Saving Africa's Ocean Giants from Extinction' by Dr. Andrea Marshall

About the speaker

Educated in the United States and Australia, Andrea was the first person in the world to complete a PhD on manta rays. After completing her thesis in 2008, Andrea stayed on in Mozambique to spearhead the conservation efforts of this species along this remote coastline. Shortly after she, along with Dr. Simon Pierce, founded the Marine Megafauna Association, which grew into the now widely known Marine Megafauna Foundation, a 501c3 registered charity in the United States. Her passionate commitment to the eastern African coast has shaped her goals as a conservation biologist. Vowing to dedicate her life to the preservation and management of the manta ray population in southern Mozambique, Andrea continues to campaign for their protection and use her scientific background to formulate plans for their management. Learning to dive at a young age, Andrea was certified at the age of twelve. Thousands of dives later, Andrea is now one of the leading marine field biologists in southern Africa. During her 24-year dive career Andrea has travelled to the ends of the globe, from Brazil to Myanmar, as both a scientist, researching sharks and rays, and also as a professional underwater photographer. She has visited over 45 countries and, aside from the Arctic, she has dived in each of the world’s ocean. Almost a decade after her arrival in Africa, Andrea’s world-leading manta ray research program continues to examine aspects of their biology, reproductive ecology, habitat use, migrations and social behaviour. Aside from dramatically increasing the level of knowledge on manta rays themselves, Andrea’s discovery of a new giant species of manta ray in 2009 was one of the largest new species to have been described by any scientist in the last 50 years. Andrea’s interests largely lie within the field of scientific exploration. She considers herself a conservation biologist, and to that end her team’s research focuses predominately on questions related to the effective management and conservation of threatened marine animals. To answer these questions Andrea is often required to travel around the world on exploratory missions. On these missions her goals include: examining particular aspects of a species biology or behaviour, exploring new habitats or regions of biodiversity, or examining areas faced with particular conservation problems. As a passionate field researcher, Andrea has always been interested in using technology to push the limits of our knowledge. Over the years she has used everything from technical diving technology to specialized scientific equipment to explore the environments used by MMF’s flagship species. On expedition, this technology allows her to go deeper, spend longer periods of time, work in otherwise hazardous conditions and survey remote locations in an effort to gain a better understanding of an animal’s daily habits, a species’ biological constraints, or the threats that a particular population of animals might face. As principal scientist for the Marine Megafauna Foundation and scientific coordinator for WildMe, Andrea continues to travel the globe researching manta rays and fighting for their protection. Living in the field year-round keeps her close to her research subjects and in touch with their conservation needs. Through her “Ray of Hope” research expeditions, she travels from Ecuador to Indonesia each year, conducting ground-breaking research and monitoring MMF’s global manta ray programs.

About the talk

The Inhambane Province of Mozambique is a globally significant area for iconic marine megafauna, particularly manta rays, whale sharks, and dugong. This coastline is also an important seasonal habitat for large predatory sharks and cetaceans, and is a major aggregation area for sea turtles and billfish. It is also home to rare or poorly studied species of elasmobranchs. The northern section of the province is protected as Mozambique’s first marine protected area, the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park (BANP), and together with the adjacent unprotected southern coastline has been mooted as a future World Heritage site by UNESCO and a Hope Spot by Mission Blue.

Over the last two decades, the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), has demonstrated the critical importance of Inhambane Seascape. Our researchers have pioneered the first studies on smalleye stingrays in the wild, and have begun first formal studies of wedgefish, leopard sharks and devil rays in the country and have compiled some of the longest running datasets on manta rays and whale sharks in the world. We have also contributed to long-term studies on sea turtles, bull sharks, and dugong in the region.

MMF’s main objective is to help safeguard threatened and economically important marine megafauna in southern Mozambique by reducing their primary threats in the region and helping to protect critical habitats and important aggregation areas. We are helping to use science to underpin the development of adaptive management plans for endangered or at-risk species, to ensure that they are being protected and monitored properly by local management authorities. Perhaps most importantly, we are using our results and focused media campaigns to build on the refuge provided by Bazaruto Archipelago National Park and encourage formal protection for a significant migratory corridor for marine species to the south of this protected area.

Back home in Mozambique, Andrea is still exploring the coastline of one of eastern Africa’s most un-dived coastlines. Since arriving to Mozambique in early 2003, Andrea has logged over a thousand dives in this region discovering new reefs and documenting rare marine life. Some of her extraordinary encounters with rare species such as the small-eyed stingray and the snaggletooth weasel shark have earned her publications in scientific journals and popular magazines alike. Armed with her camera and often accompanied by documentary crews, Andrea has introduced the world to a new frontier of African diving. From the BBC’s award-winning documentary “Queen of Mantas” to Ushuaia’s acclaimed 2010 production on this remote coastline, Andrea continues to use hard science and visually stunning media to capture the world’s attention and focus it towards conservation. Said best in her own words, “The oceans still have so much to offer us, so many secrets to reveal. I still marvel at how little we know about the natural world. This sense of the unknown should drive us… it should motivate us to dig deeper, learn more. Ultimately if we are to find a true balance with the planet, it will be through the respect and preservation of our oceans. As conservationists, we must not only continue to embrace research and exploration but inspire the public to take up arms with us. Now, more than at any other point in history, we have the distinct opportunity to become both the explorers and the ambassadors of this wondrous, liquid frontier.