My year of reefs

As New Year approaches we often think about the things that are to come. The things we want to do, the resolutions we want to try and keep (and know we will break!), and, if you are like me, all the work you need to do when you get back from the break! However, I realise I don't often look back and think about what the last year brought. On Christmas day I thought about where I had been on Christmas 2013 and realised that it felt like a decade ago. This year I have packed in more stuff than any other year I think, and in particular I have trekked the globe visiting coral reefs everywhere. 

From September 2013 until November 2014 I dived in Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Thailand, Cornwall, Djibouti, Maldives and Oman. Whether for my own research, working or fun, these places have left a big impression and series of firsts for me that I wanted to share. Hope you enjoy and dream big dreams for your year ahead.

September 2013: Sumatra, Indonesia

Going over to Sumatra for 3 weeks of fieldwork, was not only my first time to Asia, but also my first time to see a coral reef outside of Kenya. Hence, the first 2 years of my marine biology career starting in September 2011, I had only seen Kenyan reefs. I was overwhelmed with the new underwater scenery and dozens of new species. This trip was my first step at building up a mental list of reef condition and character, which I rely on for guiding my research now.   

October 2013: Kuruwitu and Kisite, Kenya

Running up to Christmas 2013 we had an amazing marine team at A Rocha Kenya, with Peter, Doro, Cassie and Hannah. One weekend we decided to drive to the South Coast, and, being the marine nerds we are, went to visit a couple of reefs. On our second day in Kisite, we arrived at the reef early, with no other boats around, got in the water and were quickly surrounded by a pod of friendly dolphins, who swam and played around us for at least 20 minutes. I will never forget making eye contact with a baby dolphin and seeing the recognition in his/her eye as she/he gazed back at me with equal interest. There's a reason that swimming with dolphins is on people's bucket list! We had an incredible weekend of stunning reefs, beautiful scenery and just communing with nature, that made me realise again that I want to spend my whole life discovering the wild places on this planet. 

January: Mount Kenya

My best mate and confident from my time in Kenya, Andrew, was leaving for new pastures in America, so to mark it we decided to climb Mount Kenya, along with Jaap, who was to become my friend over the coming months as he joined the research team in A Rocha. Mountains for me are as alien and frightening as some people find the sea, so to climb this mountain was a massive personal achievement. It was my first (and will be my last!) time to climb above 3000m altitude, feel altitude sickness and see the sun rise at the top of the world.

April: Vamizi, Mozambique

The reefs of Northern Mozambique are supposed to be the best and most diverse in East Africa, and with my imminent migration back to the UK approaching I was desperate to see another African nation, so I arranged some fieldwork on Vamizi Island, where one can find sharks, humphead parrotfish and other rarities. Unfortunately my research schedule was quite crazy and although I did get to see the amazing reefs, I had no time to enjoy them properly or find any of the rare wildlife that inhabits the area. In addition, I saw more extreme poverty, inequality and insecurity when travelling around that area than anywhere else I've been in the world. It is an area ravaged by years of civil war, and now the centre of a messy and incredibly rapid oil extraction development. Mozambique will stay with me as one the most depressing and frightening places I have ever seen and an example of how low people can stoop when there is no justice, sharing of resources or hope.

May: Phuket, Thailand

I was invited to Thailand for a meeting called by the UN Environmental Programme to discuss climate change and coral reefs. This is the topic of my PhD, so I know a thing or two about it, but this was the first time I had been invited to an event of this kind. I was both super excited and super nervous! After the meeting, which was a really stimulating experience, I went diving around the famous limestone islands of Phuket. Most memorable was free diving off Ko Racha Yai, with other delegates Nico and Angie. I saw my first sea snake that day!

June: Yns Mon, Wales

After years of busy summers and living abroad I finally went to my first festival in Angelsey, Wales at the age of 25. It was an absolute blast, with great people, incredible artwork, a lovely beach to chill out on during the day, all under the hot summer solstice sunshine from 4am until 10pm at night! What a great welcome back to the UK. 

