Saving Paradise

Category: Marine life, Turtles | Date: Nov 16 2009 | By: savingparadise

No two individuals, even identical twins, have identical sets of fingerprints. For this reason fingerprints offer a reliable means of identification. They have played a huge role in the area of forensics providing accurate identification of criminals.

As it turns out, marks and patterns on certain marine animals are akin to human fingerprints and are unique to each individual. These marks are being put to good use, not to catch the criminals of sea world, but as a means of identification to help in conservation.

On Thursday 12 November, the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, in collaboration with the Kelonia Marine Turtle Observatory in Reunion and Ministry of Environment organised a talk on how this form of identification is being utilsed for whale sharks and turtles. The talk, “using images to conserve endangered marine life” was delivered by David Rowat, MCSS, who is working with whale sharks in Seychelles  and Claire Jean from Kelonia working with turtles. As in humans where fingerprints develop at the embryonic stage and do not change, all indications in these marine animals are that marks are usually permanent with little change occurring over time.

According to Claire, Kelonia uses underwater photos of marine turtles head profiles for indetification. Their methodology consists of analyzing scale numbers and shape of both right and left profiles. Photos of these profiles are taken for each turtle. A database has been created to keep these photos. The matching of the new data with those in the database allows one to determine whether or not each marine turtle has been seen previously. Thanks to the participation of scuba divers and marine photographers, photos can be collected throughout the year in various sites.

Claire says photo ID can be used as an alternative or complimentary monitoring method. But she noted that current monitoring methods that use capture-mark-recapture techniques, require physical application of tags. Photo ID on the other hand is non-intrusive, less costly and less stressful. It is particularly useful in places where marine turtles cannot be caught and tagged and helps in situations where tags are lost. It also targets all turtles unlike the capture method, which mostly targets females and juveniles. It can be used in all habitats either at sea or one beaches. What it cannot be used for is measuring other parameters such as growth.

For whale sharks, researchers use photographs of the skin patterning behind the gills of each shark and any scars to distinguish between individual animals. Cutting-edge software supports rapid identification using pattern recognition and photo management tools. See whaleshark.org  for more information. David Rowat said that using this method between 2001-2009, 447 individual sharks have been identified in Seychelles. Fifty percent were re-sightings.

Picture via whalesharks.org

Both these projects rely on the contribution of pictures from people, and pictures come via tourists, scuba divers and others, allowing for public participation. They are asked to take good high resolution photos without obstruction, such as sand on turtles.  Identification however is done by trained people.The talk ended with an offer from Kelonia to conduct training for organizations involved in turtle monitoring in Seychelles.

Tags: Seychelles, Turtles, whale sharks

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Category: Heritage Gardens | Date: Oct 09 2009 | By: savingparadise

Things are shaping up here at Roche Caiman as we prepare for the official opening of the Heritage Garden. Lucina is pruning and watering. Displays are up at the Kiosk. Invitation cards have been sent.

The opening of the Garden will coincide with the World Food Day, celebrated annually on 16 October. This year’s theme is Achieving food security in times of crisis. Nature Seychelles and the Seychelles Agriculture Agency will sign an MoU at the opening, enabling these two organizations to work together.  Other partners joining in these festivities are the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles, Seychelles Fishing Authority and the Farmers Association.

The Heritage Gardens© is a joint Project between Nature Seychelles  and the Wildlife Clubs, with the collaboration of the Department of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Education. Its vision is to introduce young people to plants that were valued by their parents enabling them to become custodians of a rich biological heritage.

The Heritage Garden at Roche Caiman has been designed by Nature Seychelles as a model to be replicated by Wildlife Clubs in schools and by the community at home. Not only do we collect plant species that are richly filled with historical value for propagation in the school-based clubs as well as to the adjoining communities, we also collect and collate their stories. 22 schools are taking part in the project. School Heritage Gardens© range from small to medium sized ones. Learning not only concentrates around the use of these plants but also basic ecological concepts, history, folklore and language.

The Heritage Garden at Roche Caiman has the Gro Manze, loosely translated as the “big food”, the  generic Creole vernacular for starchy food crops like yams, taro, sweet potatoes, plantains (cooking banana) and breadfruit.  Another section has different kinds of spices. Another medicinal plants. In the past Geriser (healers) and Herbalists had knowledge of which plant to pick for anything from a rash to a critical fever. They kept extensive gardens of medicinal plants. The sad thing is that today they are few and far between. The garden reminds us that these plants are beneficial to us.

