GVI Seychelles

September 2014, Issue 4

Spring 2016, Issue 4

Inside this Issue

The last three months seem to have flown by as

On Wednesday August 6th staff from the British

we have crammed in numerous activities and

High Commission (BHC) visited the home of

initiatives alongside our normal programmes.

the GVI Marine Conservation Expedition at Cap

On Curieuse Island it has been a quarter

Ternay for their annual team-building day. GVI

dominated by green turtles and Coco de Mer,

Seychelles staff and volunteers welcomed the

while at Cap Ternay, having completed the first

team from the BHC for a day full of activities.

underway with recording coral recruitment.

BHC Team Building Day

Island School Seychelles

Lemon Shark Project

Green Turtles

Gymnodoris ceylonica

Charitable Trust

National Scholarship Programme

Seychelles Sea Turtle Festival

BHC Team building Day

Introduction

six months of coral reef monitoring, we are well

The morning started with a beach and mangrove

clean-up to remove any rubbish that had

Once again we have been busy raising funds for

accumulated along the shoreline. Within the

the Charitable Trust and we are looking forward

mangroves at Anse Souillac numerous plastic

to some exciting new developments in the final

bags, empty bottles and confectionary wrappers

quarter of the year.

were removed from the mangrove roots, having

been brought in by the tide before becoming

The team with bags of rubbish collected from

the beach and mangroves that morning.

After the early morning clean-up, it was time to

for a game of Kubb a Swedish game involving
the throwing of sticks, followed by a delicious
barbecue.

As ever we hope you enjoy reading the

snagged. With the mangroves clean, attention

newsletter and we welcome your feedback.

With full stomachs the afternoon saw the group

was turned to the beach at the Baie Ternay

split into two, and ready to burn off some

Marine Park. At this time of year the waters

calories. The first group headed up Cap

within the bay are calm, meaning little rubbish

Matoopa to take in the amazing views from the

washes up on the shoreline. We did not have to

summit, while the others ventured out for a

search for long however, as the vegetation near

snorkel.

the beach was littered with the remnants of

weekend picnics. In total we managed to fill

It was a tiring but terrific day and the GVI

nine large bin bags full of rubbish; a successful

Seychelles staff and volunteers really enjoyed

mornings work!

getting to know the team from the BHC.

Island school Seychelles

It only took a few minutes for them to adapt to the idea of having their
face in the water and to find the momentum that comes with fins. Our
volunteers came back exhausted but happy, still in disbelief that kids
growing up steps from the water would never have learned to swim or
seen a coral reef before.
These projects by SOSF go hand-in-hand with our own conservation
education goals and activities, and so we were more than happy to share
our facilities and support the project. By the end of each week, the
students were tired but still smiling, asking what our favorite marine
animals were and excitedly expressing their own favorites. With a little
luck they will all be back in the water soon!

Lemon shark tagging project

Every morning was full of laughter and screaming; the kind that comes
from a bunch of kids full of energy as they run around outside. It
wasn't just another school day for them, even if they were going to
spend half the day in a classroom. For them, it was a week of games,
lessons, and oceanic adventures that just happened to also have some
time in front of the blackboard.

GVI Seychelles and Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA), with the
support of the British High Commission, will be commencing a new
lemon shark tagging project on Curieuse Island this year.
The mangroves on Curieuse Island are an important nursery ground for

Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) operates marine conservation and

education programmes across the globe, and has become a

lemon sharks (Negaprion acutidens), providing juvenile sharks with plenty

of food and a safe environment away from predators.

recognizable organization in this area. Here in Seychelles SOSF have a

Over the coming months GVI Seychelles and SNPA will be initiating a

marine education project, and for the past two weeks GVI has been

tagging programme to obtain important data on the local lemon shark

hosting the Island School Seychelles programme with two consecutive

population. The research project will be accompanied by an educational

one-week Marine Education schools for winning students from around

programme to sensitize the public to the value of mangrove habitats and

Mahe and neighboring islands.

the important role of sharks in the marine environment.

Secondary school kids submitted

applications in which they had to talk about what the ocean meant to
them and in the end a lucky handful were chosen to spend the week at

Find out how the project is proceeding in the next issue of the GVI

Cap Ternay. Abi March, the SOSF Project Leader here in Seychelles,

Seychelles Newsletter.

was as energetic as the kids as they were learning about coral reefs,
seagrass beds, whale sharks, and everything in between. Even their
"exams" were fun; we heard them running back and forth between the
true tree and false tree as various facts were shouted out for them to
verify.
GVI was more than just a classroom space during these two weeks; a
handful of our volunteers took to the ocean as the students snorkelled
out to explore the seagrass beds and reefs of our very own Baie
Ternay. Many had never been snorkeling or even swimming before
but even on the first day as three of us helped them float out in waistdeep water with life jackets tight in their hands ahead of them, they
were kicking away eagerly as if they had been swimming for years.

