right to shape the world we live in. We are already taking steps in our own lives and communities to realize our vision and we demand that our leaders do the same,” states the declaration issued by the Delegation.

At a high-level Ministerial session the Delegation called for minimum binding emissions reduction targets of 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 for developed countries; and implored governments for a just transition to a low-impact renewable energy future.

“We are the ones who are going to have to bare the brunt of climate change impacts,” says Jessica Thiessen, the founder of the Arctic Council Youth Network from the Yukon. “This Summit shows that youth everywhere are already involved in climate protection. We are doing our part and we ask governments at the UN Climate Change Conference to do theirs,” says Catherine Mulinde, a PhD student from Uganda.

Along with the rest of the world, Blue Ventures will watch the meetings in Montreal closely and hopes those in power will put aside their national agendas and finally force an end to global warming.

We urge you to take the time to read the Climate Change Declaration, which can be downloaded from the BV website here, and to distribute this important message as widely as possible.

Monday, November 28, 2005

More on the Effects of Climate Change

A report released this week by WWF ahead of a key Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Montreal, Canada, discusses the threats posed by climate change to the world’s marine and freshwater fish species. Entitled ‘Are we putting our fish in hot water’, the report details how rising water temperatures will lead to stunted growth levels due to insufficient food supplies. The knock on effect of this will be a reduction in birth rates.

To counteract the problems of rising temperatures fish will migrate to cooler waters seeking temperatures that are normal for their habitat. This will have devastating effects on species dependent on fish, as has already been demonstrated in the Gulf of Alaska when over 120 000 sea birds starved to death when fish migrated away from the warming waters in 1993.

The WWF is calling for countries to use the meeting in Montreal to start negotiations for more stringent cuts in CO2 emissions once the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012.

To read the report, click here.

Monday, November 21, 2005

A Press Release You Might Find Interesting:

Chancellor Gordon Brown Announces Winners of the Enterprising Young Brits competition

Tom Savage and Alasdair Harris from London received Special Commendation in Social and Community category

Twenty-four finalists from across the UK gave presentations to the judges in a ‘X Factor’-style final this morning, as part of a flagship Enterprise Week event run by the Make Your Mark campaign.

Tom Savage and Alasdair Harris, both 26, set up Blue Ventures, a pioneering marine conservation and development organisation based in London and Madagascar, two years ago. In this time the company, which employs 20 members of staff has established one of the world’s remotest underwater research centres and hosted 180 international volunteers on 17 separate six-week expeditions. www.blueventures.org

The competition is part of the Make Your Mark – start talking ideas campaign and recognises young people who have turned their ideas into reality.

Chancellor Gordon Brown says; ‘All of the finalists are winners – they are creating new opportunities and advancing new ideas to create an enterprising society. You are showing that Britain is an enterprising economy.

‘Do not underestimate the power you have to encourage others – you are making your mark by showing that enterprise is changing the face of Britain.’

Kevin Steele, of the Make your Mark campaign and competition organiser, says, 'All of the finalists in today's Enterprising Young Brits competition are truly inspirational young people and we wish all of them well for future. On behalf of all the judges our congratulations go to the five winners James Murray Wells, Ali Clabburn, Calypso Rose, Oliver Bridge and Anna Cowley. I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of all of today’s finalists as their enterprises continue to flourish
and their stories will inspire many others to make their mark.'

Enterprise Week (14-20 November) is a national celebration of enterprise, with over 2,000 events taking place throughout the UK.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Make Your Mark – start
talking ideas campaign and what is happening during Enterprise Week
should go to www.starttalkingideas.org

Friday, November 18, 2005

What's Going on on Site

Much to the surprise of both staff and volunteers the first rain of the season fell in Andavadoaka on Tuesday. This meant that all activities had to be cancelled and everyone settled in to a Blue Planet marathon.


Andavadoaka’s locally run environmental club had their second meeting.