July: Land's End, Cornwall

I missed the sea terribly in the first few months back in the UK, so I tried to get to the coast as much as possible. A new friend from Oxford, Mike, had never been down to the South-West, so we drove all the way down to Land's End one weekend, to hike, snorkel and do some filming for my crowd funding campaign (to be launched in Jan 2015!). We managed to find seals and swim with them, which for Mike was not only his first time to see seals in the wild, but also his first time to snorkel! For me it was a great time of reconnecting with the place which inspired me many years ago to do what I do today.

September: Gulf of Tadjoura, Djibouti

Getting back from my summer holidays I was sifting though my email inbox and noticed a message, which was 10 days old, asking if I wanted to go on a field trip to Djibouti, with some other scientists to do a mapping project for the area. I messaged back immediately, but thinking I was far too late at replying. A week later I was on my way to the horn of Africa to survey in this stunning and unusual place. Here in Djibouti I saw reefs that seem largely un-impacted by coral bleaching and the impacts of climate change. The shelves of beautiful table coral descending down the reef will stay in my memory for how stunning healthy reefs can look like.

October: Kuramathi, Maldives

As soon as I got home from one unexpected trip to Djibouti I was invited on another to the Maldives! A contact from Nairobi, Gabe, was now working out there on a marine programme and asked me to come and do some surveys around a resort island. My confidence was massively boosted by these two trips, because for the first time people actually think I'm good at something and want to pay me to do it! Not only this but the Maldives had been a place I was desperate to see for a long time. The reefs were in great condition. On this trip I saw my first grey reef shark, leopard shark, eagle ray, manta ray and dozens of new fish. 

November: Muscat, Oman

To finish off this epic year of travel and amazing experiences I spent a few days in Oman, where my dad was working, on the way back from the Maldives. It was my first time to the Middle East and I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was and how friendly the people were. The reefs were quite unique and on land there was a lot of interesting cultural things to explore. It really flew in the face of my expectations of what a newly developed oil nation in that part of the world would look like and just goes to show you can't always judge a book by its cover. 

2015 ...

I don't know exactly what this year will bring. Quite soon I am hoping to launch a crowd funding campaign, to raise money for my research, so stay tuned for this. I am also hoping to finish my PhD and close that chapter on all the work I've been doing for the past few years. Otherwise, if its going to be anything as fun and unexpected as the past year, bring it on!

Microcosm Maldives

Microcosm: A community, place or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger.

