IN the shallow water behind the surf zone arrows of light reflect off the back of the world's largest fish. Dr.Simon Pierce of the foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna hurriedly takes notes on his clipboard. Not too far away on a cleaning station, Dr. Andrea Marshall documents the behaviour of graceful manta rays, The mantas soar doen from open water and stall above the reef to allow diligent fish to nip at their parasites. Simon and Andres have a pressing task at hand. Amidst declining whale shark and manta ray populations' woldeide, They are attempting to collect enough scientific data on local populations to convince a largely sceptical and financially challenged Mozambican government to implement a much needes marine protected area.
Although Andera has worked in the area since 2003, the foundation was only established in 2009, led by these two marine megafauna experts ou of the Uiversity of Queensland. The experts are Austrslian, the animals wander between Asia, and Africa, and the interest generated in this destination and its importance to whale shark and manta tay species survival spans the globe.
Andrea's was the first doctoral thesis to be completed on manta ray; amongst her most notable scientific achievenments was the reclassifacation of manta rays onto two separate species, the giant manta ray (Manta birostris) and the reef manta (Manta alfredi).
Andrea explains, "This is one of the only places on the world where both species coexist." In the early days of Andrea's manta ray research, whale sharks were regular companions along a shallow corridor of water behind the breakers. In 2005, an invitation was extended to Simon to study these graceful giants and raise the profile of the area even further.
Mozembique's road to recovery from a tumultuous history id long and many of the issues still facing the country directly hinder the conservation efforts of the foundation.With he country's most pressing concerns being political, economic and medical, marine comservation is a relatively low priority. The many challenges are not unlike those facing other conservation organisarions in Asia. Today, the foundation works to determine areas that require protection, mantaray and whale shark population sizes and the financial value of these species. The importance of their data is relevant to marine megafauna populations far beyond Mozambique's shores.
