Spring 2016, Issue 4

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Meanwhile it has been a busy year for the

GVI Seychelles National Scholarship

Programme, with 8 candidates having

successfully completed time on the

expeditions.

With NOAA having declared 2015 as the

year of a 3rd global coral mass bleaching

event, we already have one eye on the end

of the first quarter of 2016, a time when

the Seychelles inner islands usually

experience elevated sea surface

temperatures.

GVI Seychelles would like to thank

everyone who has helped to make this year

such a success, In particular SNPA for their

continued support and guidance.

Thanks also to the GVI Seychelles staff for

their tireless dedication and enthusiasm but

most importantly thank you to all of the

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volunteers who have given up their time

and money to make a difference. Without

them none of what we do would be

possible.

We would like to take this opportunity to

wish everyone a very happy new year and

look forward to seeing many of you in

2016!

Inside this Issue

• Season’s Greetings

• WIOMSA

• Marine Monitoring

• Turtles of Curieuse Island

• Cleaning up our backyard

• Marine Education Fun Day

• GVI Charitable Trust

• NSPs

GVI Seychelles December 2015, Issue 9

As 2015 draws to a close, we can once

again look back on a year packed full of

achievements. The staff and volunteers on

the marine and island conservation

programmes have continued to conduct

research and gather important data on

Seychelles flora and fauna. This data has

been presented at conferences in Turkey

and South Africa and used to publish a

manuscript on the turtles of Curieuse

Island. The GVI expeditions run alongside

SNPA have featured in a number of news

programmes, broadcasted both locally and

internationally, showcasing the amazing

diversity of wildlife found within the inner

islands. Furthermore in 2015 the

Charitable Trust raised over SR60,000 for

the President’s Village Childrens Home and

the SSPCA, providing much needed

financial support on the ground.

Season’s Greetings

Lorem Ipsum

WIOMSA 2015

The afternoon of the second day was a session dedicated to the 250 or

so posters on display. Two GVI posters were presented, one on the

Lemon shark research being carried out by GVI Curieuse: “Use of the

Curieuse Island, Seychelles, Mangroves as a Nursery Ground for

Sicklefin Lemon Sharks (Negaprion acutidens)”, and the other

summarising the past ten years of coral reef monitoring by GVI Cap

Ternay: “Coral Reef Recovery Along the Northwest Coast of Mahé,

Seychelles Following the 1998 Mass Bleaching Event”. As with all

projects run by GVI Seychelles, both have been carried out in

collaboration with the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA).

The Lemon shark project begun with funding from the Seychelles

British High Commission, with the initial aim of gathering baseline

data on the previously un-studied population of juveniles, specifically

on the size and structure of the population and the growth rates of the

pups. It has been a successful first season with 96 individuals captured

and tagged with electronic Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags,

and the data collected has shown just how little we knew about the

little sharks. Our estimates of the population size were proved to be a

vast under-estimate, with the mark-recapture calculations showing a

maximum population size of over 300 sharks! The growth data also

highlighted some very interesting trends, and as with many scientific

studies raised more questions than it answered. There was much

interest in the poster and our results from a diverse range of delegates.

The Cap Ternay coral reef poster was also very well received, and

with this year being the next major El Nino following the one in 1998,

with widely predicted global mass coral bleaching again, it was a most

appropriate time to present the results of the recovery from the

previous bleaching event. The results will now be able to be used as a

solid baseline to assess the effects of the coming El Nino, and this

aroused the interest of quite a number of delegates.

The symposium was such a success on many levels. The presentation

and sharing of so many studies, including our own, greatly advances

understanding of the current science going on in the region, and it was

a great opportunity to meet and talk to a diverse group of people,

ranging from other shark and coral reef scientists to geneticists, to

Seychelles NGO representatives, to many ex-GVI volunteers and

National Scholars from all around the world.

Each year, the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association

(WIOMSA) holds a symposium in one of the countries bordering

the Western Indian Ocean. The aim of the association is to

advance regional co-operation in all aspects of coastal and marine

sciences and management, and to support sustainable

development in the Western Indian Ocean region, while

promoting interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches.

