October 2003
New Zealand research receives top award
For the second year running, Blue Ventures researchers were awarded by the British Sub Aqua Club at Buckingham Palace. This year’s award, collected by Rob Conway, came in recognition of the Milford Sound reconnaissance expedition.
September 2003
Blue Ventures reef Phase 2 Completion - Zanzibar
Blue Ventures has just finished phase of its project surveying reefs in northern Zanzibar. The Blue Ventures research team returned in mid July 2003 to carry out a number of surveys on the fringing reefs of Zanzibar Island and Mnemba Atoll. These follow-up research dives were carried out one year after the original research was undertaken. The research team, working on an Oxford University research project, investigated possible anthropogenic and climate-related impacts on change in benthic composition of coral reefs around Norther Zanzibar Island and Mnemba Atoll.
January 2003 Blue Ventures explores New Zealand black coral Between December and January (2002/3), our team of researchers carried out the first reconnaissance trip for our black coral research programme in Fjordland, southern South Island. Plans are in place to carry out further reconnaissance later this spring. October 2002 Blue Ventures team receives top award at palace Blue Ventures co-founders Alasdair Harris, Robert Conway and Matt Linnecar were recently awarded the Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for the British Sub-Aqua Club, in a unique ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The medal, one of the world's most prestigious awards for underwater exploration, was presented in recognition of Blue Ventures' achievements at sites in South Eastern Madagascar in 2001. Ongoing research in Comoros Following the research carried out by our team of volunteers in the Comoros Islands between June and September 2002, Blue Ventures researchers will be returning to the islands to review the continuation of permanent monitoring sites by AIDE, a Comorean NGO. These sites are included in the COI regional reef network for the Western Indian Ocean and data has contributed to the Australian Institute of Marine Science publication, “Status of the Coral Reefs of the World” on the Comoros Archipelago. September 2002 Mnarani aquarium updates Blue Ventures recently commenced work with the Mnarani Beach aquarium, in Northern Unguja, Tanzania, providing the aquarium with equipment to enhance its marine education and awareness programme. The female green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) pictured was accidentally caught by fishermen in the Pemba Channel in September 2002. With the help of Blue Ventures volunteers working in the region the turtle was released back into the channel from our research vessel. Subsequent tracing of a tag on the turtle’s flipper showed that, prior to being caught off Zanzibar, she had last been seen nesting on a beach on the west coast of Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles on 19 Sep 1997. August 2002 Blue Ventures TV As a continuation of the films documenting our research in the Western Indian Ocean over the last two years, an independent film crew is currently working with the Zanzibar research team in order to make a documentary about our work. More details about the BV film can be found by contacting james@blueventures.org. June 2002 Chunguza Tumbawe The Blue Ventures ‘Chunguza Tumbawe’ (Save the Reef) reef awareness project in Nungwi village, Northern Zanzibar, was launched in June 2002. Our resident research team has recently been awarded further funding from PADI Aware to expand the work and implement additional permanent monitoring sites around the north of the Island. Survey work will continue to be carried out throughout 2003 monitoring the status of the reefs under investigation. Building on the achievements of Chunguza Tumbawe, a longer-term coral bleaching study is also underway, carried out by volunteers and researchers from Oxford and Edinburgh Universities. The study aims to monitor the effects of the recent El Nino event on the status of the reefs in the area.
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