I just came back from Puerto Lopez, a town located near the Machalilla National Park in Manabi – Ecuador. I went there to meet my friend Mark Harding. At this time, Mark is there coordinating Project Elasmo.
Mark, along with other contributors, has managed to put together a scouting research project since 2009 to get some information on the population of Giant Manta ray (Manta birostris) around Isla de la Plata. Many of the divers who get to the area between June and September have seen this amazing animals but no formal research leaded by prominent scientists has been performed before Project Elasmo. Interactions like the following amateur video are common.
Filmed by: Lawrence Hegarty (Project Elasmo Volunteer)
Project Elasmo managed to involve Dr. Andrea Marshall, one of the few world experts in Mantas. Andrea directs a world-leading manta ray research program in Mozambique and she is one of the founders of the Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna (FPMM).
Photo: University of Queensland
Andrea was also the senior author on the first worldwide conservation assessment for manta rays for the IUCN and continues to contribute to conservation efforts worldwide. Her current projects include topics ranging from systematics, phylogeography, population genetics, habitat use and migratory movements. Her recent discovery of a new giant species of manta ray in 2008 was one of the largest new species to have been described by any scientist in the last 50 years.
Things are looking promising: a Ministry Agreement to regulate the fisheries of Mantas in Ecuador was issued in late August this year and now real scientific data is coming out from Dr. Andrea Marshall and Project Elasmo’s data.
There is still a “life time work” in the area but it is always refreshing to know that science is being made for conservation. Initiatives such as Project Elasmo give me hope and people like Andrea and Mark are faith boosters for me. As an ocean lover I would like to say: thank you for that. In the few days spent there I learned a lot, thank you for that as well.
Project Elasmo is sponsored by the Save Our Seas Foundation. Diving support is being provided by Exploramar Diving. Marine biologists Michel Guerrero and Juan Manuel Alava have provided logistical support. The project is being human powered by a group of more than 10 volunteers from different nationalities and with different backgrounds.
Volunteer Team
Please get involved! You can find out more about Project Elasmo in Mark’s Blog. Hi has published a very complete and personal report. News on Andrea’s work are being updated in the Save Our Seas Foundation site. Here are a few useful links for you to do that:
Save Our Seas Foundation facebook fan page
Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna facebook fan page
Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna facebook fan page
A one page report entitled Una planeadora en mares ecuatorianos was published in Diario el Universo of Ecuador (Newspaper) last Sunday if you prefer to read about this in spanish.
Jorge A. Mahauad
