Ella Garrud Summer Placement Blog 2016

My time with the Manta Trust in the Maldives

I spent two amazing months in the Maldives working with the Manta Trust collecting data for

my summer placement. I was based on the island Landaa Giravaaru which is a Four

Seasons resort in Baa Atoll. Baa Atoll is home to Hanifaru Bay which is a marine protected

area and is famous for the huge aggregations of feeding manta rays it attracts. I had already

heard of the legendary Hanifaru before leaving for the Maldives and I was very excited about

what I was going to see there – lots and lots of mantas, possibly up to 100 at one time!

On my very first day on the island, we headed out to the bay on the Manta Trust research

boat – a traditional Maldivian dhoni. It was cloudy, windy and almost cold – I did not expect

to get cold while in the Maldives! When we arrived we could immediately see that the water

was teeming with mantas feeding at the surface. We got our freediving gear on and jumped

in the water. I probably saw around 30 mantas on that first day, we were the only boat in the

bay and it was an absolutely incredible experience. I didn’t collect any data that day, I just

enjoyed the experience and observed the manta rays’ natural behaviour.

Over the next two months I was on the boat nearly every day and only once did we not see a

single manta ray, and the most I saw at one time was around 80, which was absolutely mind

blowing.

I saw other amazing marine life during my stay including spinner dolphins (and yes, I did see

them spin!), eagle rays, huge schools of wide mouth mackerel that feed alongside the

Ella Garrud Summer Placement Blog 2016

mantas, green and hawksbill turtles, juvenile black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks and many

beautiful reef fish.

I also managed to find time between working to have some very

cool experiences on the island. I learnt how to play the Maldivian

drums Bodu Beru (to a very basic level!), I tried out anti-gravity

yoga, I went SCUBA diving, tried out some Bollywood dancing (I

was terrible!) and ate at some very fancy Four Seasons

restaurants.

During my placement, I also had the great opportunity to attend

and help out at the Second International Symposium of Sharks and

Rays. This conference had the aim of garnering support from a

number of countries to vote for the inclusion of thresher sharks,

silky sharks and mobula rays to CITES Appendix 2 at the upcoming CITES CoP17 meeting

in Johannesburg, South Africa.

I had a really amazing time in the Maldives and I will miss swimming with mantas almost

every day and the lovely people I met during my time there. I would like to say thank you to

all the Manta Trust team – Annie, Niv, Lirar and my fellow volunteer Stefany – for making my

time with them so great. I would definitely recommend working with the Manta Trust for any

future Summer Placements.