Flying towards Male, the northern atolls of the Maldives came into view out of the window. Brilliant rings of turquoise, painted in elegant brush strokes across the deep smooth blue of the open ocean. The different shades of blue, the lines subtly etched across the reef flats and lagoons, the various shapes formed by wind and tide, each atoll was different and each looked like a piece of artwork or delicate jewellery from the sky. I tried to imagine how the coral that forms these atolls had pushed to the surface spread outward, formed a lagoon and then would eventually break apart under erosion to form a new atoll from some patch remaining in the sunlit zone. Over the millenia I imagined the surface bubbling with these amazing structures ever moving and incredibly alive. Every single atoll below was a teeming hub of life, consisting of millions of individuals of sea creatures adorned in colourful tropical glory.
I had been wanting to visit the Maldives for a long time and see the largest coral reef system in the Indian Ocean. My excitement was pretty peaked as we got closer to landing. As the plane got lower I started to notice land for the first time. Tiny, infinitesimal specks of coral rubble, that had just about grown a bit of vegetation. Could this really be what an entire country lived on? Landing on Hulamale, the airport island next to Male, it was immediately obvious how this 'land' was a mere metre or so above the waves that crashed onto the manmade seawalls and, to me, felt very ephemeral.
After a brief turn around in Male, I headed out to Kuramathi, the resort island where I was going to do the research. The purpose of the trip was to assess the health of the coral reefs around the island and investigate how the hotel might be affecting the reefs, but also how they could help manage the reefs. Its an idea that is well placed in the Maldives, where resorts cover entire islands and therefore have a high level of control and a high level of direct benefit from their reefs. With nothing much else for their customers to do other than snorkel and dive, the health of their reef directly feeds back into their visitor satisfaction and their income.
As soon as I'd put my bags down I went straight out of my room and swam out from the beach to the reef crest, just 100m offshore. The reef slope dropped steeply, to depths that I couldn't tell, and with the sparkling clear waters of the central Indian Ocean below me, it really gave a sense of vertigo and again how this 'land' is perched precariously in the middle of the deep blue ocean. I did a few free dives down the wall checking out this new reef system I would be surveying over the next few days, and on one of my ascents a Blacktip Reef Shark swam straight in front of my face. It was a magnificent encounter. Over the coming weeks I saw four species of shark, tuna, huge grouper, eagle rays and one manta ray, all marine mega-fauna which are missing from almost everywhere else these days. The reefs were in really good condition, mostly due to the fact that these reef systems are too huge and the population too tiny to really trash them. In addition the Maldives recognise that the majority of their income comes from their healthy reefs and amazing marine life, so there is quite a lot of support for marine conservation. Of course this doesn't mean the Maldives are completely safe from the ravages of humanity, but of everywhere I've seen they seem one of the most hopeful situations.
However, back on the island the nature of resort made me feel less hopeful for the future. 800 guests are waited on by approximately 600 staff on a one mile sand spit, which has had every corner of it converted into a massive pleasure garden for people to come and enjoy every modern luxury and convenience. Every guest, and to a lesser extent every staff member, on the island is showering, eating, using the toilet, charging appliances etc etc etc. all in the middle of the ocean. All of this food, water, energy and waste must be imported, produced or processed at great expense, both monetarily and in terms of resources.
The use of islands as microcosms for wider society is nothing new of course. And I should say at this point that the resort is genuinely trying its best to do things as sustainably as possible. I just think that the nature of the resort exemplifies for me for some of the worst indulgences of modern society. Too many people using too many resources in place not naturally equipped to sustain it, and for what purpose? So people can lie in the sun, drink and read books. Is it really worth it? And on a another level, one group of people living with every luxury, which is only possible because they are supported by another group who toil in the background to sustain it. I don't want to induce a massive guilt trip or condemn anyone with these comments, and I completely understand why people want this kind of thing. But being on such a small island its hard to ignore the reality of how this situation is maintained. At least it was for me.
On the way back to Male we passed Thirifushi, the landfill island. Most of the waste from Male and other nearby islands is shipped here and simply dumped onto this artificial island. The rubbish mountain is permanently smouldering and sending a devilish black cloud into the sky. As we passed it on the boat, some dolphins were spotted on the other side, which gave the tourists heading back home that day a last taste of Maldivian paradise.

Leopard Shark - Maldivian megafauna

Health fish populations - Large shoal of humpback snapper

View of Kuramathi from the reef

Section of reef flat in great condition

New experiences in Djibouti

My name is Benjo. I am English, 25 years old and a marine biologist. This is a blog about my wandering and wonderings about the world and particularly the wetter parts. I am lucky enough to have travelled to a number of places, diving on a variety of coral reefs and hanging out with a variety of different people in the process. Since the last chapter in my life came to a close recently in Kenya (see benjoinkenya@blogspot.com), I have begun to spread my wings even more and it seems like I am on the cusp of lots of exciting things to come. During this blog I will try and bring you stories from interesting places, a flavour of the people and landscapes and discuss some of the forces at work influencing our oceans and the life around them.  

