Project description
The Whale Shark Conservation Project aims to monitor whale shark numbers
and behavior, loggerhead turtle nesting activity and coral reef condition in order to make recommendations for improving the conservation of marine biodiversity. It involves field data collection via beach walks, boat surveys, swims and dives on the coastline of Mozambique around Tofo. It also involves assisting with tourist education and general tourism welcoming & interpretation. The project involves collaboration with a number of local and international bodies.
The main component of the project involves research on whale sharks. These 
are the worlds largest fish and although they are sharks, are harmless to people since they feed on plankton. Whale sharks are a threatened species and are relatively easy to monitor owing to their size. They are also good indicators of ocean productivity and can play a flagship role for the conservation of other marine creatures. With the increase of boat and fishing activities their home ranges may become influenced, their food sources affected and direct mortalities may even result. Most of the research involves taking underwater photographs to identify individual whale sharks by joining tourist launches and thereby investigating their numbers, distribution and ecology in a bid to help understand and conserve these most magnificent fish.
The second component of the project involves monitoring the condition of coral
reefs in the Tofo area using methods based on the international reef check program. This involves doing scuba diving transects along the reefs and photographing at fixed points whilst recording benthic cover and indicator species of fish. These are the rainforests of the ocean and much marine life is dependant on them. Tofo's coral reefs are under threat of exploitation, bleaching, alien invasive species and other ecological changes associated with tourism and other human activities. A four day internationally recognized diving course is provided as part of this project to train you to be able to carry out this coral reef monitoring.
The third aspect of the project is the monitoring of the nesting activity of loggerhead and leatherback turtles. Their nesting sites are becoming increasingly threatened by human activity along the beaches and there is also hunting of adults as they lay their eggs. The monitoring involves patrolling the beaches at night during laying season (October-December) recording nest sites and tagging adults where possible, then visiting nests during hatching season (January-March) to record hatching success.
The information collected during the field work will be collated into a database both on-site and at the head office in Swaziland . A number of more general environmental awareness and cleanup activities will be also carried out during the project.
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