We would also like to welcome 2 Malagasy students who arrived in Andavadoaka to carry out some independent studies in association with IRD. BV will be collaborating with these students to maximise how useful their research is.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Malnutrition in Madagascar

A study conducted by the Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and a number of local NGO’s has reported that malnutrition levels in Madagascar have reached up to 74% in some parts of the remote southeastern region of the country. This problem is predominantly related to poor food security, with households primarily dependent on farming, which therefore means their livelihoods are extremely vulnerable to climatic conditions. The remoteness and high transportation costs of many of the affected areas have made the delivery of food extremely difficult, aggravating the situation further. This must be overcome however, as aid is desperately needed to prevent further human losses from starvation.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Week 1 on the Blue Ventures Site

The 1st week of our November expedition has drawn to a close with a football match Blue Ventures against the Vezo. Again the women put on a good performance and hopes were even raised with a half time score of 2:1, however, a BV victory was not meant to be and the final score was a win to the Veso 3:2. The men also did well, but they lost.

Members of the new expedition were also introduced to Andavadoaka's president Mr Roger and the deputy president Mr Robiste as well as the joys of a drink in one of Andavadoakas epi bars.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Site News

Expedition 18 has arrived safely in Andavadoaka after a record fast 18 hour camion journey from Tulear. The two newest members of the BV team were also aboard the camion, Sage and Onion, Blue Ventures very own pair of turkeys who are being fattened up ready for Christmas dinner in Andavadoaka.

Thomas, who works for BV as our boat driver, has started his Open water training having done his first confined water session today. As a result, we would now like to welcome our new part time boat driver Marcellin.

A final note – Happy Birthday Elizabeth from the BV team.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Big Makis

The Malagasy rugby team, the Makis, celebrated their centenary last Saturday by beating the South African Amateur team. The game was tight but the Makis managed to clinch it with a 33-31 win. This victory took place in front of an impressive crowd of 40 000 in Antananarivo.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

The Japanese are Having a Whale of a Time

An article printed today stated that this time of year sees the Japanese whaling fleet of 6 ships setting of to carry out ‘scientific testing’ on 1000 whales in The Southern Ocean. This method of ‘testing’ involves harpooning the whale, measuring and whaling the dead whale and finally delivering it to market, sliced, diced, boxed and frozen ready to be sold.

In 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling and in 1994 The Southern Ocean was declared a Whale Sanctury. However a loophole in this legislation means that every year the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) sends their whaling fleets into the protected areas. The IWC however, states that they do not need the data produced by the FAJ ‘research’. The FAJ claims, "according to Japanese cultural values whales are viewed as a food source." When the Japanes Asahi newspaper took an opinion poll in 2000 they reported that only 4% of the Japanese population regularly eat whale meat whereas 53% haven’t eaten it since childhood and a further 33% have never eaten the meat. These results to not provide a very convincing case for the death of 1000 whales a year.

Fiji Ups It's Game

Today Fiji’s Great Sea Reef launches the 1st in a network of 5 Marine Protected Areas (MPA), that, when completed will form one of the worlds largest underwater sanctuaries. Areas of these MPA’s will be known as ‘tabu’ zones where no fishing or harvesting of marine resources can take place.

Fiji’s Great Sea Reef is the 3rd longest barrier reef in the world. It has not been well studied, so the extent of its diversity is yet to be discovered. WWF conducted a 12 day survey, after which they reported there to be “a staggering array of life.” This survey also noted that there were significant threats to the Great Sea Reef from over-fishing and poaching by illegal fishers, poison fishing, sand dredging and other activities associated with a developing coastline.

Yesterday the Conservation Leadership Award was presented to Fiji’s government and the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas (FLMMA) network members to acknowledge the conservation effort and commitment to establishing the MPA network covering 30% of the country’s waters by 2020.

This is an encouraging development that could raise the profile of marine conservation.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Blue Ventures Loses it’s Short Holiday Cherry



Blue Ventures’ first foray into short diving holidays went without a hitch last week. The group of 12 enjoyed a weeks diving in the ecologically rich Red Sea off the coast of Dahab, also sampling the local cuisine and chilled out atmosphere. We visited some world famous dive sites, including the Blue Hole (yes, it is really that good!) and Canyons as well the little known but beautiful Gabr El Bint. Evenings were spent exploring the small town, and being romanced by the local Bedouin!

Wearing our responsible tourist hats, everyone was encouraged to think carefully about the effect of the tourism industry on the area and share their thoughts in informal discussion. It was disappointing to see the amount of rubbish in the desert and on the beaches, but discussions with local dive centres revealed that steps were being made to clean up the area. We were also informed that Egyptian authorities respond far better to opinions from outside Egypt, so BV has sent it’s impressions to the Egyptian tourist board.