            This first journey, I’ll take you to Djibouti, a tiny desert nation on the East Coast of Africa. I found out about going there just two weeks before setting off. There was a project, working with IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) for which they needed a dive buddy and research assistant. My supervisor Alex suggested me to Rebecca, the lady organising part of the expedition, I sent my CV to her and half an hour later I got a phone call to say I was going! As she described the expedition to me I discovered that two other people on the project were colleagues from Kenya, including David, who is on my PhD advisory committee. Turns out it is a small world, when you’re an Indian Ocean coral reef biologist.

            Djibouti is located in one of the most politically unstable areas in the world, with Somalia to the south, Yemen to the East and the waters off from it are prime spots for piracy. My primary concern was about my safety at sea, as the project was going to be based on a live-aboard boat. Most people I told were more concerned about ebola, but no, in fact the UK is technically closer to the ebola outbreak as the crow flies than Djibouti. David and Rebecca ensured me it was perfectly safe and on arrival in Djibouti I was amazed by the enormous international military presence in the country, with Americans, French, German, Japanese and several other nations all being represented in this little known, but strategically placed country.

            The project in Djibouti is centred around identifying and mapping the wildlife of the country with a focus on wildlife-based enterprise for Djiboutians to make sustainable income from their marine resources. Our expedition was to spend two weeks in the Gulf of Tadjoura mapping and recording the biodiversity of the reefs on this section of the Great Rift Valley where this chasm cutting across Africa meets the Indian Ocean. Aboard the good ship Deli we set off following the coastline, mapping the reefs, making species lists and collecting key data about the ecology of the area.

            For me this trip was the first high-level research expedition I had ever been invited on, and I was so really enthused to be invited to work at that level. It was also especially nice to get back in the water and be hanging around East Africans again. However, after the first couple of days the heat began to sap me. Afternoon temperatures could be well over body temperature and into the 40s, and living on a boat without air conditioning all you could do to cool down was jump in the sea. Data entry would often take all evening and periodically people would stand up from their computers when the heat got too much and without warning leap off the boat. A mid-expedition stop over in an air-conditioned hotel was heaven and necessary to keep out brains from boiling!

            Much of the coastline we surveyed was completely uninhabited, with dramatic cliffs and lava flows, especially toward the end of the gulf, where the forces pulling the African and Somali plates are ripping the land apart. There is a small inland sea, called the Ghoubet, connected to the main gulf by only 500m or so of water, which had the most dramatic scenery both above and below water. Dramatic cliffs plunged into the sea, and continued as vertical walls into the abyss, along with unusual ‘reefs’ which were little more than corals growing on the black lava rock underneath. The best day diving we did was at the tip of the Ghoubet where one can actually dive the crack between the two plates. We descended down between the two vertical walls, with only 2-3m between them, swimming through tunnels and seeing the sunshine streaming down through gaps above. Absolutely amazing.

            In general I was very impressed by how healthy the marine life was. Most reefs were teeming with inquisitive grouper and large numbers of parrotfish and surgeonfish, all types of fish that are sensitive to overfishing. In addition the coral cover was extremely high and I had never seen such large or dominant table corals, some up to 4m across. David told me how when he began his research in the late 1980s, these sensitive corals were seen in many parts of the Indian Ocean, but the combination of climate change and other local human impacts had wiped out most of these giants. It was really great to get a feel for how reefs should look and see them with so little human impact.

I had also never been in an area of sea with quite so many jumping things! We would regularly see shoals of flying fish all break for the surface simultaneously, bait ball boiling the surface, a few sportfish, such as sailfish leaping into the air and once, a flying squid (I kid you not! Genuinely happened). So prolific were flying sea creatures that after a dive my dive buddy, Candace, was hit in the face by a needlefish!

The trip to Djibouti was filled with so many unexpected experiences, the extreme heat, Martian desert landscape, and just crazy marine life. It just goes to show how much there is to see in this world. I definitely rediscovered my travel bug! Next stop, the Maldives…

Deli

The Crew

Morning in the Ghoubet

Me on Mars

The Crack!

Friendly grouper says hey