A good year for the

green turtles of curieuse island

The end of June 2014 kicked off the first of many green turtle nesting
activities on Curieuse. The GVI volunteers may have thought they were
just going on a bird survey at Grand Anse that early June morning, but
when the green turtle nest was found, they also ended up learning the
whole process of sea turtle nesting from an overly excited staff member.
In the following month of July, green turtles continued to surprise the
GVI team. Five more nests were found along with three other
unsuccessful nesting attempts. August continued the excitement with
four more nests and 16 more unsuccessful nesting attempts counted
throughout the month. The trend continued into September and since
June, Curieuse has seen a record of 13 green turtle nests and over 20
failed attempts.
Not only has the past three months surpassed the nesting activities by
green turtles on Curieuse in previous seasons, but we are hoping to see

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) nesting season is

undoubtedly an exciting time in Seychelles. Seychelles hosts one of the
largest hawksbill nesting populations in the West Indian Ocean and
numerous legal steps have been taken to protect these animals.
Protected areas especially are seeing numbers rebound after dramatic

more nesting attempts in the upcoming months. As the hawksbill nesting

season begins we will be stepping up our monitoring programme and
increasing our visits to the turtle nesting beaches. We will also be on the
lookout for hatched green turtle nests in order to evaluate reproductive
success. Any information collected will help to better understand this
species that we know so little about.

declines from over-hunting for their shells.

Although also protected, much less is known about the nesting green
turtles (Chelonia mydas) within the inner islands. Green turtles have been
heavily exploited in Seychelles, and worldwide, for their meat. The
inner islands of the Seychelles saw large declines in the green turtle
population in the late 1700s correlating with increases in the human
population. Although large numbers of green turtles still nest on
Aldabra, very few green nests are found in the inner islands.
Curieuse Island has been an important nesting site for hawksbills and
also hosts the occasional green turtle nest each year. In the 2011-2012
nesting season, eight green turtle nests were recorded, while the next
season (2013-2014) had only four nests. However, Curieuse is no
ordinary island. We are constantly reminded that we still have a lot to
learn about the flora and fauna of the island.
From 2012-2014 we have seen green turtle activity on the beach in the
months of June, August, November, December and January. In the
2012-2013 season, the majority of green turtle activities were seen in
January, while the majority of activities for the 2013-2014 season were
in November. Unlike their Hawksbill cousins, the green turtles of
Seychelles prove to be quite difficult to predict.

Green turtle tracks on Grande Anse, Curieuse Island

GVI Charitable Trust

Ternay beach to Anse Souillac, while others sent the group down to
the very south of the island to Police Bay or required a dancing
rendition of the Thriller on another beach (on film). Not all tasks
were completed, but the following evening we all gathered at Anse
Royale for a meal and point tally along with a laugh at the various
videos and photos that had been accumulated during the day. A prize
for the individual who had raised the most and for the team with the
most points was a little bonus, but the real perk of the day had been
an excuse to hang out in a new group and celebrate raising over 300
for the President's Village.
The challenges continue to be a source of fun, a great opportunity for
team building and help us improve community awareness regarding

It has been another busy quarter for the GVI Seychelles Chritable Trust.
Our most recent Charitable Trust event took place in August, and again
was another play on a well-known game. The Curieuse Crystal Maze was
our very own version of the popular 90s British TV Show set across the
island. Teams competed with one another in various tasks (Mental,
Physical or Skill) at differing locations around the island with the aim to

the work of SSPCA and the Presidents Village Childrens Home. The
donations from family and friends of volunteers and staff, have been
amazing and we would like to thank you all for your continued
support. Please keep an eye out for our next Charitable Trust event
in a few months as we aim to continue supporting the great work of
our chosen organisations and fundraise even more than before!

complete the challenge and win Curieuse Crystals. Each Curieuse

Anyone wishing to make a donation towards either of these causes

Crystal would buy the team 5 seconds in The Curieuse Tent to collect

can do so at:

as many tokens as possible, ultimately leading us to an overall winner.

