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REEF CHECK
submission to the database in May.”
Odyssey Institute is one of the only experiential
education organizations in Bali and Brad
says they are firm believers that the best
education results from direct experience, and
the best experiences are those in which we
are holistically (spiritually, mentally, physically,
socially, and emotionally) involved.
“Spending time in the ocean in remote
corners of Bali is a great way to get connected
with a world outside the one we’ve created. In
the end, you simply hope someone’s going to
be impacted enough to make future decisions
that take into account a world bigger than
ourselves. Also, the reef monitoring provides
a tangible action to the thought of, ‘I want to
make a difference.’”
“We always challenge students creatively with
our projects. So while we did a beach clean up,
we also provided them the space to use the
garbage to make art and create and deliver a
message about conservation. I think they did a
skit using all the flip-flops and Red Bull bottles
they found!”
Brad says part of their mission is to support local
NGOs and communities through the provision
of resources to enable specific projects and
create sustainable livelihoods. Reef Check
Foundation Indonesia is one of those NGOs.
FORCE (Future of Reefs in a Changing
Environment) recently released a preliminary
report on their 2011 survey of reefs in the
Dominican Republic. Their study showed that
reefs in the Dominican Republic may improve
if regulations are set similar to La Caleta, an
area protected from fishing and anchoring,
and co-managed by Reef Check Dominican
Republic since 2007.
The FORCE project uses an ecosystem
approach that links the health of the ecosystem
with the livelihoods of dependent communities,
and identifies the governance structures
needed to implement sustainable development.
The overall aim of FORCE is to provide coral
reef managers with a toolbox of sustainable
management practices that minimize the loss
of coral reef health and biodiversity.
REEF CHECK PARTNERS WITH
ONE WORLD ONE OCEAN CAMPAIGN
feature Ted Reckas, One World One Ocean
Reef Check recently became a partner
organization in the One World One Ocean
campaign, a multi-year, for-purpose media
campaign that is harnessing the power of
film, TV and new media to generate greater
global awareness of the ocean’s importance
to society.
The campaign was started by twice Oscarnominated
Greg MacGillivray, who has been
making documentary IMAX
Theater films for the past thirty
years in far-off places like the top
of Mt. Everest, the ice caves of
Greenland, the Nile River, and the
deep-ocean reefs of the South
Pacific. Reef Check worked with MacGillivray
Freeman Films on Coral Reef Adventure which
they showed at Rio+10, the World Summit
for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg,
South Africa in 2001. Greg was also honored
at Reef Check’s 2008 gala event with the Spirit
of the Reef Award.
MacGillivray’s team is now focused on being
the ocean’s storyteller. As such, One World
One Ocean will inspire and connect millions
of people to restore and protect the world’s
oceans by sharing the undersea environment
with the world in a way they’ve never seen
it. We are making three IMAX 3D movies, a
9-part TV Series, tons of videos, field reports,
stories, and photo galleries. We are highlighting
the incredible creatures that live in the ocean
as well as the amazing people who are working
hard to save them. Based on guidance from a
team of top-notch ocean scientists,
including Dr. Gregor Hodgson,
Executive Director of Reef Check,
we are focused on the most
important stories in the ocean that
have the highest conservation value
and most inspirational material.
Our science advisor and National Geographic
Explorer In Residence Sylvia Earle, Her
Deepness, said what we do in the next 10
years will determine what happens to the
ocean in the next 10,000.
The time is now. Visit OneWorldOneOcean.org
and join our effort.
RECENT STUDY IN DR SHOWS BENEFITS OF MPA MANAGEMENT IN LA CALETA
Reef communities were surveyed at 10-15m
depth in 15 locations during June 2011. The
highest mean coral cover per site was found at
La Caleta (43%) while the lowest coral cover
was observed at Sosua (10%). La Caleta also
had the highest number (46) and density (8.2
individuals per m2) of coral recruits.
Over 4 kilometers of reef were surveyed
for fish. Cayo Arena had the highest fish
abundance, while Sosua had the lowest.
However, the mean fish species richness was
highest in La Caleta (average of 29 species per
transect), with the lowest again in Sosua (9
species per transect).
Overall, fish communities were healthiest in
protected areas such as La Caleta or remote
areas such as Cayo Arena. La Caleta also had
the healthiest bottom communities, with high
coral cover and high sponge diversity. The only
lobster and conch counted in the Dominican
Republic were also within La Caleta Reserve.
SCIGIRLS EPISODE
WINS AN EMMY AWARD
FEATURE Colleen Wisniewski
Reef Check California
Southern California Manager
Reef Check California (RCCA) wins an
Emmy Award! That’s probably not what you
expected to hear, but it’s true (well actually I
won the Emmy Award, but it wouldn’t have
been possible without RCCA). We were
part of the inaugural season of “SciGirls”, a
series where viewers follow teams of middle
school girls and their mentors as they create
their own inquiry-based investigations of the
environment, technology, engineering, animal
behavior and health.
