Marine Conservation Volunteer

Work with marine biologists and contribute to the development of new legislation to conserve and protect the diminishing marine wildlife off the coast of Mauritius.  

Assist the research team of a local NGO in Mauritius.

In the fringing reefs and coast off the stunning island of Mauritius, tourism is flourishing.  And it’s not surprising, Mauritius is home to an infinite wealth of sea treasure which woos hordes of tourists who are bewitched by it’s enormity and magical beauty.   The sad news is that due to this increasing level of human intrusion, resident spinner and bottlenose dolphins are demonstrating serious distress behaviour signals and their populations are in decline.  There are up to 50 tourist boats around one pod of dolphins at any one time, and with legislation and monitoring lacking, there is an urgent need to monitor the impact on the island’s cetacean populations. 

This is a fantastic research opportunity for anyone with a passion for marine conservation, or wanting to pursue a career in this field. 

You will be trained in cetacean research techniques and methodology, assisting with the research which involves taking photographs of dolphin and whale sightings to provide fin profiles for identification, population estimates and distribution studies.   

Current projects also include surveys of tourists and local operators to gain a better understanding of the economic value of this activity.   

As important, you will help educate the local children and general public raising awareness of marine mammals, the habitat they live in and the work of the project.   

Your duties will include:

• Photographing individual dolphins and whales (seasonal) for identification
• Tracking pod movements and mapping habitat use
• Population estimates
• Data analysis of information gained from boat-study
• Cataloguing individual animals.
• Speaking to local tourists and boat operators as part of survey research on the dolphin watching industry
• Research boat checks and equipment maintenance
• Beach or lagoon clean ups
• Office-based duties including data analysis, record keeping and administration.
• Preparing educational activities for schools

CONSERVATION VALUE

This project has amazing conservation value - the findings of the research team are so desperately needed they are being almost directly translated into new legislation to protect the dolphin populations and prevent their numbers from declining any further. The project rely solely on volunteers for funding and as research continues, require volunteers for Nov-Dec 2010 and throughout 2011.

For more information about the research please visit Mauritius Marine Conservation Project.

To apply as a marine volunteer, please apply here.