Some of the challenges included: Human/coconut pyramid, blindfolded
obstacle course, star-jumps while explaining our tortoise survey
methodology, and memory testing games. The three teams (Sharks, Birds

https://www.justgiving.com/presidents-village/
https://www.justgiving.com/help-animals-in-seychelles/

and Turtles) were all excellently dressed up/painted and the Curieuse

The GVI Charitable Trust was formed in 2005 to provide disaster

Tent finale was hilarious fun! In the end, the Bird team won (along with

relief to communities in Guatemala following the devastation caused

some great Luxury items), and again the whole team was able to

by Hurricane Stan. The Charitable Trust is a non-political, non-

fundraise over $1000 for the Seychelles Society for the Prevention of

religious charity that has grown to support projects in over 20

Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA).

countries.

Meanwhile at Cap Ternay, volunteers completed an Underwater

scavenger hunt. Hidden underwater were (ocean-friendly) clues for the
teams to find; some buddy teams planned routes based on their knowledge
and familiarity of our home reefs while others plunged in with fingers
crossed and eyes wide open. All teams came up victorious, though of
course some more than others! Each clue provided the team with a task
valued between 10 and 100 points, giving them another day and a half to
pull together to complete the challenge and make it to the finish line by
5:00 pm on Thursday. BBQ night was entertaining for all as an ode to the
Coco de Mer was prepared (we never got the full presentation!) while
another team geared up in palm-leaf costumes for 50 points each. Tasks
then ranged from a handstand on L'Islette to a marathon snorkel from Cap

The Cap Ternay volunteers following their scavenger hunt.

Gymnodoris ceylonica
Seasonal Variation in Population Numbers

During the period from July to December both mating and feeding
behavior in G.ceylonica can be commonly observed. While an abundance
of food can cause species to grow quickly leading to a population
explosion, the presence of a significant number of adult Dorids in a
relatively small area can subsequently lead to a mating aggregation.
The absence of G.ceylonica outside of the seagrass beds in Baie Ternay
indicates that planktonic larvae of this species may have settled directly
onto the seagrass rather than migrating from deeper locations.
It is interesting to note that Gymnodoris citrina was also observed each year
at the same time as G.ceylonica, although in much lower densities.
G.citrina is known to feed on opisthobranch eggs including those of
G.ceylonica.
The sudden mass aggregation of G.ceylonica, the trophic ecology of

Found throughout the Indopacific, Gymnodoris ceylonica is known to

S.longicauda and their relationships with physical parameters such as sea

undergo population explosions, forming mass mating aggregations within

water temperature remain poorly understood, and further studies of the

localized areas. In Seychelles, for six months of the year large numbers of

life history of G.ceylonica are required to better understand the

G. ceylonica can be found within the shallow seagrass beds of the Baie

relationships and processes at work.

Ternay Marine National Park, on the northwestern coast of Mah Island.

Population numbers peak in the months of August and September and
coincide with a seasonal drop in sea temperature.
Baie Ternay located on the northwestern coast of Mah Island in the
Seychelles, covers 25 hectares, comprising of beaches, rocky shoreline,
sand-flats, seagrass beds, and coral reef. The area of Thalassia hemprichii in
the centre of the bay experiences seasonal population explosions of the
dorid nudibranch, G.ceylonica, entirely absent at other times of the year.
The precise reason for the appearance and subsequent disappearance of
G.ceylonica at particular times of the year is currently unknown. G.ceylonica
first appears in July when sea temperatures drop to below 27C, and then
disappears in December when sea temperatures rise again. Within
Seychelles, the months of July and August experience the coldest water
temperatures, usually around 26C, and this coincides with the greatest
number of G.ceylonica observations.
Each year, immediately prior to the appearance of G.ceylonica, numerous
egg strings of the sea hare Stylocheilus longicauda become visible on the
blades of T. hemprichii. As Stylocheilus longicauda is a preferred food source
of G.ceylonica, it is possible that triggered by the drop in temperature,
prey-induced settlement is a causative agent of the mass aggregation.

A pair of G.ceylonica mating (top). Gymnodoris citrina feeding on

the egg string of G.ceylonica (above).

GVI SEYCHELLES

National scholarship
programme

September 2014, ISSUE 4

instructors, Ms Olivia Moudy. The diving certification will be useful in

my line of work as fisheries technician. Participating in the surveys has

This quarter we were pleased to have received two candidates as part of

given me first hand field experience, and the many lectures organized by

the GVI National Scholarship Programme. Sheril De Commarmand and

GVI has been enlightening, emphasizing on the need for conservation and

Andrew Souffre.

how it is essential to have updated baseline data.

