The Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund (MCAF) recently provided funding that allowed researchers with the Manta Trust to tag manta rays in the Pacific Ocean. Our Facebook community helped name the two females—Sylvia and Eugenie! This post follows up on Sylvia and Eugenie's whereabouts, thanks to the data from those satellite tags.

Our online naming contest was a great success, and ever since then we've been waiting to find out where Sylvia and Eugenie are spending their time. This is critical information that can help inform conservation efforts for manta rays off Mexico and around the world.

A frame from a beautiful underwater video of Josh tagging the manta rays

Researcher Josh Stewart took time off from his field studies to offer a little background about the project and the Aquarium's involvement through MCAF.



Josh mentioned that he would share the data on Sylvia and Eugenie as soon as possible. Well, the wait is over!

The researchers have gleaned important information from those tags and compiled the data in an impressive interactive map over at DataMares. Head over there to dive into this pool of data. You'll also find helpful tips for navigating the map, including ways to single out Sylvia and Eugenie's movements!

Go to the map




If you want to learn more, check out Josh's guest posts about this manta research:

• Read a first-hand account of what it's like to tag these massive animals, and 
• Learn why these research endeavors are so important, and
• Watch an unbelievable underwater video of this field work in action.

Explore other projects supported by the Aquarium's MCAF program, all supporting grassroots research around the world to study and protect animals and habitats of our blue planet!

• Leatherback sea turtle nest protection and relocationin Indonesia
• Tackling a growing threat to manta rays in Sri Lanka
• Measuring a reef's resilience to climate change in the Indian Ocean
• Studying the impact of flooding on Indus River dolphins in India and Pakistan
• Protecting sea turtles in Costa Rica
• Studying whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico after the Gulf Oil Spill

June 11, 2014 
Introductions

This summer aquarist Jackie Anderson and I had the amazing opportunity to participate in Project Puffin.  Project Puffin was started by the Audubon Society in 1973 to restore puffins to islands in the Gulf of Maine where they had nested until the late 1800s when they were largely exterminated due to hunting for their meat, feathers and eggs.

A puffin in its burrow

In an attempt to restore the colonies, young puffins were brought to the islands from Newfoundland, which has a healthy population of the birds. Eventually some of these puffins returned to nest on the Gulf of Maine islands and their population has been slowly increasing. Tern colonies have also been restored to the islands through the efforts of the project. Today staff members, interns and volunteers spend the breeding season on these islands to implement management activities that help the colonies, like removal of invasive vegetation, and to monitor the health of the seabird populations through gathering data for several long term studies. The primary focus of my work at the Aquarium is our shorebird exhibit which features local shorebirds (several species of plover and sandpiper) as well as two common terns, so I was very excited to participate in some hands-on field work and to be able to observe terns in the colony while also helping with their conservation.

Camping on Seal Island

Jackie and I went as volunteers to two different islands, Matinicus Rock and Seal Island, where we stayed for two weeks. Matinicus Rock features a light house. Seal Island has a tiny cabin with a propane stove for cooking. The participants sleep in their own individual tents. Neither of the islands has running water, but getting to spend so much time out in nature certainly made this minor hardship worthwhile.

Banding birds is tricky business!

During my first day on Seal Island I got to observe Arctic Terns being trapped, measured, banded and released.  The data is used for a long term demographic study of Arctic Terns in the Gulf of Maine.  Arctic Terns, as well as several other species of tern including Common Terns, have been declining in population in the US and information gathered through the efforts of Project Puffin can help us to understand why and can identify the best management practices.  On my second day, I got to band adult terns myself which was a little nerve-racking as you have to apply considerable pressure with one hand in order to close the metal ID band with special pliers while holding the bird gently in your other hand.

-Austin

Click here to keep reading Part 2!

Keith Ellenbogen, marine photographer and videographer, has just returned from two and a half months of exploring the oceans on an assignment with Conservation International and the Ocean Health Index. Here on the Aquarium's Global Explorers Blog, Keith will be posting images from that expedition to showcase the spectacular beauty of the underwater world, and the information marine animals provide about their environment.

