I’m Ellie, a 19-year-old from North East England and I have come to volunteer with MRCI in Madagascar for 10 weeks. Part of the draw to come to Madagascar was the chance to learn some new skills and experience things I have never experienced before. Being part of the marine conservation volunteer team here at MRCI has allowed me to do this and has been both more rewarding and challenging than I was expecting.

With limited swimming experience and zero SCUBA or snorkeling abilities I found that simply being submerged in water with an artificial air source was daunting and nearly caused me to give up more than once in my first session. Had it not been for the perseverance and tough love attitude of one of our instructors, Alex, it’s more than likely that I would not have continued with the course and would not be sitting here now having completed my PADI Open Water course.

Our sessions are a mix of scuba skills, species point outs and exploring the fringe reefs that surround our little island of Nosy Komba. Most sessions end with the swim back to shore as everyone reiterates the events underwater, this time with a verbal narration and justification for their actions, such as the time a fellow volunteer mistook Kyle’s instruction to mean to stop and kneel down therefore dividing our group. Needless to say, he was awarded the title of “Dick of The Week”.

As a marine conservation volunteer, we partake in seagrass surveys with Ethan wherein we randomly place quadrats and collect data on the different varieties of sea grass, the area of coverage per quadrat, sediment grain size and whether or not there is evidence of turtles feeding. Other non-scuba activities include turtle watch, which is exactly that, and requires that we record the number of turtles that are surfacing and breathing in the water in order to collect data on population size. This data subsequently needs to be input into a table and stored.

We are fortunate that surrounding Nosy Komba there are multiple reefs to explore including Turtle Towers, Verona and Tanikely, just to name a few. This provides ample opportunity to see a wide variety of the abundant species that Madagascar has to offer. Part of our roles as volunteers, upon completing our Advanced courses, will be to partake in species surveys. Therefore, we each choose a group of organisms to study – sessile, benthic or active swimmers. My choice is sessile which, although always in situ, can manifest in many different forms of hard and soft corals, sponges and anemones and within that have many growth forms, colours, and forms of colonization.

Usually we have at least one dive per day depending on conditions, tanks available and number of staff and volunteers. We’ve had the opportunity to do adventure dives such as the drift dive, wreck dive and night dives which are exciting and provide us with new environments not only to explore but to test our skills. The vast plethora of sea life is incredible and not to be taken for granted as you will see things here that you do not get to see anywhere else.

For me, one of the best parts about being a marine conservation volunteer with MRCI is how passionate, enthusiastic and fun the team are about everything that they do. Their knowledge is also unparalleled and their uncanny fervor for Nudibranch’s is entertaining.

Learn More about our Marine Conservation Volunteer Program

or Sign up Now!

Author: Alex Oelofse, Social Media Intern & Photographer

It is always fascinating to find out more about our staff, their backgrounds and essentially what brought them to MRCI. Below, we pay homage to our marine science manager, Tilo Kauerkoff. I decided there is no better way than to do a little interview with the man himself.

So, let’s get right to it, Tilo how old are you?

I’m 31.

Where are you from?

Germany.

What were you doing before you joined MRCI?

Well it has been a rather long road, including lots of studying. I guess I shall start at my first major degree in industrial engineering. I have always had a great fascination with space and after my degree I applied for an internship in the space industry where I became a trainee with the European Space Agency (ESA). I then wanted to study some more so I ended up studying a very specialized degree only available in Munich.  For short the degree goes by the name (Espace) which is an acronym for Earth Orientated Space Science and Technology. During this time, I also obtained a European scientific diving course, which teaches you specialized diving techniques making use of full face masks, dry suits, permanent buoy dives, etc. This type of diving is more specifically used for the accumulation of data for cartographies of lakes and water estuaries.  The diving was more geared towards fresh water biology, which was a field I wasn’t trained in, but found it interesting nonetheless.

Wow, that sounds like quite a long journey! Where did life end up taking you next?

I was quite sure that after all the studying I was ready for a break and some travelling and I have never been south of the equator so that was something that was of interest to me. I did quite a bit of searching and found myself lucky as I found a dive master training in Bali where I stayed for three months, after which I spent another three months in Gili Trawangan.

After this experience, I really fell in love with diving so I looked for similar jobs and that’s when I found the opening at MRCI for a marine science manager. I didn’t have enough expertise in the marine biology field as they would have liked so I started off as an intern in September 2017 and initially wanted to stay for 3 months, but I guess that didn’t happen as I’m still here. I will now be staying till mid-July where I will be going back to Europe. I guess we’ll see how that plays out.

Wow that is quite an amazing story Tilo. What would you say is your favourite part of diving with MRCI?

Well that’s a tough one. It’s not always about the spot but more about what you see, I would say, and the group you are doing it with.

And what would you say is your favourite aspect of camp?

Ah, that’s something that one sometimes tends to forget, but constantly being in nature is definitely a highlight!  Simple things like being so close to the beach, the luxury of being able to go for a quick snorkel at any time of day. Not having a car or no cars in any close vicinity and besides the generator every now and then I find myself only surrounded by natural noises, which I think is really healthy.