Photos from the trip will soon be up on the web at this link to let those who were on the trip reminisce and to make those not on the trip jealous! We’d like to thank our dive guides at Poseidon Divers (Farmer and Vicky) and all the staff at the Coral Coast Hotel. It was great to see everyone on the trip, new and old friends alike, and we hope to see you again soon! For those who couldn’t make it, there’s always next time, just keep checking out our website!

Monday, November 07, 2005

Research memories from Andavadoaka

This is a message we received from Jon Galton, a student from Cambridge University who carried out research on Andavadoaka's artisanal fishery for his undergraduate research dissertation. After finishing his studies, Jon was traveling in inland Madagascar, some 500 miles from Andavadoaka, when he sent us the following note:


"I was wandering around a dried fish market in Fianarantsoa, generally minding my own business (and showing off my knowledge of Malagasy fish names!), when one of the fish-seller guys with a familiar face said to me “Salut camarade! Andavadoaka?” and I said “Oui!”. It transpired we’d met on one of my pirogue monitoring jaunts, when he’d come down to collect fish. I fired a list of names at him, and we remembered that he’d collected from Ngezy (one of the fishermen that helped with my study) and he waved at pile of varilava (herrings) that he’d collected from him. As Ngezy and I worked together regularly on fish monitoring studies, I think there was a strong chance that I’d measured those same varilava a few weeks back on the beach! "

Friday, November 04, 2005

Show Your Support for Another Marine Conservation Cause

The Ocean Conservancy released a scientific report showing that even the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are not immune from the dangers of overfishing. The report -- based on government data -- reveals that some key fish populations in the area are in a steady decline due to fishing pressure.

Fewer than a dozen commercial fishing boats currently make the long journey to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands' waters. But, as our report illustrates, the ecosystem cannot remain healthy if any commercial fishing continues in the region.

On Tuesday, Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher of NOAA rejected an effort to allow ecologically damaging fishing in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. By doing so, he has helped to preserve the natural character of this truly magnificent, globally important ecological treasure.

Show your support and sign the petition petition thanking Admiral
Lautenbacher and asking for full protection of the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands by clicking here

Madagascar Hits the Airwaves

Yesterday BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio-documentary about mining in Madagascar in their show Crossing Continents. We had mixed opinions about this show as you can see by checking their website and looking for comments by Richard Nimmo. If you missed this, then you can listen again by clicking here.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

It's the Taking Part That Counts

On Sunday, Blue Ventures again put out both a men’s and a women’s football team to play against the Andavadoaka teams. There was a somewhat unsurprising outcome as both of our teams were beaten. They did however put on a good performance, the woman's team only lost 1-0!
Next weekend sees a volleyball match as we try to diversify into other sports!

Bye Bye Josephine

On 20th October those at the site said goodbye to social science research coordinator Joseohine Langley who has left Andavadoaka after 11 months. She single handedly building up the Blue Ventures social science research programme, which is now in the hands of our current social scientist Minna.

It's All in the Bilo

On Wednesday 19th October Blue Ventures staff and volunteers took zebu carts on a 1 to 2 hour journey inland to the Maskoru village of Ankilimelinike where they particitpated in a Bilo ceremony. This was the penultimate day of a 10 day ceremony and there was much dancing and singing to a band of local musicians playing accordians, a type of guitar and drums. It was a fascinating insight into life in a
Masikoro village and a traditional fomba which everyone felt honoured to be invited.

More Marine Action Plans

Following the blog about EU marine conservation strategy, we now have information about UN based strategy International scientists are making plans to create a network of marine parks in order to save the world’s oceans from fish stock depletion. This plan, supported by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) will be produced in 2008 in order to be implemented by 2012.

There are currently 100s of marine protected areas have been set up in the past 15-20 years. Of the 17 largest with most conservation potential, 15 are already at maximum exploitation levels or are depleting the level of their fish resource base. Scientists say new parks plan would strengthen the base of marine conservation, for example by preventing the over fishing that can decrease coral cover or deplete fish populations important for the coral reef ecosystem. The network would require a co-ordinated global effort, which would elevate the status of marine conservation.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Strategy That Could Effect Us All

As dedicated marine conservationists, we always have our eyes peeled for a good and informative site. This is a goody that we’ve found about marine environmental strategy to be implimented to protect all EU marine waters. The strategy is different from previous ones in that it takes an ecosystem level approach to address the pressures on marine flora and fauna. It aims to make the EU waters environmentally healthy by 2021, so that people can enjoy them, whilst maintining a high level of protection of the marine environment.
To find out more information about this topic, which they have handily
divided into Q&A sections, click here.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Camping Trip

Expedition members went on a camping trip to the Northern beaches where they enjoyed a joint celebration of 4 different expedition birthdays - Amelia, Charlie, Bex and Tracy. A great night was had by all, with a demonstration of wilderness medicine from the camp medic, followed by a delicious dinner cooked on an open fire and sleeping out under the full moon.