This year it was the turn of South Africa, with the event being

hosted at the Wild Coast Sun Resort, Eastern Cape, just across

the river from Port Edward, Kwazulu Natal. The venue was well

chosen, with five presenting halls and all required facilities at

hand. Over 500 delegates attended from locations all around the

world, including several from the Seychelles. The theme of the

symposium was “Knowledge – improving lives in ocean and

coastal systems”.

The symposium began with some traditional African drum and

dance, followed by opening addresses from the WIOMSA

president and other key organisers, then it was straight into the

scientific presentations. The presentations were grouped into

diverse topics ranging from the status of coral reefs to primary

productivity, provision of ecosystem services, elasmobranchs of

the Western Indian Ocean, Marine Protected Areas, fishery

resources, and climate change. The final day was dedicated to

special sessions covering a number of current issues, including

coral reefs, reforestation in Africa, African wetlands, and

effective conservation communication in the Western Indian

Ocean.

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In addition to the ongoing marine monitoring programme, 2015

has seen GVI & SNPA come together to try and tackle the COTS

outbreak, which has affected large areas of coral reef on the north

coast of Mahé Island.

Several removal campaigns took place in the first six months of the

year, targeting Beau Vallon, which had been particularly badly

affected.

In the second half of the year SNPA received a shipment of

injector guns, which they passed on to GVI for use on our

monitoring sites. The applicators use a sodium bisulphate solution

for injecting into the COTS, negating the need to remove and

dispose of the animal. To date GVI Seychelles has injected over

100 COTS, focusing on outbreaks within the Marine National

Parks of Port Launay and Baie Ternay.

Marine monitoring

It has been a busy year of marine monitoring for the team at Cap

Ternay. Over the past twelve months we have conducted stationary

point counts, diversity belts, line intercept transects and quadrats at

24 sites along the coast of Mahé, stretching from L’ilot to the north

of Beau Vallon bay down to Isle Therese to the west.

Over the next month the science team will be looking through the

data and compiling a report on the status of the reefs. While the

signs are good with coral cover looking to have increased again on

last year, there is concern that the global coral bleaching event,

which has recently devastated large areas of the pacific will impact

Seychelles reefs early next year. It is therefore more important than

ever that data is collected to help build a picture of the status of the

reefs.

Towards the end of October, at a time when we were looking to

complete our monitoring sites while simultaneously dealing with

the COTS outbreaks, the Seychelles inner islands were affected by a

Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). Reports of fish washing up dead on

beaches had been coming in for the last 24 hours when on October

25th GVI noticed that the water within the Baie Ternay Marine Park

had turned a red/brown colour. Diving was suspended for a few

days while officials sent samples for testing. The algal bloom was

particularly severe within the Port Launay Marine National Park as

well as at Conception island. Following the bloom GVI sent a team

to each of these sites to conduct surveys and the resulting data has

been passed on to SNPA.

A COTS feeds on a Pocillopora coral

Dark areas of algae within the Port Launay MNP

Lorem Ipsum

Cleaning up our backyard

On the 11th October GVI Seychelles volunteers and staff joined forces

with those from SYAH, Eco-Academia and Global Shapers to clean up

the beaches of Cap Ternay. Our guests arrived at base in the morning,

and after a quick meet-and-greet we divided into two groups, to focus

on the mangrove area within the reserve and around Bay Ternay. We

worked for several hours, collecting all kinds of strange items,

including a toilet seat and a steering wheel! One of the worst areas,

the parking space near the back beach, took a long time to clear up.

We discussed some ideas to help reduce this issue, such as putting up a

sign asking visitors to take their rubbish home with them.

During the clean, GVI volunteers and our guests were able to mingle

and it was great to speak with local volunteers about the kind of work

they are doing here, and what they consider to be the greatest

environmental threats to their security and way of life.

It was a little upsetting to see all the different kinds of waste, which

had made its way into the marine national park, but it was certainly a

good feeling once we'd collected everything we could find and

brought it back to base. Looking at our massive haul gave everyone a

real sense of achievement. From there we sorted what we could into

our new recycling centre, and then disposed of the rest as general

rubbish. Overall we estimated we'd removed over 100kgs of rubbish

from the reserve. It was a great day, and we'd like to thank all those

who participated and helped to keep our lovely home clean and

rubbish free. Until next time!!

