WOW! Time flies! So it’s been 3 months since I’ve been working with MCSS/CICP and so far I’m loving it. I get to learn different facts about turtles, fishes and even corals every day. Margaux left on the 2nd of September and since then I’ve been missing her a lot. But now I have a new friend to work with her name is Chloe and she’s really nice. We’ve been doing some coral monitoring and also taking the clients out to snorkeling over at the habitation reef and Fairy tern. We tried doing the coral monitoring at Cerf’s reef but the visibility wasn’t so great so we haven't been able to survey that reef as it depends on the wind direction and if weather conditions allow. We managed to do the ones at Habitation and Fairy Tern. A few weeks ago we brought some clients to snorkel at Sainte Anne’s marine park which was really exciting and fun. We also saw a Hawksbill turtle which we took pictures of to check if it’s a new turtle or a re-sighting using the I3S program. We also check if the turtle has any scars and marks on it. Apart from snorkeling with clients, we make time to coral monitoring along the Habitation, Fairy tern, and Cerf’s reef every week. We do that so we could tell which corals are recovering from the bleaching event and which are dying. So far most of our Acroporas are dead which is a shame, but some corals like Physogyra are recovering from the bleaching event which is awesome. Today is the 10th of October and there’s a new girl in the aquarium. Here name is Vanessa and she’s from SMA school. Chloe and I brought her out snorkeling and we showed her different life forms of coral and different fish. We also showed her the nurseries in the water which she watched us clean it with a sponge and toothbrush. We also got lucky and saw 3 Eagle rays and 2 baby lemon shark which was really exciting. So I’m looking forward to see more and meet new volunteers :)
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Today, meet our second volunteer student who just finished at ISS and was looking for a productive way to spend her time in academia limbo.
"Hi name is Carla Monthy. I’m 17 years old and I went to the international school of Seychelles on Mahe. While waiting for my results I decided to work with Marine Conservation Society Seychelles and Cerf Island Conservation Program because I’m interested with the marine life and it would also keep me busy. Working with MCSS gives me more ideas of what I really want to do in the future. So far my biggest dream is to become a marine biologist. I enjoy working in the sea and take part in all sorts of water sports such as jet ski, surfing etc.. Since I’ve been volunteering here on Cerf everyday we’ve been snorkeling and monitoring the corals which is awesome and exciting! I saw different forms of corals, and also I’ve learned different facts about some species of corals and fishes in our sea. Since the weather has changed into the SE monsoon, cooler waters will be the first major step into returning those bleached corals back to colourful, healthy colonies. I’ve enjoyed these past couple of weeks with MCSS/CICP. On my first day, I was really nervous to start working with MCSS. Im glad I had Sara and Margaux by my side. First thing we did was to check the current direction on a kayak with a plastic bag, buoy, and washed up dead coral to sink the plastic bag so it can move along with the current. Sara recorded the time and she used a GPS to see how far the buoy drifted by marking drop and pickup points of these “drifts drogues”. The next day Sara and I went snorkeling at L’Habitation and It was really interesting to see the beautiful corals. We’ve been snorkeling and hiking with clients, as we explain and tell them some interesting facts about the reef life. And also we’ve been doing beach cleaning every day before lunch. During my snorkeling on Cerf Island with Margaux I’ve seen many different species of reef life such as puffer fish, rays, barracuda, lion fish, moray eel and also a few turtles! So far I'm enjoying my time working with MCSS." We enjoy having you here with us and are looking forward to the upcoming months. |
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August 2018
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