Continuing Education

A record number of children attended the English teaching class last Wednesday - 66 pupils were in the beginners class where they werer taught how to say the time in English (first they had to be taught how to tell the time).
The advanced group created posters for the beach clean up, the best of which got displayed on the BV notice board.
A group of adults also received personal tuition.

Life's a Beach

On Saturday 15th with Blue Ventures staff and volunteers carried out a beach clean up of Andavadoaka beach. The event started at 3pm with the digging of a new burn pit in the north of the village. The site for the new burn pit was chosen in consultation with the village president, with the aim of creating a pit which would be easy for people to access so as to encourage the regular disposal of rubbish here. After the pit had been dug out (a tough job in the afternoon heat) volunteers and staff joined around 100 young people from Andavadoaka to collect everything from plastic bottles to fishing nets, flip flops to old clothes and a lot of other waste from the beach in rice sacks. The rubbish was then deposited in the pit and burned as this was deemed by BV as the best available waste management system for Andavadoaka at present.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

That'll Teach 'Em


Continuing with local education, two volunteers have been helping out with French and Maths lessons in the Catholic Mission school.

It's in Their Hands

A team from Blue Ventures and Wildlife Conservation Society have travelled to Nosy Ve to talk to the inhabitants about the idea of creating an octopus reserve and update them on recent decisions in Lamboara and Andavadoaka.
It is greatly encouraging that in light of what happened at the Andavadoaka MPA they were met with a positive response as the people were interested in creating their own reserve.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

It Was This Big

Catch monitoring continues in Andavadoaka.

It's Just Not Cricket!

Blue Ventures staff and volunteers were out in force on Sunday 9th October as they donned their ‘football boots’ for Blue Ventures versus Veso male and female football matches. The matches were a village event and a large crowd gathered to cheer on both teams.

Our ladies made up a full team and put in a fine performance; managing to only lose 1:0. Following this ‘success’ it was the men’s turn: at ½ time the men were losing 2:0 however they ended victorious (by default) as it was claimed that the Andavadoaka team did not want to continue play as the ball was not sufficiently inflated. Confirmation of this version of events is yet to happen!

Clean up your act

Plans are currently underway for a beach clean up following the success of the last one in June, 2005.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Research This!

The Blue Ventures have been tirelessly working towards producing the new Research Update to present the findings from the re-opening of the Nosy Fasy no-take zone. We are pleased to announce that it is finished. Check it out by clicking here.

Monday, October 10, 2005

As an aside:

Friends of ours have recently set up the following website, so that you can find out which bank is the bestest. Have a look!
www.ratemybank.com

www.wildmadagascar.org

Here's a great new website we’ve been using recently http://www.wildmadagascar.org/home.html. It allows you to get a comprehensive view of what there is to offer in the fantastic country that is Madagascar. Check it out and maybe it’ll persuade you, if you haven’t been already, to get yourself involved in your own bit of responsible travel, or alternatively some expedition work.

It's fin-ished!

Another big step has been taken in the fight for protection of sharks. The North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) has recently placed a ban on shark finning. This will apply with immediate effect to all ground fish and shrimp trawl fisheries in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. This is much-needed progress, however there is still no limit or quota imposed on shark fisheries, so further research is desperately needed to expand data collection for shark fisheries in order to develop management plans to promote the sustainability of the fishery. Click here for more information.

Friday, October 07, 2005

The Vaccinators

Some of the volunteers plus the Blue Ventures Doctor have been helping the village doctor Joseph and a team of vaccinators with a polio vaccination campaign (funded by UNICEF and other NGOs) which has involved vaccinating all children under five years in Andavadoaka and surrounding villages.

The volunteers found this an enormously rewarding and educational experience where they not only got to interact with people in the village and get an insight into their lives but also felt they were contributing in a positive way. The village doctor and the rest of the team includign a UNICEF representative were grateful to Blue Ventures for the help they received.

