The Hunting of the Snark, By Rupert Ormond (Save-our-Seas Foundation Chief Scientist)

We have been extremely honoured to have Dr Rupert Ormond, the Save-our-Seas Foundation’s Chief Scientist, on board as our scientific advisor. We were sad to see him leave the Atoll last week but students were waiting for him in the Red Sea. He kindly wrote a few words and took some images of us, which I have posted below.


Hard to believe my stay on Aldabra is coming to an end. I am having to leave earlier than the rest of the team to run a coral reef course in Egypt. And the past 10 days have been hectically busy, with times of high tides (when we can get out across the encircling reef) and of slack water (when we can work in the channels that connect the outer ocean to the inner lagoon dictating early starts and long days.
As the science “guru” at the Save our Seas Foundation my task was to help launch our hunt for the most impressive marine life that Aldabra has to offer, and support the task of documenting some of this fauna, both on paper and on film (or these days, even in a remote location like Aldabra, in word-processed and digital image form). We have made a good start. Underwater, Aldabra boasts an abundance of reef fish, and an impressive variety of corals, which seem to be recovering well from the high mortality caused by coral bleaching and record high sea temperatures in 1998. And during a lull while we waited outside one of the minor channels for the tidal current to slacken, watching green turtles courting and mating, and the frigate birds harrying the returning red-footed boobies for food, one could imagine that this scene had been played out, unaffected by human influence, for tens of thousands of years.
But we were particularly anxious, of course, to locate and record the very largest animals that Aldabra is believed to harbour - it’s larger sharks. After a week of baiting, chumming and drifting in the most likely places, a clear pattern is beginning to emerge. The small black-tip sharks are common almost everywhere, and given time, lemon and grey reef sharks also turn up, especially in the channels and on the outer reef. But of the tiger shark, the biggest animal haunting Aldabra, there is no sign, though twice during our stay research station rangers think they may have seen one from a boat, the only solid confirmation, short of taking a specimen, would be capturing it on camera. Considering the amounts of bait we have been using, that sharks down current can most likely detect miles away, it’s beginning to look as if there are very few, if any around.
The one possibility is that there are one or two about, but they have been busy elsewhere, hunting turtles or the like in more inaccessible parts of the lagoon (they often enter quite shallow water), or in deep water (where in some areas they prefer to spend the day). Also the home ranges of individuals may be pretty large. Tagging studies have recorded tiger sharks migrating between South Africa and Australia, so the few surviving individuals could easily encompass the other islands and atolls of the Aldabra group within their territory, meaning they could spend most of their time at a distance beyond which they can detect us, or we them.
The other possibility is that tiger sharks may only be willing to respond to our bait and chum at night, though their behaviour in this respect seems to vary between different parts of the world. This is where our remote camera system comes in. Can it document further shark species, or even provide usable footage for our documentary film? James (our science assistant) has valiantly struggled with a whole series of technical glitches, and finally, just a few days ago, got night-time shots of black-tip sharks near the shore. So it was a bitter blow when, on deploying the assemblage to deeper water on the fore reef, the camera control system refused to work. The most likely explanation seems that, now that the computer and power pack box was floating in the sea, rather than on dry land, sea-water got in somewhere and shorted connection. Doubtless it will take more frustrating days to work out. Our hunt for the tiger shark on Aldabra is becoming as convoluted as that for Lewis Carol’s “snark”!

Low Tides, Slow Day

We are back once again in our old research station rooms, bordered by champignons and black tips cruising in the shallows – home sweet home. The school kids left this morning in rough seas for Assumption and the sounds of the island have returned to full volume. The southeast wind brushes through the big broad-leafed trees and needle thick casuarinas, and the resident rail is investigating the mess area for food options.

The tides are playing games with us again… they are neap tides and are at their minimum range. This happens when the moon is in the first and third quarter and the Sun’s forces partially cancel those of the moon. The low tides slow down our work considerably as it prevents our big boat from crossing over the reef to reach the dive sites.

We spent the evening photographing the black tips’ fins in the shallows until it was too dark to shoot, and Dan took advantage of the golden evening light on the champignons, which were exposed down to their base with the low tide, to get some topside footage.