Here are three sample images of what's coming up.

 




From his expedition in the Turtle Islands, Philippines/Malaysia, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, and Monterey, California, Keith will share new images and stories that create an awareness about environmental threats and solutions that impact the relationship between people and the sea.

Look for his upcoming posts here, and additional images and stories on the Conservation International blog. In the meantime, you can check out more of his photography and reports from these previous expeditions: Alaska in 2011, Fiji in 2011, Fiji in 2010 and Fiji in 2009.

This is a guest post from Dr. Stacy Jupiter, Program Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Fiji. The photos are by frequent Global Explorers Blog contributor Keith Ellenbogen.

How do you engage students in coral reef conservation without getting them wet?


Researchers and education specialists from the Field Museum of Chicago, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) Network have recently launched a pilot interactive digital learning project called: "Conservation Connection: From the West Side to the West Pacific." The program, winner of the 2010 MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition, links high school students from the VOISE Academy of inner city Chicago with students from the Marist Brothers School in Suva, Fiji.


Through WhyReef, an online virtual coral reef world, students learn how to identify coral reef species, build food webs and evaluate the effects of different reef threats. In addition, the Chicago and Fiji students can directly interact with each other through online blogs and sharing photography and video projects about coral reef issues on FijiReef, which operates much like the ever-popular Facebook. This is a particularly exciting opportunity for Fiji students who may not have ever been previously exposed to technology such as digital cameras and video recorders which are nearly omnipresent in the United States.


In the 21st century, learning how to communicate through digital media is an essential tool. Not only does this program teach students about coral reef conservation issues, they learn how to script, produce and film their own documentaries about reef species, threats and management strategies. How lucky, then, that we have Keith, a real live professional photographer who was more than happy to provide videography tips to the Marist students.


After a brief demonstration, we loaded up the students in a mini-bus and took them straight down to the fish market at Suva Wharf to practice their newly acquired skills. Their task was to interview the fish vendors about what kind of fish they sell, where they are caught, and how fishing conditions have changed in the past ten years.


Without hesitation, the boys approached the men and women sitting behind their colorful catch to discover that the fish have come in from all around Fiji, particularly from the areas of Lau and Kadavu. Meanwhile, I tried to get the boys to think critically about the conservation message of their footage and other WCS and FLMMA staff filled in the interviews with fun facts about the fish on offer, such as what part of pufferfish are toxic (answer: the liver and sometimes the skin).



At the end of the day, all of the kids left smiling, excited to have practical experience outside of the classroom. Who knows, perhaps we have set some of these boys on a path to become documentary filmmakers, reporters or marine biologists? Only the future knows what is in store, but equipped with knowledge and skills, these students will hopefully have many doors open for them in years to come.

-Stacy Jupiter, PhD

This is a guest post from Dr. Stacy Jupiter, Program Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Fiji. The photos are by frequent Global Explorers Blog contributor Keith Ellenbogen.

Peter Benchley, author of Jaws, felt remorse for his portrayal of the great white eating machine. The book and subsequent movie did indeed stir panic and fear in beachgoers, swimmers and surfers around the world. Benchley repented during the last decade of his career by becoming a strong advocate for shark conservation. He published several non-fiction works about the plight of sharks and how media sensationalism can lead to senseless killings of these majestic creatures that have critical functions in marine ecosystems. [Note: Wendy Benchley wrote for this blog about her husband's dedication to ocean conservation in this post during a 2008 expedition to the Sea of Cortez.]

But sensationalism is not what is currently driving shark populations to the brink of extinction. They are being slaughtered on the scale of 50 million per year . . .  for shark fin soup. In China and other parts of Asia, shark fin soup is served to celebrate success or to honoured guests. As China's middle class grows, so does the demand for this luxury item, which fishers around the world eager to sell high value catch are happy to provide. [Note: New England Aquarium Explorer in Residence and National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry wrote this post about shark finning and other threats sharks face.]