Name That Tuna

The European Union is funding a project that takes an exciting step in the direction of sustainable tuna fishing. Tuna stocks are rapidly depleting at present owing to overfishing. In a new scheme, costing around $10 million approximately 80 000 tuna in the Indian Ocean are being tagged. A $10 reward is then given to any fisherman who hands over a tagged fish to local scientists and the fish is returned to the fisherman. This is a kind of pre-emptive strike owing to the fact that currently 20 times more tuna are caught today than they were 50 years ago and if no action is taken it won’t be long until they disappear altogether.

Net Again!

Irish, British and Norwegian marine experts have reported that Spanish fisherman are devastating the number of deep-water sharks in the northeast Atlantic. This is due to unregulated fishing techniques that will often involve trawlers leaving nets unattended for weeks, in an attempt to maximise profits. However the outcome is that half of the catches are left to rot, causing needless waste. Trawlers have also been known to dump nets that are damaged, which can lead to sea life being ensnared on the seabed, with no way of escaping. An Irish Sea Fisheries Board vessel went trawling for these abandoned nets and found 25 miles of nets, each of which averaged about 100 yards in length.

The problem lies in the fact that what these fishermen are doing is not in fact illegal. EU regulations presently do not have tight enough restrictions to prevent this method of fishing from being employed.

This is a situation that that needs to be acted on…

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Giants of the Sea

With news just in from site - a giant grouper was seen at Dos de Baleine today, it was at least 2.5m maybe 3m.

A monster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Keep Fin Eat Soup!

New laws have been introduced in Egypt following increased pressure and lobbying from the Red Sea Governorate and HEPCA (Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association) that officially ban and criminalize shark fishing and trading.

Divers and conservationists noticed that since 2000, shark numbers were decreasing, due to a wave of commercial fishing coupled with increasing demand for exotic seafood dishes such as shark fin soup.

Like the whale shark however, this is another example of how tourism pressures can be advantageous for conservation. In the Red Sea tourists spend vast quantities just to see the sharks, it has been estimated that each shark in the Red Sea generates £10 000 income to Egypt. A pretty good reason to protect them!

This is an exciting step forward for conservation in the Red Sea.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Into the deep.....

The deep-sea environment is an area that has previously been thought of as a barren landscape, containing few life forms, is now being recognised to be the habitat for as many as 10 million species, some of which form coral reefs and forests that are not dissimilar to the trademark coral reefs of the shallows. Sadly however, the only people who are accessing these deep-sea paradises are those on the bottom trawlers carrying heavy nets, chains and rollers that indiscriminately crush everything in their path. The good news is that 1,136 scientists from 69 countries have united to form the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which is calling for a short-term moratorium on deep-sea bottom trawling in deep seas. This suspension of activity will provide these vulnerable ecosystems immediate protection whilst an effective, legally binding management strategy can be employed.

Recent reports have demonstrated that technological advancement can also be put to positive effect. Scientists have used high-tech electronic tags on whale sharks, which have shown that the sharks are diving to incredible depths of just under 1km in the search for food – much deeper than previously estimated. This tagging system can be used by tourist companies, alongside scientists, who can use the information of the sharks whereabouts for boat tours. The whale shark is sadly another species hunted for its fins and is now listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN, the World Conservation Union, Red List of threatened species. However, through the inclusion of the tourist industry, which has a vested interest in maintaining shark populations to generate much needed revenue, further pressure can be placed protecting this species.

Friday, September 30, 2005

30th September

Hello Bloggers! Here’s our end of week Blue Ventures update……

For all those eager to hear more about our boating ventures - the arrival of Tson Tso has meant our existing boat Alo Alo has been taken out of the water for some much needed maintenance after two solid years on the water working hard us.

Wednesday saw the start of the English lessons taught to local children by expedition members. These lessons came with some changes to the way we carry out the teaching. The class which contains a wide range of abilities was split into two - a beginner’s class and a more advanced class. The beginners class were taught using some brand new teaching materials sent out from the London office and the intermediate class were excited to receive the next batch of letters from Santa Barbara, USA. These letters are sent as part of the letter exchange programme introduced by elementary school teacher Gabrielle Johnson. All the letters were beautifully presented in a special folder decorated with fish and whale designs. The Andavadoaka school children were also sent homemade bookmarks containing pressed flowers.