Sheril De Commarmand completed a course in Fisheries Science and

Technology at the Maritime Training Centre before joining the Seychelles
Islands Foundation (SIF) as a trainee ranger on Aldabra in 2013. Sheril
joined the GVI Seychelles Marine Expedition to brush up on her diving and
improve her fish monitoring skills before returning to Aldabra. She leaves
us having gained her PADI Advanced Open Water and Coral Reef
Research Diver certifications, alongside her Emergency First Responder
qualification.
Andrew Souffre is currently studying Environmental Science at the
University of Seychelles. Andrew joined us as part of UniSeys work based
experience scheme and here he provides us with a brief overview of his
time spent at Cap Ternay.

I will be forever grateful to the GVI staff for the wonderful experience, a
once in a lifetime experience, and to this note I would urge other
Seychellois of different walks of life to join the programme as scholars.
We need our oceans and reefs. I came to realize that as an island nation,
our survival depends partly if not entirely on the sustainability of our
oceans and reefs.
The National Scholarship Programme is free to any Seychellois aged 18
years or over with a background/interest in marine or terrestrial
conservation and enables individuals to gain valuable practical experience
in marine/terrestrial research monitoring techniques. Chosen candidates
join a team of international staff and volunteers on either our marine or
terrestrial expedition and participate in the day to day running of the base
while learning about conservation here in Seychelles.
GVI runs NSP programmes in over 20 countries worldwide to enable
and fund local nationals to participate in our programmes and receive all
relevant training. When receiving applications for NSP programmes we
are looking for candidates who can demonstrate a real interest in the
relevant training opportunities of the programme and those that can
explain how this opportunity will enrich their current interests and
future pursuits. As an organization we hope to be able to use our
resources to enrich local capacities and provide unique opportunities for
local youths.

As one of GVI Seychelles national scholars I felt privileged to have had the

GVI Seychelles scholarships include:

chance to undergo training and become involved in the research that GVI
conducts. The National Scholarship Programme has given me the
opportunity to make my lifes long dream come true.
I am currently studying Environmental Science at the University of
Seychelles and joined the GVI Cap Ternay expeditions as part of my
undergraduate degree Work Based Experience scheme. I am proud to say
that I am now a certified PADI Advanced Open Water diver and Coral
Reef research speciality certified diver.

4 weeks on project site (minimum)

Food and shared accommodation while on project base
PADI Advanced Open Water training and certification
(marine only)
PADI Coral Reef Research Diver Speciality Certification
(marine only)
Species identification and survey methodology training
Emergency First Responder Training
Personal Mentor

To apply for GVI Seychelles Marine Conservation or Island

Conservation Scholarship please send a CV, a statement of interest and a

I have been trained by one of the most skillful and passionate dive

reference to seychelles@gviworld.com

Seychelles sea turtle

festival

For the younger kids (and some of the not so young), the GVI Face
painting stand was a huge hit.
Highlights of the day included the kite flying competition, with some
amazing turtle shaped kites taking to the sky above the beach, and the
sandcastle competition, which produced some incredible sculptures
despite the best efforts of the advancing tide.
For the GVI staff and volunteers it was an opportunity to meet
members of other organisations working in turtle conservation, and to
receive a better understanding of the different types of research that are
taking place within Seychelles.
It was fantastic to see the event so well backed by the conservation
community. For the first time, virtually every local organization with an
interest in turtle conservation had come together to support a common

GVI Seychelles and SNPA teamed up for this years Seychelles Sea

cause. The public reaction was amazing, particularly from the younger

Turtle Festival, which was once again held in Beau Vallon along the

generation, and provides hope for the future of Seychelles sea turtle

Golden Mile.

population.

Now in its second year, the Seychelles Sea Turtle Festival looks to

GVI Seychelles is already looking forward to next years event!

celebrate the Seychelles marine turtle population and promote

awareness of issues surrounding turtle conservation. The Ministry of
Environment and Energy, and the Ministry of Education once again
supported the event, which could not have taken place without the
generous backing of the Environment Trust Fund.
On August 9th GVI Seychelles was joined by numerous other
organisations and government departments for the Family Fun Day. It
was an opportunity to promote the turtle research GVI and SNPA are
undertaking and to sensitise the public on turtle related issues.
The GVI/SNPA stand contained information on our hawksbill nesting
monitoring progrmame, as well as information on the in-water turtle
behavioural studies. GVI staff and volunteers set up a snorkel stand to

GVI Seychelles staff receiving some body art at the

Family Fun Day in Beau Vallon.

take willing participants out into Beau Vallon bay to search for turtles
and other marine life.

Follow GVI Seychelles

Website - www.gvi.co.uk

Charitable Trust website - www.gvi.org

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GVISeychellesMaheCurieuse

Twitter - https://twitter.com/GVISeychelles

Instagram - #GVITRAVEL