Strategic Management of Seychelles Turtles Project Completed 

The project on the strategic management of Turtle Populations in Seychelles, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the British High Commission in Victoria and implemented by the Marine Conservations Society Seychelles, has come to completion with the launch of the website, www.seychelles-turtles.org.

The front page banner of the new web site to be managed by the 'Turtle Action Group of Seychelles' (TAGS).  Image courtesy MCSS

The project was funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the British High Commission in Victoria and has been on-going since June 2003.

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IN THIS ISSUE

Strategic management of Seychelles turtles project completed

Banyan Tree Resorts starts marsh rehabilitation project

MCSS to feature in conservation documentary

The 2005-06 turtle nesting season

New whale shark PAT tagging programme

Banyan Tree Resort Starts Marsh Rehabilitation

The Banyan Tree Resort at Anse Intendance is starting rehabilitation of the marsh within the property that borders the Intendance beach, with the assistance of the Ministry of Environment Wetlands Unit, the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) and the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles (NPTS). 

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MCSS to Feature in Conservation Documentary

The Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) is to feature substantially in a new documentary being produced on Marine Conservation Projects by the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOS). The Foundation has been the major supporter of the MCSS Whale Shark Monitoring Programme for the last two years and has enabled the continued, intensive monitoring of whale sharks around Seychelles.
The documentary is being filmed by the technical staff of the SOS using the latest ‘Hi-Definition’ video equipment on land, under the water and from the air, and aims to capture the whole rationale of the whale shark programme and the activities that comprise it.

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The 2005-06 Turtle Nesting Season 

The 2005-06 turtle nesting season was from 16 July 2005 to 15 July 2006, with most nesting activity occurring in October 2005 through to February 2006. A total of 14 beaches were monitored by MCSS, complimenting the work already being carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR). Turtle monitoring activity was funded by Banyan Tree Resort Seychelles, Anse Forbans Chalets, Thrifty Car Hire and other contributors to the Turtle Fund.

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New Whale Shark PAT Tagging Programme

A new programme using Satellite Pop-up Archival tags has been started in the Gulf of Mexico by the Dr. Eric Hoffmayer of the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs in association with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Pascagoula.
Using a light aircraft, the team located a group of 16 whale sharks feeding in a dense patch of plankton some 30 miles off shore in the Gulf of Mexico and were able to get out into the group to attach the four satellite relayed PAT tags.

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Seychelles 2006 Whale Shark Monitoring Programme

The 2006 whale shark monitoring programme is well underway and despite unseasonable weather the micro-light aerial surveys are already guiding the monitoring teams onto the sharks’ locations.
June and July saw an early arrival of whale sharks off the North West of Mahe, apparently feeding on a rich plankton bloom which was recorded by the MCSS plankton surveys, carried out by volunteers from Global Vision International.

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Hopes For A Regional Cetacean Network

Hopes are high for a regional approach to cetacean monitoring within the countries of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). The Indian Ocean Whaling Sanctuary was established in 1979 following an initiative of the Government of Seychelles and the Exclusive Economic Zones of five of the IOC countries are within the Sanctuary. 
At the last President’s Summit of the IOC countries, at Antananarivo in Madagascar in July 2005, a decision was taken to strengthen the protection of whales throughout the sanctuary in the IOC countries.

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