Check out our Marine Conservation Program

By Alex Flucke, MRCI SCUBA Instructor

“Another Beach Clean…?”

A typical day on the Marine Conservation Program here at MRCI consists of scuba diving, snorkeling, entering data we collected while scuba diving and snorkeling, and getting set up to go diving and snorkeling. One would not typically think that a marine activity could be done on land, walking with our feet, not typically wearing a swimsuit but alas, the beach clean-ups. A verb, in which one walks along a beach with, in our case old rice sacks, and picks up any piece of man made trash they can get their hands on. This activity, in my humble opinion is one of the most important, if not the most important thing we do weekly on marine.

A typical phrase I hear at board reading, when volunteers hear that we will be doing a beach clean tomorrow is, “Another one?” or “But we did one yesterday!” I then jump on to my soap box, metaphorically, and shout “Yes we are!” You may be asking yourself why is this scuba instructor so passionate about beach clean-ups? I am passionate about them because they are both important, and needed here on Nosy Komba.

Participating in local beach clean-ups is one of the most visible forms of conservation and can take only an hour or two. A beach is covered in trash when you arrive, you leave probably a little dirty and smelly yourself, but it is obvious that you made an immediate difference. There is less trash that can choke our waterways as well as the creatures that call that body of water their home. Studies also show that people who participate in just one of the beach clean-ups have increased well-being (this was proven scientifically but I won’t get into the nitty-gritty numbers of it all), feel more confident in the ecosystem they cleaned, increased marine awareness and pro-environmental intentions, and most importantly are way more likely to participate in other beach clean-ups.

So, in conclusion, sure beach clean-ups help your local flora and fauna significantly, but you get a huge boost of well being for every piece of litter you squat down to grab. You may not come to Madagascar to volunteer with MRCI to participate in beach clean-ups, but you may leave with a cool beach backpack or clothing item you found on one (please wash before you wear or use)!

Also, if you are interested in looking into the article I spoke about it is called, “Can Beach Cleans Do More Than Clean-Up Litter? Comparing Beach Clean-Ups to Other Coastal Activities.” By Kayleigh J. Wyles, Sabine PAhl, Matthew Holland, and Richard C. Thompson (2017) http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0013916516649412.

Make a difference and plan your own beach clean-ups

or Join our Marine Conservation Program today!

Author: Kirk Stewart
14 February 2018

Evaluating MPA Reef Health

The marine program at MRCI has been evaluating, monitoring, and protecting the reefs of Nosy Komba and surrounding islands for several years. Rigorous surveys are conducted every month on reefs close to camp as well as the three artificial reefs that MRCI has constructed so far. Every single month there are no less than twenty surveys done by the marine staff and volunteers to examine everything from the comings and goings of the resident turtle population, to documenting and counting the invasive species on the reef. Surveys are performed near daily with the more experienced and knowledgeable volunteers going on the more difficult transect surveys. These surveys are performed on a twenty-meter line where every fish, coral, and urchin are counted to see how the diversity of marine life is changing over time, both in and out of the MPA. The data from these surveys has been shared with several other research organizations and also presented at several conferences. Several papers are also being written utilizing this survey data that will be submitted to scientific journals!

But there is much more being done than these surveys. Newer volunteers who are still learning about the marine life of Nosy Komba can assist in nudibranch hunts, coral bleaching studies, turtle surveys, and even the monitoring of our artificial reefs. Additionally, in the past few months baseline surveys have been performed around most of Nosy Komba. These surveys are performed opportunistically but allow volunteers to see more spots around Madagascar and help the team get a more complete understanding of the oceans health around northern Madagascar. Through this multitude of surveys, the marine team at MRCI has established itself as a trusted and reputable source of data and research.

But the marine program has more going on than only surveying. Recently, in an effort to add to the already existing three artificial reefs, the volunteers and staff worked together to design and build another artificial reef. Plans have only recently been finalized, but updates on the building and implementation will follow. The previous artificial reefs have already had an impressive proliferation of life come to them with the latest survey reporting back hundreds of oysters and clams, abundant algae and coral, and almost 1500 fish spread across 5 rebar pyramids. With this new artificial reef and lessons learned from previous designs we can only hope for a greater degree of success and information gained from their study.

Lastly, in a sign of good things to come, two medium size Napoleon or Humphead wrasse were seen this week. This species of fish is usually one of the first fish that will be eradicated in heavily fished areas and are also a great indicator or reef health. Their return to the reef not only shows that our MPA has been effective in restoring the health of the reef, but that it has reached a state that it can support these mammoth-like 6 feet long fish. Ever day volunteers are coming back seeing more and more different species of marine life and keystone predators like barracudas and jacks. A welcome sign that the MPA has had the restorative effects that were hoped for, and that the reef is beginning to flourish like it once did.

Read More About Our Marine Conservation Program