Primary project activities involve:
- Dive course – a 4 day internationally recognised open water scuba diving course
- Reef transect dives – scuba diving along line transects, above the reef to record coral condition, benthic cover and indicator species
- Beach walks
- to locate & record turtle nest sites (during laying season)
- to visit turtle nest sites and record hatching success (during hatching season)
- Boat surveys – to locate whale sharks, record their position, photograph them for identification of individuals and estimate their numbers
- Cetacean observation – assist with locating passing whales from a fixed observation point
- Awareness and education – generate awareness about the conservation of dolphins and develop educational materials
- Volunteers on this project need to be able to work as part of a team, follow instruction and enjoy simple living conditions - and ofcourse a keen interest in marine wildlife!
The Project
The Whale Shark Conservation Project aims to monitor whale shark and manta ray numbers and behavior, loggerhead turtle nesting activity and coral reef condition in order to make recommendations for improving the conservation of marine biodiversity. It involves field data collection via beach walks, boat surveys, swims and dives on the coastline of Mozambique around Tofo. It also involves assisting with tourist education and general tourism welcoming & interpretation. The project is run by our local partners, internationally recognised conservationists and involves collaboration with the Whale Shark and Manta Ray Research Trust and Tofo Scuba, both based at Tofo, as well as the Natural History Museum of Mozambique based in Maputo and a number of international marine research bodies.Volunteers will work directly with scientists from The Whale Shark and Mantaray Trust.
The project monitors the condition of coral reefs in the Tofo area using methods based on the international reef check program. This involves doing scuba diving transects along the reefs and photographing at fixed points whilst recording benthic cover and indicator species of fish. A four day internationally recognized diving course is provided as part of this project to train you to be able to carry out this coral reef monitoring.
The second component of the project involves research on whale sharks. These are the worlds largest fish and although they are sharks, are harmless to people since they feed on plankton. Whale sharks are a threatened species and are relatively easy to monitor owing to their size. They are also good indicators of ocean productivity and can play a flagship role for the conservation of other marine creatures. With the increase of boat and fishing activities their home ranges may become influenced, their food sources affected and direct mortalities may even result. This component also involves the monitoring of Manta Rays which are also important indicators of ocean productivity. Most of the research involves taking underwater photographs to identify individual whale sharks and manta rays by joining tourist launches and thereby investigating their numbers, distribution and ecology in a bid to help understand and conserve these most magnificent species.
The third aspect of the project is the monitoring of the nesting activity of loggerhead and leatherback turtles. Their nesting sites are becoming increasingly threatened by human activity along the beaches and there is also hunting of adults as they lay their eggs. The monitoring involves patrolling the beaches at night during laying season (October-December) recording nest sites and tagging adults where possible, then visiting nests during hatching season (January-March) to record hatching success.
The information collected during the field work will be collated into a database both on-site and at the head office in Swaziland. A number of more general environmental awareness and cleanup activities will be also carried out during the project.
After a full orientation at Tofu you will start an open water scuba diving course which lasts between 4 and 6 days depending on conditions. This is a PADI international accredited course and upon completion you will get a certificate permitting you to scuba dive anywhere in the world. Those who are already licensed divers may either do the course as a refresher or an advanced course or do dives for an equivalent value. During the course & dives, you will be introduced to the activities you will be involved in and may get going with some of them. Once the course is completed you will have the time & skills to focus on the project activities.
Context
Growing exploitation of marine resources is threatening biodiversity along the Mozambique coastline. The coral reefs that so much marine life is dependant on are under threat of exploitation, bleaching, alien invasive species and other ecological changes associated with tourism and other human activities.
The Whale Shark Project is set at the beach village of Tofo on the Inhambane peninsula in southern Mozambique. It is just 22km from Inhambane town which is an old port town with a variety of historical buildings and influences. Inhambane is about 460km north of Maputo, Mozambiques capital city.
Tofo is one of this region’s most charming villages and is fast becoming a hotspot for tourists. Working within this area, you will be joining the local staff and researchers of to assist with a variety of marine research and conservation activities. The inshore area of Tofo has a particularly high density of whale sharks. This area also has some pristine tropical coral reefs and the coast is unusually rich in coconut palms. It is an excellent location to investigate whale shark and marine ecology and boasts beautiful tropical beaches.