This Project won the Commonwealth Youth Development Award in 2007. The citation read: By preserving and maintaining an important part of Seychelles culture and traditions that is in danger of being lost, the Project is of benefit to local communities. It adds value to the communities and their local resources by promoting understanding of the value of the plants that are around us, that fosters care of the local environment.”

Tags: heritage garden, medicinal plants, Seychelles

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Category: Sanctuary at Roche Caiman | Date: Sep 30 2009 | By: savingparadise

Tags: Sanctuary at Roche Caiman, Seychelles, wetland

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Category: Invertebrates, Sanctuary at Roche Caiman | Date: Sep 15 2009 | By: savingparadise

Here are photos of the Palm spider, Nephila inaurita a native of Seychelles taken at the wetland at Roche Caiman. I thought I would share them because I keep on walking into them. These large spiders are everywhere in Seychelles. We saw many on the hike on Mont Palmiste. The females sit at the centre of a large web built from heavy strands of silk. The spiders are harmless though, but if you have arachnophobia, you probably wouldn’t want to run into one or hold one as Terence did.

Tags: Seychelles, Spiders, wetland at Roche Caiman

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Category: Turtles | Date: Jul 24 2009 | By: savingparadise

Two men have been arrested for possession of turtle meat and spearguns. The taking, selling or buying of turtles is illegal under the  Wild Animals and Birds Protection Act. Offences under this law carry a maximum fine of SR500,000.00 (about 36,000.00 USD) or a maximum term of two years imprisonment. Spearguns have been banned in Seychelles since the 70’s under Fisheries legislation and the Penal Code.

Read more… 

Tags: poachers, Seychelles, Turtle meat, Turtles

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Category: Seabirds | Date: Jul 13 2009 | By: savingparadise

Paradise, am afraid, is slightly wet. The south east monsoon season is here and it’s been accompanied by some rain. I have been surprised to wake up to a cloudy morning and cooler temperatures. I even spotted one or two souls walking around in sweaters! The hills on Mahe look stunning in the early morning mist, and can stay that way throughout the day.

This is also the breeding season - starts May to October - for many seabirds and is therefore the best time to see them. The Sooty Tern or golet in Creol is the best known as their colonies number in the millions. The Sooty Tern colony on Bird Island for example where Nature Seychelles has helped the owners previously is spectacular and attracts many local and foreign tourists.

 Saying hello to an old friend on Bird Island

However, many species such as the Fairy Tern and White tailed Tropic Bird remain outside the breeding season. On Cousin Island for instance its so easy to spot stunning Tropic Birds with their chicks nesting on the ground at the base of trees all year round that people are astonished by the tameness of the birds. Young tropic birds are cute and fluffy like this one below and as Cousin is predator free, and the birds are not used to harassment, it’s quite easy to approach them and take pictures.

This White tailed Tropic Bird chick is not camera shy

Seychelles small islands are nesting grounds for about 12 species of seabirds. During the breeding season species like the Lesser Noddy and Sooty Tern form large breeding colonies, with many thousands of birds all breeding at the same time in the same location. Before people settled on the islands of Seychelles, nesting sea birds were found on all of the islands. Killing by humans, nest disturbance and the introduction of predators like rats and cats have have now limited breeding. Some species like the Wedge tailed Shearwater or fouke in Creole, only breed on predator free islands such as Cousin and Aride.

Sooty tern eggs are prized in Seychellois cuisine but in the past over exploitation has ruined many colonies. Now the harvest is controlled although poaching still occurs. This year, 2009, the government decided not to harvest any eggs.

The monsoon also brings with it rough seas. Traveling by boat can be uncomfortable, terrifying or exhilarating depending on who you are. On Cousin, the landing site has been moved to a more suitable area on the North. Because of poor visibility and bad sea conditions activities on reef monitoring have been scaled down.

Read about the different species of  Seabirds on our website here and the work of the Seychelles Seabird Group coordinated by Nature Seychelles here.

Tags: Seabirds, Seychelles, south east monsoon

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