In Fiji, indigenous people traditionally revered sharks as gods. Some fishermen still pay homage to Dakuwaqa, the Shark God, by pouring a bowl of kava in the sea before embarking on a fishing trip. It is not in Fijians' nature to destroy their totem spirits, and until recently, the inshore reef sharks were largely not a targeted fishery. But with rising costs of living and growing numbers of middlemen willing to pay top dollar to sell fins to feed the hungry Asian market, even small scale fishers are actively hunting the white tip, black tip and grey reef sharks that once had free reign over the coral gardens.


Conservation organizations, such as the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), are struggling to find solutions to the rapid disappearance of these ocean giants that are critical for maintaining ecological balance in marine systems. With help from the Pew Charitable Trusts, some Pacific Island nations such as Palau and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have recently passed national legislation banning shark finning. While these are great conservation successes, they are only a first step. Without resources for enforcement and prosecution, the bans may only drive the finning further underground.


Keith and I took the plunge onto Shark Reef in Beqa Lagoon to observe how one local dive operation, Beqa Adventure Divers, is promoting shark conservation through green tourism that provides direct benefits to the local communities in terms of payment for each diver who visits Shark Reef. On the boat ride out, we had the opportunity to chat at length with owner Mike about his take on the issues. Mike has been working with the Fiji Department of Fisheries for several years to develop similar nation-wide bans on shark finning. However, he is rightfully adamant that unless the ban is coupled with staff and resources to conduct surveillance of shipping containers being exported to Asia, the law with never have teeth.


The sharks did not disappoint. We descended first to 30 m where over forty bull sharks took turns parading on their catwalk (top three photos). Granted, they were more interested in the severed fish heads being served up than showing off their sleek leather, but the fall line was still quite an impressive display.


Next we moved up the reef wall to 10 m where the grey reef sharks took turns showing off while the blacktips (photos above) and whitetips stole in where they could for a nibble. They got their chance to take center stage on the reef flat, amid Acropora table and finger corals and a spectacular turquoise backdrop.

I left Shark Reef today feeling hopeful that the passion of individuals can inspire change in the world. Whether that change is to convince donors to provide necessary training and capacity to Fiji Department of Fisheries to police shark finning or to convince an entire generation that responsible seafood choices are imperative to maintaining healthy oceans, they are all part of the solution. [Note: Dr. Jupiter posted about Fijian conservation efforts in this post from the 2010 Joint Aquarium Fiji Expedition.]

Stacy Jupiter, PhD

Viti Levu - October 15, 2010
While everybody else packed off to Nadi International Airport, Stacy, Keith and I packed--and I do mean packed--into a station wagon taxi with all our gear for the drive east along the Coral Coast, toward our final adventure on this expedition. Keith and I checked in for a decompression stop in Pacific Harbor at a favorite spot called "The Uprising." Stacy soldiered back to Suva to embrace reality. Rain had started and quickly grown torrential. Stoic cruise ship visitors paraded by in the rain, barely clad and in fleshy abundance, as Fijian farmers coast to coast celebrated a welcome reprieve from the cursed grip of drought. There would be crops in the dry West of Viti Levu. There would be food and trade, after all.


Conservation International’s demonstration nursery for native Fijian trees, in Rakiraki on the north coast of the island Viti Levu. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

That night our guests for dinner were James Comley of the University of the South Pacific, and Stacy. James heralded the reconvening of the Fiji Marine Management Area Science Team for a two-day venture to our study area on the north coast of Viti Levu, to be documented photographically by Keith Ellenbogen. This area is actually the first landfall south of our dive trek through Bligh Water, and those waters are largely claimed within the qoliqoli, or marine management areas, of the villages along this coast. Soon our rented HiLux truck was jammed to the gills with people, gear, and waka for our village visits, and we were off, en-sheathed in rain.