“Charismatic megafauna” made another appearance this week when group members were treated to a whale sighting. They were spotted by the boatmarshall just about 50 metres from the nearshore site where the dive was taking place! Those on shore were able to watch a display of four breaching humpbacks and in fact it was only the divers that missed out!

Meetings have been going on with different family groups in Andavadoaka to discuss whether the village is ready to create a second octopus no-take reserve.



The ominous sign of frigate birds appeared as they were seen flying over the beach yesterday and it rained in Andavadoaka today. This sadly could be a sign of an oncoming storm, so we’ll just have to wait for news on that!

And for our non-expedition animal of the blog: a giant squid was has been captured on camera for the first time this week. Scientists in Japan have taken the first photo of a giant squid, which, up until now has only been seen as dead or dying, when washed up on shore. This is a pretty spectacular discovery and demonstrates the ways in which increased marine research is enabling us to see the mystical creatures previously undocumented.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

27th September, 2005

Now we are fully launched into the “Blogosphere” we can get underway with updates from both base and field.

Having newly arrived at the base in Andavadoaka our new volunteers were invited to the wedding of Mr Sidoine (an octopus sous collector). 14 Blue Ventures staff and volunteers joined the party for lunch in the Grand Salle of the village Catholic Mission. Over 100 people joined in the festivities and were treated to a sit down lunch with drinks and a many-tiered wedding cake was brought out. Following that there were speeches music and dancing.

On Thursday 22nd September Andavadoaka has celebrated a new arrival – Tson Tso (trigger fish) our new boat. It was christened by a Malagasy fomba, a traditional ceremony, both Tulear before its maiden voyage and also in Andava before its first ever dive trip.



On Sunday 25th a new face also arrived at Andava – Minna Epps, our new socio-economic researcher started her handover from Josephine our 1st socio economic researcher, who will be leaving us after 9 months in the position, at the end of October.

On a more general note. Malagasy and German scientists have found 2 new species of lemur in Madagascar: the giant mouse lemur and Goodman’s mouse lemur. Lemurs are exclusive to Madagascar and sadly are the most endangered of all primates, with a third of all species already extinct. These discoveries highlight that there is still so much of Malagasy biodiversity that needs to be explored and understood.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Hello and Welcome

So, welcome to our 1st real entry that launches you and us into the world of Blue Ventures blogging. This will serve as a brief overview to bring you up to speed about some of the activities and achievements of the Blue Ventures team.
Since 2002, Blue Ventures' has immersed itself in Malagasy life in Andavadoaka, Southwest Madagascar. We have worked closely with the community at a number of levels, for example on a socio-economic level: introducing sustainable octopus fishing methodologies; and also on a personal level: teaching English to local school children.
Keen to maintain high environmental standards we came up with a cunning plan - on World Environment Day (June 5th 2005) a beach cleaning competition was organised for the Malagasy local children. This was eagerly participated in and gave an enjoyable dimension to a job that needed doing. Our major news however, is that Blue Ventures were among five winners of the Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) Initiative Awards 2005 for its innovative contribution to sustainable development. This award is a real boost and demonstrates the recognition conservation and sustainable development are getting.
As the site is now between groups we don’t have any immediate news, however here’s a brief update of some events from Expedition 17:

27th August – Volleyball match against the Catholic Mission.
Catholic Mission won – just!

1st September – Ladies football match Blue Ventures v. Andavadoaka
ladies team. Andavadoaka won 2:1

11th September – Lamboara, a second village, are proposing to create an octopus no-take reserve from 1st December 2005 to 30th April 2006.

15th September – Andavadoaka residents met to discuss a second octopus no-take reserve.

There have also been regular sightings of Humpback whales – two in the lagoon very close to Andavadoaka rock. Also pods of over 100 dolphins have been seen.
So it’s been a hot expedition on the “Megafauna” front.

As for Expedition 18, we’ll have to wait for news and stories of what they’ll be getting up to....

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

In the beginning...

Since we started Blue Ventures 3 years ago so much has happened and changed… Past volunteers regularly ring us up to ask us about people they got to know and love on their expeditions, future volunteers ask us questions about the company or about the country they are visiting, or people are simply interested to hear what’s going on. This blog is an attempt to compile some of the stories, pictures and blue ventures (sorry) that occur as the organisation develops.