New paper published on the

turtles of curieuse island

Curieuse Island is the fifth largest of the inner granitic islands and is

a national park managed by the Seychelles National Parks

Authority. Since 2011 Global Vision International has been

assisting the SNPA with monitoring turtle nesting activity on the

island. The data collected by GVI staff and volunteers is passed on

to SNPA and has helped to gain a better understanding of the role

Curieuse Island plays in providing suitable nesting habitat for

hawksbill turtles. Results have shown the beaches of Curieuse

Island to be important nesting grounds for hawksbill turtles and to

a handful of green turtles.

This quarter a new paper was published on the turtles of Curieuse

Island. The manuscript entitled ‘Curieuse National Park,

Seychelles: Critical Management Needs for Protection of an

Important Nesting Habitat’ by Burt et al. Published in the October

issue of the Marine Turtle Newsletter, the paper uses four years of

GVI & SNPA data to assess hawksbill and green turtle numbers

using the beaches of Curieuse Island for nesting. The authors go on

to make a number of recommendations for safeguarding the turtles

nesting habitat on the island.

The paper is now available to download from:

http://www.seaturtle.org/mtn/archives/mtn147/mtn147-

4.shtml

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Marine education fun day

Each year at Cote D’Or on Praslin, the Environment Education

Section of the Seychelles Ministry of the Environment, in partnership

with the Seychelles Islands Foundation and Friends of Vallee de Mai,

hosts a Marine Education Fun Day for the local school children, and

this year’s event was held on Saturday the 21st of November. The

event is intended to encourage local children to become interested in

marine life and teach them of the importance of the marine

environment. Many organisations participated in making it a great day

out for all, including SNPA, Octopus Dive Centre, the National

Sports Council, and of course our dedicated staff and volunteers here

at GVI Curieuse.

Despite competing with the national election for publicity, about 30

children managed to attend, more than enough to keep the adults

busy. The day began with some shark quizzes from GVI, showing the

children some of the adaptations different species have in teeth and tail

shapes. It turned out that one of the children was at least as well

educated in all things shark as anyone from GVI! This was a great

inspiration to the other kids who were all very interested in the topic.

This was then followed by the manic and hilarious turtle nesting game,

where two teams competed to be the quickest to dig a nest on the

beach and lay all their eggs without breaking them. It was a very close

match with both teams putting in an extraordinary level of energy and

finishing within a couple of seconds of each other.

It was then time for the pace to slow slightly as Octopus Dive

Centre took out groups for snorkelling and the other organisations

showed how to recycle plastic bottles to make and paint turtle toys.

All the while, Mr Allen Gervais Comettant from the Ministry of

Environment was busy decorating faces with all manner of marine

art. It was then time for lunch, after which GVI hosted a game for

all the kids in the sea, which showed how sharks can so easily slip

through the water, a prelude to the aquatic activities for the rest of

the afternoon. Octopus Dive ran more snorkelling while SNPA,

GVI and others played with the children on the water slide and had a

game of water polo, a game that was mirrored with much intensity

by the remaining adults in a mixed cross-organisation, cross-cultural

challenge match!

The day was a resounding success, with another group of the

younger generation having a greater awareness of marine

conservation, while at the same time having a great fun day out. GVI

would like to thank the Environment Education Section, SIF, and

Friends of Vallee de Mai for organising this year’s event, and all

involved will be looking forward to the next one.

GVI SEYCHELLES March 2014, ISSUE 2

Charitable trust

Pirate mischief abounded last month here in Cap Ternay, as we held

our Great Dash for Doubloons Charity Challenge.

The premise was simple enough– four teams of raggedy pirates had

to set out on an underwater and land-based scavenger hunt,

searching for clues, particular objects and lost doubloons, as they

hunted for the grand prize - a treasure chest full of booty! There

were some tricky challenges thrown in along the way to make

things even harder.

On the day scheduled for our challenge, pirates awoke to a

mysterious map on the blackboard, showing where hidden items

could be found in one of our dive sites in Bay Ternay. Once they’d

all recorded the information, there was a race to determine who

would hit the oceans first – each team had to bail out their “boats”,

using sponges, buckets and good old team work as fast as possible.

