Hello again, everybody!
I had the opportunity to extend my internship period for three more months, so here I am again, feeling lucky and happy about having the chance of learning more about Maldivian marine life. That also means that I am going to keep you updated for a little while longer. 😊
During the time that I am going to stay in Kuda Huraa, from May to August, the summer monsoon shifts through a series of dry and rainy periods, getting more windy and rainy through the monsoon change. What is more, we are in the manta ray season!
Manta rays are elasmobranchs belonging to the same family as sharks; the manta species that we can spot in our snorkel safaris are the reef manta rays. This type of manta is one of the largest rays in the world, measuring up to 3.5m in disc width (wingspan), with a maximum size of about 5.5m.
We are lucky here in the Maldives because the mantas usually go to cleaning and feeding areas where it is easy to observe them. Every Saturday, we organise a manta ray snorkel for the guests of the resort and I am in charge of guiding them all and explaining interesting facts about these incredible animals.
As we are at the start of the season, and the mantas are not yet using the cleaning and feeding stations known to be found in North Malé atoll, we have not spotted any manta rays during our snorkels so far. I am hoping so much to experience an encounter with these animals, as I have never yet seen them in real life.
However, we always have a backup plan! After checking the manta ray spot, our excursion boat leads us to Tuna Pass (a snorkelling spot close to a tuna processing factory) to enjoy the beautiful school of banner fishes and large groups of sting rays. In only a single snorkel trip, we can see up to 30 sting rays swimming very close to us.
My first dolphin cruise was one of the most memorable ones. I remember pointing out some dolphins to the guests, when suddenly a group of pilot whales surfaced just in front of us! The pilot whale is among the largest of the oceanic dolphins, exceeded in size only by the killer whale. Like dolphins, they are highly social and it is believed that both males and females remain in their mother’s pod, an unusual trait among mammals.
Hawksbill Turtle, ‘Bill’ (EI0953) Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives
Dolphin Cruise
During the turtle adventure safaris, I have also been in charge of taking photos of the carapace and face of the sea turtles for our Identification Project. I really enjoy swimming with marine turtles with an underwater camera. They have this restful way of swimming, as if they do not have any fear or burden worrying them.
Identification is possible because of the pattern of the facial ‘scutes’ (scales). The scutes can be used as a reliable method for individual recognition, just like fingerprints in humans.
With this project, we are trying to establish an estimated inventory of Maldivian sea turtles; the identification of individuals within a population being the preliminary step taken in the ecological study of a species. We currently have more than 2,000 individually identified Hawksbill and Green turtles in the database; thanks to everyone who is contributing from resorts, dive schools and safari boats from all over the Maldives.
So far, our research has shown that Hawksbills remain on their home reefs throughout the year, travelling only between reefs less than two kilometres apart, while Green turtles tend to use multiple reefs for feeding. Our data also show that we mainly observe female and juvenile turtles on the reefs, with few males of either species being spotted by our researchers.
Flipper surgery on a rescued sea turtle (Luc)
The pattern of scales is unique to each turtle
Our Rescue Turtle Patients
Our sea turtles in the Marine Discovery Centre have gone through several changes. Some of them have been released, others sent to nearby facilities, and one of them unfortunately didn’t have the strength to make it through.
Luc is an Olive Ridley sea turtle found by crew members from a cruising live-aboard. The boat crew spotted floating debris and after having a close look, they realised that three sea turtles were trapped in a drifting ‘ghost’ fishing net. The boat crew extracted them from the tangled mess of marine debris and sent the reptiles to our Marine Discovery Centre in Kuda Huraa. (Sadly, one of them didn’t survive the journey).
Luc started to be more rehydrated following baths in fresh water after his arrival to our Centre, and also because of the reef fish our team offered to him and which he gladly ate. Despite his first improvements, Luc had an almost amputated flipper. With the help of the resort doctor, we removed that hanging flipper and with my veterinary knowledge, I was able to assist with Luc’s surgery. He managed to make it through surgery and as we began to give antibiotics, wound care and daily fluids, it looked like he was starting to slowly recover. Unfortunately, he began to lose interest in food, became very lethargic, and unfortunately succumbed to his wounds and peacefully passed away on 20 June.
Max’s story is a brighter one, following his arrival at our facility in March. This Olive Ridley was found floating and entangled in a fishing ghost net along with five other turtles! The wounds in his flippers were mostly superficial. The most worrying issue was his poor body condition; he was underweight and unable to dive. Little by little, this weak animal started to develop more interest in food and he even ended up diving to reach the pieces of fish we threw in front of him!
In June, Max was strong and powerful enough to return back to the wild. We released him on a bright sunny day, in open ocean outside the atoll, and I had the chance of holding him before the last goodbye! He was so eager, that he swam straight downwards after release, just as if he had been longing for ages for that moment to happen.
I am enjoying my island life, and although I’m missing my family and friends from Spain a little, I really feel that I belong to somewhere like this magical place, surrounded by the ocean and the amazing creatures living there.
Hasta pronto,
Irene 😉
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here in the Maldives ?
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