I feel we were lucky to have had the calm, flat waters for so long. We were spoiled, and even though the southeast is not blowing a storm it would make conditions for many shots better if the stillness returned. Perhaps the wind will be kind and we may get another lull before the monsoon is here to stay.

Aldabra on Chocolate and Lemons

Our fresh fruit supply has dwindled to nothing, the last extremely over-ripe banana was cooked a few days ago, the school kids have wiped out the chocolate supply from the island tuck shop (a sight I foresaw upon their arrival but was too slow to beat them to it) and the bait is smelling pretty rotten – but we are all talking big fish, photography and watching new footage every evening – so we are still full steam ahead - whenever we have a boat to steam in that is.

After an extremely frustrating down day yesterday for the team (we lent our boat to the school kids early morning and by the time it was back the tide was too low to cross the encircling reef) we were in good spirits this morning to feel the wind in our faces and wet our fins. The deadly still waters that blessed us these past few days have moved elsewhere, and in their place the ocean has been woken by southeast wind. Definitely not rough compared to the South Africa’s stormy seas - but the water was choppy and the surface speckled with white horses. We managed to time our dive in the coral gardens up the main channel perfectly, as the tide was still going in when we got in the water and the current perfectly slack for most of the dive, unfortunately the visibility was not good. Nonetheless, it was good to spend time free diving in the coral without being pulled along by the current. It gave us a chance to explore the various channels and get id photos of the impressive variety of corals.

Tom and I spent a good half hour trying to get the perfect composition of damsel fish above a beautiful acropora coral head, but the fish insisted on corralling in one particular section. The first time we were there Dan caught a fleeting glimpse of a hammerhead, but today all that came in was a very large lemon and a few black tips. Tom and I were last back to the boat and the lemon surprised us both by appearing out of nowhere to check us out. He was so large at first glance I didn’t even recognize him for a lemon shark. Sadly we didn’t have time to stay on the reef and photograph him, as once again we had to rush back to beat the tides.

I completely forgot to mention that the other day James pulled an all nighter on us. We have all been wondering what the shark population looks like at night here and whether we would finally get some images of large sharks if we did some night dives. … so James volunteered to keep watch for us, put some bait in the water and waited in the darkness to see what showed up. We thought perhaps that the tigers patrol the reef here at night and with powerful strobes we would at least get some images of them, but James never woke us up with news of a tiger or any other large shark. Only the usual characters, grey reef, silver tip, and sicklefin lemon. He did, however dream that a nice big hammerhead arrived but no photos to prove it.

Silver Tips and Rainbows

Tom and Dan spent a couple of hours this morning in the mangroves off the Passe Houareau channel between the islands of Malabar and Grande Terre photographing and filming the abundant marine life. There wasn’t enough room in the unstable and leaking tiny tin boat for the whole team to get to the mangroves, so I waded with a bright yellow pelican case full of camera equipment balanced on my head towards the circling frigate birds. Not far down across the lagoon the boat came into view and I abandoned my plan of photographing the circling frigate birds ahead in the harsh light and squeezed in a quick snorkel in the channel in the last half hour before we had to escape from the out-going tide. It is the healthiest mangrove system I have ever seen, with countless fish species and numerous hawksbill and green turtles. All levels of the ecosystem were present, from the fish that graze algae and nibble on sea grass to predators such as barracuda and the black tip reef shark, who has accompanied us on almost every single dive on Aldabra. Lined with knotted roots where black spotted snappers mingled and studded in large coral outcrops surrounded by schooling fish, this channel was particularly impressive, and one that deserves more of our attention. We reviewed Dan’s footage this evening and it truly captured the spirit of an intact mangrove forest! It also reconfirmed what we have been finding – that the basis of what makes a great still photograph and HD film are totally different. Video is all about the movement and photography is about capturing a moment. Tom wasn’t particular pleased with his results but he made up for it by getting some unique shots of jacks from behind the boat.

Our time at middle camp was cut short for lack of fuel and we motored back to base this afternoon, with the intention of going back there for a couple of days. I was lucky enough to get in the water this afternoon to photograph one of my favourite sharks, the silver tip. As their name suggests their fins, especially the pectoral fins, are splashed with a prominent silver sheen. Shy at first she soon lost her inhibitions and became a very fast and inquisitive subject. They can reach up to 3 metres but we are only seeing small ones here of 1.2 metres, mainly because the fully grown adults are most likely in deeper water - if they have not all been fished out.

