Here in Nusa Penida
we're lucky enough to see an amazing array of megafauna - Whether that's
turtles, majestic manta rays, sharks, dolphins or the impressive sunfish
(Mola!). You can make your dives count
by contributing to citizen science.
Why Citizen Science?
Citizen science allows
us regular folk to collect data by recording what we see underwater - Whether
that's from a dive or a snorkel session…. By collecting more data about the
animals' movements, behaviour and how often and where they are seen, we of course
therefore learn more about them. Any
diver or snorkeler with a camera can contribute to this, so this makes it very
easy for lots of people to collect data.
More data = the more we know about the animals and the better they can
be protected. A great example of this is
when citizen science contributions lead to the discovery that manta rays in
Indonesia travel long distances, in this case between Nusa Penida and Komodo,
therefore meaning that they travel a great amount over open sea between the two
marine protected areas. This resulted in
a huge win for manta rays with them being protected (illegal to be fished) in
the WHOLE of Indonesia!
So, let's look at
which animals you can ID and how…
Manta Rays - Manta
Matcher
Manta rays frequent
the sites on the South of Nusa Penida, primarily at Manta Bay and Manta Point
dive sites. Here we can observe mantas
feeding, cleaning and if we're lucky - mating!!
Manta rays have a
unique spot pattern on their bellies which means that we can tell individuals
apart, much like a human fingerprint.
If you're able to get
a shot of the underside of the manta, either a still shot or a screenshot from
a video, there's a very good chance that this can be used for an ID!
A stunning ID shot by Christian Loader
You can submit your
belly shot to www.mantamatcher.org
and follow the steps to report your encounter.
You will need some basic information to go with your photo:
- Dive site
- Approx depth you encountered the manta
- Date
If you know more about
your manta then you can add that too, such as the sex of the manta, colour
pattern (regular, melanistic or leucistic), any notable scarring and also what
life stage it's at (Juvenile, sub-adult or adult) - If you're doing your manta
matching at one of our resorts and you're not sure on these points then our
staff will be more than happy to help!
If your belly shot
doesn't look perfect or complete - Submit it anyway… If the manta is already
identified in the database it could still get a match from a partial shot.
All Megafauna - Dive
The Data
Here on Nusa Penida we
contribute data from sightings on every single dive to www.divethedata.com. This is a very cool and interactive site
which anyone can access - It's currently operating in Nusa Penida, Komodo,
Sangalaki and Mozambique. By clicking on
the area you can select a particular species and then see on a map where it is
most sighted and how often (shown in graphs!). Want to know where and when mola's are most often sighted? Dive The Data can tell you that!
We collect the number
of sightings for each dive for sharks, rays, turtles, mola, dolphins and
napoleon wrasse.
You don't even need a
camera for this one - Simply let the dive staff on the boat know how many of
each species you saw on the dive and we'll add it to our data! We fill out our information online each day.
Dive The Data
Turtles - Nusa Penida
Turtles
It's pretty difficult
to go a whole day without seeing a turtle on Nusa Penida, we see both the
hawksbill and green sea turtles here regularly!
Through the same technology as manta ray ID, we can identify individual
turtles as they have a unique pattern of scales on the sides of their faces.
Ideally you would need
a clear, close photo of both the left and right sides of its face, and then a
shot from above, if possible.
Turtle photo's can be
submitted to the Nusa Penida Turtle Project via email at sightings@indooceanproject.org, or for a more interactive method, submit via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nusapenidaturtles/
Send in the following
information along with your photo:
- Dive site
- Species
- Date
- Approx depth you encountered the turtle
- Activity (EG resting, eating, swimming)
- Estimated length and width of the carapace
(shell), if known
Right side ID shot of a hawksbill turtle
Molas - Ocean Sunfish
Research
Nusa Penida is very
well known for sightings of "mola mola", but lets set things straight
as this is a bit of a geek post: The
type of sunfish that we see in Nusa Penida AREN'T actually "Mola mola"(ocean
sunfish), the species that we see here are Mola alexandrini (bumphead
sunfish). So after that bombshell let's
get back on topic! Mola's can be
identified by photographing them side-on, as they too have a unique spot
pattern. Ideally you need a clear shot
of its side without any obstructions such as diver bubbles (or divers!) or
cleaner fish.
You can submit your
photos to:
And also give them the
following information:
- Dive site
- Date & time of the encounter
- Approx depth of the mola
- Temperature (coldest recorded on the dive)
Very nice side-on shot with no obstructions by Anshul
Tips For Getting A
Good ID Shot
Whatever animal you're
photographing you should abide by the code of conduct - it will be in your dive
site briefing! This generally means that
you respect the animals' space, control your buoyancy so that you don't crash
into the reef while getting the ID (that's kinda counter productive!), be
careful with your fins so that they don't touch the reef and stir up sediment,
and follow the instructions of your dive guide.
And of course - never touch, chase or harass any marine life or hold on
to the reef in order to get the photo.
Here are some
species-specific tips:
Mantas: Keep a
distance of at least 3m away. Never
chase a manta, let the manta control the interaction… If it chooses to come
closer to you, that's fine! Don't enter
cleaning stations, even it's not being used by a manta at the time. If a manta is coming
towards you, get as close as you can to bottom (without contact) to allow the
manta plenty of space to swim over or around you.
Molas: If the mola is cruising, keep a distance of
10m away. If the mola has begun cleaning
for at least a minute, you may approach slowly, but not closer than 3m. No camera strobes (big flashes). Don't block the mola's path or swim
underneath it.
Photographer following code of conduct at Scuba Junkie Mabul
If you abide by the code of conduct and follow the instructions of your guide, there is a much greater chance of a longer encounter.
Happy snapping!
Comments
Post a Comment