There is a reason they call this a "rain"forest! The rented HiLux comes through for us, if just barely. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

The villages we were visiting are all participants in a plan to restore the coastal native rainforest of northeastern Viti Levu, in the Nokoratubu and Rakiraki districts. These lovely, scenic hills, drenched in magnificent forest within the memories of village elders, now stand stark naked, crisped by frequent fires set in accidents and bouts of boredom. When rain pours from the sky, mud pours from the land into the sea, Earth’s blood shed away carrying precious nutrients that would otherwise have nourished a dalo plant or a tree, and in turn, the people of Fiji. That mud slides over coastal reefs, cutting off the sun, choking corals and their associated denizens, and fueling harmful algal blooms.


Vesi seedlings ready for outplanting in areas slated for native forest restoration. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

There is a solution: put the trees back. Restore the native forest. Keep steeps and highlands and river corridors under old, closed-canopy forest. Rebuild corridors from mountaintop to beach to maintain all of Fiji's beautiful animal and plant species--a quarter to a third of which or more occur nowhere else in the world. Further enhance forest services by including extensive plantings of commercial timber as one of the crops. Food crops will be freer of pests as birds and other farmers' friends mass in the adjacent plantation and natural forests. The beauty of the scenic landscape will be restored as well, boosting tourism and revitalizing Fijian culture. So many trees have been cut that great forest trees that play a crucial role in traditional practices and arts have been brought to the verge of extinction in Fiji. Fiji forests host hundreds of woody plant species, many providing fruits to eat, flowers to string on welcoming garlands, and gorgeous woods. No tree is more emblematic of this threat than the beloved (and beloved to death) vesi, known to scientists as Intsia bijuga.


A newborn vesi (Intsia bijuga) arches gracefully from between its two cotyledons, or "first leaves." Cotyledons are the plant counterpart of egg yolk. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)


Vesi seeds ready for planting. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

Vesi is one of the lofty and majestic rainforest trees in a group of plant families closely related to the common garden pea. It is from large vesi trees that artisans carve the tanoa, or kava bowl (seen in this previous post), that is the most familiar icon of Fijian hospitality, philosophy and way of life. Its beautiful and durable wood is the luxurious wainscoting of Fiji’s built environment.


After a new planting field has been laid out and cleared, planting proceeds by first loosening the soil to ready it for its new inhabitant. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

Accompanying vesi in the CI nursery are at least a dozen other popular and important native tree species. One is the great dakua or Pacific kauri, royal conifer of Fiji ridgetops. Ivi or Polynesian chestnut is another. Lowland rivers are naturally sheltered by ivi, whose lovely russet buttresses paint and shape the riverside, and support a lush canopy that annually bears bumper crops of prized edible nuts. Ivi also dangles its roots like wet toes in the river, creating habitat for brilliantly hued freshwater gobies new to science and unique to Fiji; some exist in only a single river or watershed.


The young tree is loosened from its plastic planting bag, then placed gently in the newly prepared hole and the rich black soil tamped down around it. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

Native trees are not the only species planted; nearby, with help from Forests for the Future, teak are mass-produced as a crop that delivers far more than cash. Forests for the Future is the brainchild of Rodrick Evers, who co-owns and manages the Five Princes Hotel (where we stay in Suva) with his wife Tari, daughter of a former high official in Kiribati when it was under British rule (see Aquarium blogs about Kiribati and the Phoenix Islands). Carefully rotated instead of being cut down all at once, teak like any tree can help prevent erosion and topsoil loss. As we learn more about intercropping and polyculture, teak can also provide an additional habitat with value for wildlife and endangered species, a valuable second string to native forest. Also, teak prefers drier conditions than most native rainforest species, and can be used as a habitat buffer around the periphery of native and restored rainforest.