On our way back to base we found more mating turtles. Not in crystal clear deep water today, but surfing on the back line! Dan snuck up to them on SCUBA but feeling vulnerable they didn’t stick around and took off for more peaceful waters when he got close.

Every evening is beautiful here, but this evening there is a huge cloud over the Atoll with a rainbow leaping across it.

INSPIRATION for the next GENERATION

I mentioned before that a group of school kids were on the island... Each year Seychellois school children around the ages of 10-16 compete with one another to win a visit to Aldabra courtesy of the Seychelles Island Foundation. From first setting foot in the Seychelles on the SOSF expedition I realized that for most Seychellois Aldabra is a destination all have heard off but most will never reach. As the immigrations officer who proudly stamped my passport with the Seychelles’ coco da mer shaped entry stamp put it when he discovered my final destination was Aldabra… “Ah Aldabra, yes well that might as well be in Europe.” It is another world even for the Seychellois and only the cream of the environment/biology crop are invited to experience 10 days here. Last night Tom, Dan and myself provided their entertainment. I gave them an introduction on shark conservation and the Save Our Seas Foundation’s mission: to document the role that sharks and rays play in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems and the consequences of removing them from the world’s oceans. They learnt that sharks and rays are elasmobranches and were amazed that they are made of the substance in our ears, cartilage. Dan Beecham presented his HD footage showcasing SOSF’s marine projects around the world, from manta rays in Mexico to white sharks in South Africa - all exciting projects that hopefully brought to life what they learn in the class room. SOSF’s photographer Tom Peschak presented a slide show of some of his most outstanding images, which can’t help but inspire people to if not love, at least admire and respect the Ocean and its life. I hope all the images he showed of us free diving with big sharks helped change their perceptions. Who knows we might have inspired the next Jacques Cousteau.

We are working from a new part of the Atoll for the next couple of days called Middle Camp. After a morning spent cleaning and re-organizing camera gear, we took advantage of the crystal clear water and free-dived (and SCUBA dived) along the reef. Faining a complete lack of interest I had a hawksbill turtle follow me for a few metres. I had to look at him at some stage but as I turned he took fright at our proximity and proceeded to taunt me by swimming slowly parallel to me - keeping just far enough away to make his image a mere dot in my frame.

Rainer is our new Water World captain and the rotting fish that he and James trailed behind the boat attracted about ten black tips and one tawny nurse shark. Tom and I photographed the mayhem of them behind the boat before the current became too strong for me to hold the camera housing in one hand and the boat with the other.

Moving on from there we explored Passe Houareau on a drift dive, Dan on SCUBA and James, Tom and I free-diving. You get a much better over-view of what is going on fee diving and the fish seem bolder – less scared than when you approach them with a noisy breathing apparatus and bubbles billowing out everywhere. Tom is a fish underwater and free diving, like most sports, is all about practice. Dan is always on SCUBA as filming with the bulky HD video camera is a whole different story, but he is fast down there when he needs a subject in frame. I preferred this drift dive to our first one at Pass Dubois. There is a more diversity of coral and reef fish. We had hoped to see a great hammerhead or a tiger shark, but once again they evaded us or they simply are not there.

Ocean Surprises

The last few days have bounced between episodes of patient waiting (for our boat) and frantic gulps for air…

Our accommodation has moved around, meaning we have carried crate after crate after pelican box after camera - in fact most of our 1,515kgs of luggage back and forth up the beach more than once. Working from one base yesterday and today we had time again to focus on looking for sharks and getting the shots.

Yesterday we went to the outer reef to refill bait station 2 and see what shark species we would find. Sharks = 0 : Massive Net = 1. The net, a big green monstrosity hanging from a platform of floating bamboo poles and attached to a fish-attracting device (FAD) is put to sea by fishermen who return, with the help of its satellite/ GPS beacon, weeks or months later to pole the fish. The fishermen mainly catch tuna that are attracted to the smaller fish species using the net as cover, a scarce resource in the blue ocean. While Rainer was busy cutting the net free from the reef and our bait station Dan hovered over the reef’s bottom filming the coral and a friendly grouper.

