Young oceanographers join crew of
ambitious ASCLME research cruise

Two young South African oceanographers are taking part in one of the most ambitious research voyages ever undertaken off the east coast of Africa. They are taking part in the first of four continuous research cruises being carried out in 2008 by the Norwegian research vessel, Dr Fridtjof Nansen, on behalf of the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) project (www.asclme.org).

The Dr Fridtjof Nansen, one of the world’s most sophisticated scientific research vessels, sailed from Cape Town on Thursday 14 August. Her 118-day voyage includes a detailed survey of the marine and coastal environment of Madagascar, Mauritius, the Mozambique Channel and a remote ocean region known as the Mascarene Plateau.

The voyage, which will cover some of the least studied ocean regions in the world, will be the first of a series organised by the ASCLME project which is funded by the Global Environment Facility, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

The oceanographers, Tendani Mariba and Sobahle Somhlaba, are employees of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s Marine and Coastal Management branch. They are part of a team of African and European oceanographers who will deploy a range of oceanographic equipment from the Dr Fridtjof Nansen to gather as much information about this little-known area as possible. This information will lay the groundwork for the region’s countries to develop a strategy for collectively managing the resources on which their people and economies depend.

‘This is fundamental, pioneering research in an area of the world that is still uncharted territory in oceanographic terms,’ says Dr David Vousden, Director of the ASCLME project.

‘It is vital for the countries of the region to understand more about these waters. You can’t manage a marine ecosystem unless you have a basic idea of what the currents are doing and the effects they have on marine life.’

Over the next five years, the ASCLME project will coordinate the efforts of Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa and Tanzania, helping them to compile a comprehensive scientific analysis of regional transboundary environmental problems. This analysis, termed a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) will be used as a starting point for the countries to set out a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) or roadmap for tackling these problems

‘This research voyage and those that will follow in 2009 and 2010 are integral to achieving the aims of the ASCLME project,’ says Dr Vousden.

Mariba and Somhlaba, who are both graduates of South African universities, have received intensive training, funded by the ASCLME project and facilitated by the University of Cape Town, to familiarise them with the equipment on the Dr Fridtjof Nansen and enable them to participate fully in the voyage.

Tendani Mariba, an oceanographic technician employed by the
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s Marine and
Coastal Management branch; Svein-Roger Fredheim, captain of
the Norwegian research vessel, Dr Fridtjof Nansen; and Sobahle
Somhlaba, a research scientist in MCM’s stock assessment
division are pictured on the Dr Fridtjof Nansen.