Category: Blog
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Seychelles has one of the world’s highest rate of stranded dFADs
A recent global study on drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs) (The global footprint of drifting fish aggregating devices | Science Advances) has uncovered a concerning truth: Seychelles is one of the hardest-hit areas on the planet by dFADs, which have serious implications for its delicate marine ecosystems. dFADs are floating devices that industrial tuna fleets…
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Coral nursery and curious fish
As a freshly graduated and passionate marine biologist, being offered an opportunity to volunteer with Nature Seychelles is my first step to building a career in coral reef restoration. As a volunteer, I’m gaining lots of experience in different aspects of reef restoration, from working on the nursery to monitoring the resilience of the reef.…
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Video: How to transplant corals onto a degraded reef using coral gardening
Nature Seychelles uses the coral gardening method to restore coral reefs affected by bleaching. Jake Letori, one of our Reef Rescuers volunteers illustrates the last stage of the method in this video to demonstrate the coral restoration process happening on Felicite Island, Seychelles: Acroporid and pocilloporid colonies have been growing in a mid-water nursery for…
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Cleaning coral nurseries – with a little help from Rabbitfish
One of the tasks that Nature Seychelles’ Reef Rescuers have to carry out regularly is cleaning the underwater nursery ropes of Algae and other biofouling organisms. This is a formidable task that takes a lot of time because it involves cleaning of thousands of corals hanging underwater in rope nurseries.
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Corals and whale shark adventures on Nature Seychelles’ Reef Rescuers program
“3, 2, 1…let’s go,” says Paul, one of the Technical and Scientific Officers for Reef Rescuers, as he signals we are ready to dive.
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Turtles here, turtles there, turtles everywhere
Having worked with two types of sea turtles, during multiple turtle nesting seasons in 2 different countries I am still sometimes surprised by how different and exciting each day can be when you are around these animals. One of the best things about the Hawksbill turtles that nest in Seychelles is the fact that they…
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Boat-less but not hope-less
Although Nature Seychelles’ underwater coral nursery in the Marine Park by Felicité Island is located close to the shore, bad weather and rough sea conditions can make a shore dive impossible. During rainy days, our Reef Rescuers depend on the boat to complete tasks related to the nursery cleaning, monitoring of the donor site and…
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Spooked by hatchlings
This is my third time on Cousin Island during turtle season. You would think that after spending so much time watching turtles nesting I will have seen most of what there is to see but no, every time I come, there is always something new, something I haven’t witnessed before.
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Turtle trance
This is my first time to Cousin Island as a helper during the hectic turtle season. Although I had no idea what I was walking into, the hawksbill turtles have most definitely exceeded my expectations. During my first month here I had two turtles come on to the beach at the same time time to…
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Reef Rescuers at Six Senses, so far
For the past two weeks, Nature Seychelles’ Reef Rescuers team stayed on Felicity Island to initiate a coral reef restoration project in partnership with the 5-star resort Six Senses Zil Pasyon. This 18-months project aims at restoring the coral population of Anse Péniche located on the North West side of Felicity Island within Coco Island…