This morning kicked off with some high action acrobatics. Heading out for a dive up the main channel to film and photograph the abundant and healthy coral life, the ocean surprised us with a display of somersaulting, twisty turning spinner dolphins – living up to their name in style. After photographing them bow riding the boat Tom and Dan slipped into the water in attempt to capture the whirlwind underwater. A trick that normally works if the dolphins are feeling playful is to drive the boat in circles – they sometimes start following the boat and use the wake as a jumping platform. Today their mind was pre-occupied, with perhaps a mixture of mating and fishing and no matter how many circles we did they were not particularly interested in the two neoprene-clad figures with their cameras in the middle. After a few sessions with these marine mammals we headed up main channel before the tide brought in dirty, silt-laden water from the lagoon.

Drifting alongside James, who was tasked with holding onto the baited drum line and keeping it near the reef’s edge, Tom and I photographed the reef and added a new species of shark to our list – a white tip reef shark. Meanwhile the others were diving on SCUBA and almost at the end of our drift Dan popped up asking if we had seen Rainer and Kim. They had drifted into the centre of the main channel, where the current was fast and furious and were already at the mouth. The boat collected them safely and we continued our drift until the visibility was unworkable.

In the afternoon our mission was to look for silvertip sharks in a place that Rainer swore was silvertip central. On the way we found turtle central instead and when Tom got in the water to photograph he found about 8 green turtles lying on the sandy bottom and proceeded to try and hide himself on the reef in the hopes a mating couple would swim close and not spot him. We watched from the boat as one by one the turtles, wise of his hiding place, left the area. Every now and then one would drift close to the boat or Tom, come up for a breath of air and get the fright of its life before darting in the opposite direction. Not easy subjects!

Our mission to find silvertips continued but they remained elusive and we abandoned searching for them in favour of more reef dives. The ocean, however, surprised us again and on our way we found a particularly amorous pair of green turtles that were so intent on mating they ignored the camera. Tom spent a good half an hour photographing and finning after the couple before Dan jumped in with his HD film camera. Follow turtles in the water is exhausting – their gracefulness makes us look (and feel) very very very clumsy – especially when dragging heavy cameras in housings, with flash arms that look like giant aluminum spiders or in Dan’s case a 30kg monster! I think I swallowed litres of seawater while trying to catch up to them, dive down, photograph them and breath in one go! It was definitely worth the effort though and I think we are all looking forward to downloading and watching some footage.

We did see a silvertip in the end!! A beautiful, sleek little one… two new shark species in one day.

(Photos of the day to be posted later… not possible to download them now).

I Think We're Going to Need a Bigger Lilo

Happy Easter!

I woke to a tropical downpour and silence in the little wooden house we are all sharing – grabbed my camera, pulled its raincoat on and tip toed out the door. Half way down the beach the rain stopped and I sat waiting for the shore birds to do something – catch a fish, fly over a shark fin, go for a swim – anything. That’s the game, and in the early morning with the light still soft and the air cool it is beautiful.

Our planned dive in the mangrove channel this evening was washed away as we arrived and discovered that the clean water that flows on an incoming tide had not yet made it into the channels and visibility was down to 1 metre. Plan B moved forward and we snorkeled in the lagoon, which was pumping with a current of clean water. The lagoon is full of limestone islands that have been carved by the sea over the years into gigantic mushrooms and nicknamed champignon, mushroom.

Dan finally got the opportunity to try out the latest technology in HD video and introduced to Aldabra the lilo technique. Cracking the silver floater out of the box he blew it up with a scuba tank and put the 30kg camera (and underwater housing) on the lilo. We proceeded to come up with novel ways of fine-tuning the rig, which involved life jackets in a number of strategic places both under the housing and around Dan. We let him merrily sail away to float amidst the mangrove trees and around the champignons full of confidence he would have no trouble gliding with the current and filming, all the while keeping the lens free of water droplets. A cry for help a few shots later meant things weren’t going so smoothly. Flying with the current and almost impaling myself on a mangrove root on the way down I met up with Dan several hundred metres down current and spent the next hour finning, swimming, walking and sinking him around a champignon. I think even the passing black tip reef sharks had a chuckle at the sight of Dan with his rig being steered by me – as I walked along the bottom breathing through my snorkel, much like the swimming elephants off India. I am sure the footage is superb, but next time I must remember to take my ankle weights off.