The past few years have seen a burst in reforestation activities in Fiji, linked to both biodiversity conservation, and long-term human welfare. Fiji has launched a campaign to plant a million trees, an excellent start in reclaiming the legions of scorched hills for nature’s life support system. Conservation International and the Institute of Applied Science (University of the South Pacific) have been collaborating with local villages, encouraging residents to germinate seeds of diverse and useful native trees and grow them out to bring new life to the bare, burned hills. A close partner in this work is Fiji Water. Bottled water is an environmentally controversial commodity, so Fiji Water is striving to achieve a carbon-negative operation (remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it generates in the bottling and shipping of water). It is doing so by preserving native forest and adding to the forest estate of Fiji through new planting. We visited several of the cooperating villages, shared kava and songs, fawned together over the rows of young trees under innovative bamboo nursery shelters, and laughed and joked in the pouring rain.


Kava and beer win hands down in the village, but our preferred beverage for the field was Fiji Water. This particular bottle was a gift from one of James Comley’s intrepid disciples at USP, who chased us down in the field for some urgent statistical advice. The Fiji Water company has supported 1,000 hectares of forest restoration over four years, a part of its strategy to offset the carbon footprint of bottled water by increasing and maintaining carbon sequestration in forest, but with benefits. Besides reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide a tiny bit, the new trees bring huge local benefits for biodiversity conservation, soil conservation, water management, tourism, and protection of marine habitats including coral reef. Equally important, the restoration of native forest heals a rent in the heart of Fijian culture. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

We also journeyed to a planting area, taking three robust young vesi with us to make our own small contribution to the replanting effort. What we witnessed was the opening strains of a symphony in which each bar is written just before it is played. The tiny seedlings, thrust from their comfortable nurseries into open grassland, shoot roots deep into the ground and throw branches to the sky, year by year transforming dry grass back into wet forest. As they grow, they interact with each other, the water table, the soil, and the sky, gradually recreating an environment hospitable to hundreds of other Fijian plant, animal, fungal and microbial species, and inviting them all to come forth from their precarious hold-outs in tiny remnant forest patches, and spread in their full glory out across the Fijian landscape once again.

It is an act as inspiring as science fiction accounts of the terraforming of alien planets, and every bit as bold. Nor do we yet know much about the way life weaves its larger tapestry here on Earth, let alone on Mars. The calling forth of forest in Fiji is a giant experiment in ecology, and a test of the marriage of people to earth and sea. There will be setbacks, and much will be learned, but with the necessary will there is no reason to expect anything but success; success in some continuously evolving form.


I finish planting my first vesi, inspiring the sudden Fijian nickname "Lesi Vesi." This has unfortunately stuck. My main contribution is on the fish and coral end of things, but closing the loop from reef to forest inspires and informs the efforts offshore in a very personal way. Every marine biologist should midwife a tree now and then in the watersheds that loom above his or her study sites. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

Planting the little vesi had special significance for me, for this was the first time I'd pushed my hands into the Earth to nurture new life, since my own new life began with a bone marrow transplant from my sister four years ago. Along with all the wonderful things that soil holds are a world of pathogens, but I supposed that my adopted immune system was ready for the challenge.


Les Mains Sales! Tree planting is an existential statement. (Photo: Keith Ellenbogen)

What a fine way to rejoin my fellow stewards!

-Les Kaufman, PhD

Sunnye Dreyfus, South Africa Expedition

Last week I visited the Two Oceans Aquarium. It is centrally located on the waterfront, with a sweet little cafe and gift shop, sand tiger (ragged-tooth) sharks, African penguins, and fantastic staff, just like us!



Because of the location of Cape Town (the southern tip of Africa), the 2OA's collection hails from both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. According to Head of Education, Russell Stevens, there is little need to look any further than their own "backyard" for their exhibits. They have just a handful of species that don't call the Indian or Atlantic Oceans home. Some of the highlights of my visit included:

• Plankton exhibit: the lifeblood of the ocean should have spotlight, right?
• Soles and puffer fish exhibits: it was great fun trying to find them hiding in the sand.
• Shy sharks: endemic to the south and west coast of South Africa; mostly cold water species. I believe there are 5 species ... abundant and beautiful. They are called shy sharks because they use their tail to cover their eyes and snout when they feel threatened. Shark yoga, if you will. Puff adder shy sharks, leopard shy sharks, pajama shy sharks. Great names, huh? They come complete with fantastic specimens, big screen monitor, and an enthusiastic interpreter.