We filmed our episode during August 2009
with two sisters from Southern California
named Meg and Elle, who are both snorkelers
and scuba divers and have extensive experience
on our local rocky reefs. The location for the
shoot was Catalina Island Marine Institute at
Toyon Bay (CIMI) where we spent three days
exploring their laboratories and snorkeling and
diving at various locations around the island,
collecting data inside and outside a marine
reserve. We developed a modified protocol to
allow the girls to collect data while snorkeling
from the surface. Our focus was on 7 indicator
species instead of our usual 76 and the girls
discovered that changes in the populations of
indicator species are interconnected through
predator/prey relationships on the reefs.
Our Emmy Award is in the “New Approaches
Daytime Children’s” category and was noted
for its unique merging of television and
the web. Episodes of SciGirls are still being
broadcast on PBS stations around the United
States. In addition, our episode (number 109:
Ocean Ecosystems) is also available online at
the SciGirls website in case you haven’t gotten
a chance to see it. I recently received an official
Emmy Award certificate from the National
Academy of Arts and Sciences and it’s very
exciting, but I’m still holding out for a golden
mini-Emmy statuette for my desk!
Sharks are an extremely diverse group of
marine animals that can be found in various
habitats worldwide. Sharks belong to the
class Chondrichthyes, subclass Elasmobranchii
that contains 12 orders of which three
are extinct and 1100 species have been
described. Chondrichthyes are cartilaginous
fish characterized by the presence of five
or more gill slits, paired fins, a true jaw and
nostrils. There are approximately 500 shark
species ranging in size from the 27cm pygmy
sharkEuprotomicrus bispinatus to the 21m
whale shark Rhincodon typus. Collectively,
sharks have played an instrumental role in
marine ecosystems for over 400 million years
as evidenced by fossil records of the Devonian
and possibly lower Silurian. However, because
of their K-selected life history strategy (i.e. slow
maturation and reproduction, producing few
viable offspring) and increasing anthropogenic
pressures they are extremely vulnerable
and susceptible to overexploitation. Some
estimates report that global shark populations
have declined by as much as 80% within the
last 20 years. Additionally, the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Shark Specialist Group (SSG) lists 30% of
shark and ray species as threatened or near
threatened with extinction.
Increased awareness about the impact of
global shark fisheries, habitat destruction
and the combined effects this will have on
the marine environment and economy has
improved collaborations between scientists,
conservationists and government officials. The
Bahamas National Trust (BNT), established in
1959, is mandated with conserving both natural
and historic resources in The Bahamas and is
the only non-governmental organization in the
world mandated to manage a country’s entire
national park system. BNT’s vision is to create
a comprehensive system of national parks
and protected areas, with every Bahamian
embracing environmental stewardship. This
vision has driven and continues to drive
the organization to establish new parks,
engage in community outreach and promote
conservation, education and research in The
Bahamas.
REEF CHECK
REEF CHECK SPOTLIGHT:
SHARK CONSERVATION IN THE BAHAMAS
feature Krista Sherman
GEF FSP Coordinator, Bahamas National Trust
Bahamian shark populations are relatively
healthy when compared to other parts of
the world, which is due in part to the 1990s
longline commercial fishing ban. However,
to ensure that shark populations within
The Bahamas remain healthy, in 2010 BNT
partnered with the PEW Environment Group
to launch a national “Protect the Sharks of The
Bahamas” campaign to ban the commercial
sale and trading of sharks and shark products
within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The campaign launched in May 2010 with
participants including government officials,
representatives from NGOs, scientists, dive
tour operators, conservationists, media
and other key stakeholders. The benefits
of maintaining diverse and abundant shark
populations to sustain healthy ecosystems
and the associated economic benefits through
dive-related tourism (valued at approximately
$78 million per annum to the Bahamian
economy) were highlighted. BNT partnered
with PEW and local NGOs to raise public
awareness on the global status of sharks
through education and outreach programmes.
A series of presentations, public meetings,
community walk-throughs and outreach
through social network forums and the media
occurred during 2010-2011. More than 5,600
Bahamians signed handwritten petitions asking
the government to “prohibit commercial
fishing and selling of any shark or shark
related products within the Commonwealth
of The Bahamas”. In July 2011, the Bahamian
Government created an amendment to
the Fisheries Resources (Jurisdiction and
Conservation) Act (Chapter 244) to prohibit
commercial shark fishing along with the sale,
importation and export of shark products
within 630,000 km 2 (243,244 mi 2 ) of its waters.
This marked another huge accomplishment
for The Bahamas, which now protects over 40
known shark species. Shelley Cant, BNT shark
campaign manager stated, “This new legislation
has established The Bahamas as the regional
leader for shark conservation”.
Decades of scientific research on sharks
in The Bahamas has been used to assess
their diversity and abundance and address
deficiencies pertaining to their life history
characteristics, diet, behaviour and distribution.
Continued advancements in research
combined with local capacity building, fisheries
regulation enforcement and improved public
awareness will lead to better conservation
management. An ecosystem based approach
will undoubtedly be most effective to sustain
the diversity and function of sharks within
marine ecosystems.
34 DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, JUNE 2012
JUNE 2012, DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 35