The first two teams were awarded prized positions on Dive A while

the others were left sweating it out until Dive B.

And so, the boat was off and our pirate divers descended below the

waves to see what they could find. Teams on Dive A were well on

their way, and had almost managed to collect all our coded clues

just before a big storm rolled in, meaning we had to recall and

reassess our rush for gold.

Unfortunately for those on Dive B, it was decided that the weather

was too rough, and so the whole day was rescheduled for the

GVI SEYCHELLES

following week, putting our anxious pirates even further on edge.

Day two quickly rolled around, and we sent the other two groups

out to find the underwater clues. Once the clues were collected,

and all our pirates were back safely on land, the real hunt could

begin. Treasure had been hidden all over base, and with the aid of

some clues and the underwater code they’d uncovered, our pirates

set off on the hunt. After a lot of scurrying around, some pirate

bribery, the loss of many peg legs, and some fantastic costumes, the

teams began collecting their golden doubloons. Ro and Jilly became

strict enforcers of the Pirate Law – rules that, if broken, ensured

that felonious teams were fined their precious doubloons.

Teams were buying clues, playing dirty, and generally running

around causing mischief, until finally there were only a few minutes

left on the clock. As our pirate crews started showing up, we could

see that it looked like it was going to be a close call on who would

win the day. Suddenly, with just a minute to spare, one of the

teams came dashing in holding up a big treasure chest, so sure that

they’d won the day! Unfortunately, they hadn’t actually opened it,

and when they did all they found was a cheeky note from Team 4,

who’d already cleared out all the gold, winning the day!

Overall it was a great success, and the volunteers had loads of fun.

Most importantly, we were able to raise over $800 for our

Charitable Trust recipients, the children of The President’s Village

Children’s Home. This money has since been contributed towards

buying each child a special Christmas gift.

Thanks again to all those who supported us in this challenge, and to

all the volunteers who participated on the day!

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2015 has been the most successful year yet for the GVI Seychelles

National Scholarship Programme with eight candidates having

participated in and completed training on both the GVI Seychelles

Marine Conservation and Island Conservation programmes.

Students have come from a number of organisations including Save

Our Seas Foundation, Green Islands Foundation, Seychelles Islands

Foundation, Maritime Training College and the University of

Seychelles. They go away having obtained valuable skills in diving,

first aid, species identification and data collection techniques. It is

hoped that they will now use the knowledge and experience they

have gained upon returning to their oganisations or in future

employment.

Below Jennifer Appoo of the Green Islands Foundation tells us

about her time on the Marine Conservation Expedition at Cap

Ternay.

National Scholarship

Programme

Follow GVI Seychelles

• Website - www.gvi.co.uk

• Charitable Trust website - www.gvi.org

• Facebook -

https://www.facebook.com/GVISeychellesMaheCurieuse

• Twitter - https://twitter.com/GVISeychelles

• Instagram - #GVITRAVEL

From August to November 2015 I got the opportunity to

participate in the GVI Cap Ternay Marine Expedition Program as a

National Scholar. I work with the Green Islands Foundation (GIF),

a local NGO implementing conservation work mainly on Denis

and North Island. Part of my work with GIF involves undertaking

marine surveys which is why I joined GVI, to learn standardized

and internationally recognized marine monitoring methodologies.

Volunteering at GVI Cap Ternay has been truly an amazing

experience. For three months I dived in turquoise blue waters on

the most beautiful reefs on Mahé, encountered endangered turtles,

reef sharks and countless rays and even witnessed the first few

lemon shark pups in the bay for this year's breeding season.

During my stay at GVI not only did I get trained on how to

identify coral and survey coral recruits, but I also got the

opportunity to learn about the newly developed crown-of-thorns

starfish control methodology and participated in the eradication

program.

Being at GVI Cap Ternay is also about raising awareness,

collaborating with and helping the local community. I took part in

numerous activities such as the weekly environmental education

session with the International School, playing in-water games and

snorkeling with children from the President's Village, as well as

cleaning up the beach together with local youth organizations.

This experience has definitely increased my knowledge and

understanding of marine ecosystems, but most of all my love for

the sea and dedication to marine conservation. Thank you GVI!

Jennifer and Shiira take part in environmental education classes for the International School.