• Kelp Forest: they play soothing music and some people swear that the fish and kelp choreograph accordingly. I found myself wanting to curl up at the holdfasts and take a nap.

• Upper, middle and lower river region exhibit: I loved how the exhibit started high and ended low. Clanwilliam yellowfish, sawfin, sandfish—the level of endemism (species found in a specific area) decreases as you get to the lower regions because they are more susceptible to invasive species of bass, trout, and catfish as well as runoff from agriculture.

• Fynbos exhibit: Plants native to the Western cape of South Africa! Pronounced "fane-bohs" meaning "fine bush" in Afrikaans, there are about NINE THOUSAND species and 6,200 of them are endemic to the Cape. They account for the highest density of plant species in the world (over 1,300 species per 10,000 square km)! Fynbos are packed like the Green Line on game day in just 6 percent of the country, but they account for over half of all plant species in South Africa and 20 percent of all species found on the entire continent! Yeah! How cool is that? I love (sniff, sniff), love (cough, cough) love (ah-choooo!!!) fynbos. I have never experienced so many plants, colors, flowers, fruits, seeds, and sinus congestion!

• Wild cape fur seals (30 of them!): lounging on the docks just outside the cafe.

• Learning labs: they have two and I voiced my loving envy. The first classroom (formerly a computer lab) had enough lab tables and chairs for 60 students and enough permanent tabletop tidepools to allow 1 per every 2 students! The second classroom had a border of marine animal tanks to choose from depending on the program.

• My lunch: Marine Stewardship Council certified hake and chips. Yum.

• Rethink the Shark: this was a corridor next to the predator exhibit in which they had large photos of sharks, information and statistics, and the Rethink the Shark video looping on a large screen.

• Last, but not least is the hagfish exhibit. I love hagfish and it is about time these beauties have their own spotlight.

Conservation considerations
Something that really stood out to me after visiting the 2OA was their inclusion of Homo sapiens into their exhibits. There were three creative and simple ways I observed this being done.

Lining the base of the predator tank are species ID placards and I just happened to notice that one of them was for the human. It read: "Human, Homo sapien, A fierce predator found in both warm and cold waters. Preys on sharks, finning them alive and leaving them to drown in open seas. Offspring, if uneducated, may imitate behavior of adult species."


There was a sign posted from the INSIDE of the predator tank that read: "Warning: Predators beyond this point."



As I was leaving the main exhibits, there were giant images of a shark and a lion and in between was a giant mirror with text reading: "Planet Earth's most dangerous predator." It made me think and shook up my perspective a bit. And I'm sure that is what we who work at zoos and aquariums want to encourage our guests to do, right? Because perspective-shaking thought leads to learning, learning leads to knowledge, knowledge gives way to awareness and awareness has great potential to evolve into action. All of this can happen from a simple mirror installation. I love education.



Wildlife List:
Cape wagtail (Motacilla capensis)
Red-winged starling (Onychoganthus morio)
Rock pigeon (Columba guinea)
Sugar bird (long tails, very cool flight pattern)
Heron (hanging out with the thousands of penguins at Betty's Bay)
Hyrax, "dassie" (their closest relative is the elephant)
Blue crane with chicks! (national bird of South Africa)
Grey-winged francolin
White stork
Grey mongoose
African millipede
Sunbird
Bomslang (venomous back-fanged arboreal snake that likes bird eggs)
Baboon spider (thankfully, it did not know how to open car doors)
Weaver birds
Goats, duck, geese, rabbits, Bantams and Rhode Island reds (chickens)
African grey parrot named Rastus, and a Jack Russell named Bob

-Sunnye