July and August brought hundreds of spinner dolphins, a minke whale, ornate eagle ray, tiger sharks and, of course, numerous of humpback whale sightings. One of the most interesting encounters was a black marlin – an incredibly difficult animal to film owing to their speed, elusiveness and open ocean habitats. The team was lucky to …
Wildlife Highlights: Minke Whale, Guitarfish and Hundreds of Dolphins Read More »
Unique: 3D Maps of our Dive Sites via Seabed Beam Technology The dive center has curated a list of dive sites including coral reefs, deep pinnacles, shipwrecks and drop offs, afterthousands of hours of scientific surveys to assess the underwater biodiversity in the Bazaruto Archipelago. Visitors enjoy a selected list of sites where scientific and …
First Humpback Whale Sighting of the Season BCSS team encountered their first humpback whale in waters northeast of Benguerra on the 19th of June. The whale displayed spectacular behaviour, breaching multiple times while heading north. The sighting represents the start of humpback whale season in Mozambique, which typically begins in July and ends in October. …
CITES Turns the Tide for Shark Conservation: Breakthrough at CoP19 During the first week of the World Wildlife Conference in Panama countries voted to protect nearly 100 shark and ray species. Increased management and protection mean shark fin trade – an industry responsible for killing millions of sharks every year – will be better regulated. Two shark families make up for …
Marine Debris Collections Update In collaboration with African Parks, the BCSS team collected marine debris at five dedicated locations in October. A total of 191,8 kg was gathered accumulatively, of which 72,3% came from beach habitats (sites A and B). Plastic debris (hard/soft plastic, PET, rubber, styrofoam) remains majority of litter at almost all sites, as it …
New article: Spectacular Humpback Whale Behaviour Prior to Returning to their Feeding Grounds Our newest article, written by our in-house cetacean expert, Ekaterina Kalashnikova, focuses on the incredible humpback whale behaviour the team was lucky to witness in the last month. With the migratory peak in September, and given the population nearly doubled in size within the last …
Mario’s Lectures for the Ocean University of China Oceanographer and well-published scientist, Dr. Mario Lebrato, was invited to lecture at the Ocean University of China, located in Qingdao, as part of the university’s International Summer Course last month. Additionally, and as a member of the panel, formed by professors and politicians, Mario discussed various topics …
Now Available: Our Half-yearly Marine Debris Report In partnership with African Parks, BCSS collects marine debris at five carefully selected locations on Benguerra Island. The data gathered from the collections conducted from January until the end of June have been analysed and are now accessible through our half-yearly report. The team has spent a total of 72 …
The Start of Humpback Whale Season As the humpback whale migration season is in full swing, our volunteers are privileged to have witnessed these majestic sea nomads in the waters of Bazaruto Archipelago last month. The BCSS team records sightings alongside spatiotemporal and environmental meta-data collection, and aims to shed more light on the occurrence, …
New Scientific Paper Published: “Gelatinous Carbon Impacts Benthic Megafaunal Communities in a Continental Margin” Last week, Frontiers in Marine Science published a paper led by BCSS’s Chief Scientist Dr. Mario Lebrato, alongside an international team of scientists. The paper, “Gelatinous Carbon Impacts Benthic Megafaunal Communities in a Continental Margin”, outlines how sinking ocean plankton (e.g. …
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