One women making a difference is Andrea Marshall.
I came across Andrea one rainy afternoon while watching the Discovery channel when on came her documentary ‘Manta Queen’ (I can’t recommend highly enough!!). Watching her interact with these magnificent creatures, it was like watching an underwater ballet and the passion she has for them is utterly inspiring.
Andrea took the step to learn to dive at the age of 12, and then began a lifelong love affair with the ocean and its inhabitants. In 2003 Andrea moved to Mozambique and in 2008 became the first person to complete their thesis on Manta Rays having discover a new species of Giant Manta, one of the largest described by scientists in the last 50 years.
Having made Mozambique her home for the past 5 year she decided to stay on in Africa to try and make a difference. During her diving career Andrea has logged over 1000 dives along the Mozambique coastline discovering new reefs and documenting rare and endangered species through this she can identify majority of the 950 different Manta Rays in her Mozambique database! This brought her to design what may be her legacy, a new automated online database for Manta Rays which gives researches the ability to share photos and findings globally. Through this she hopes to inspire divers worldwide to share their photos and sightings.
Andrea is one of the founding members of MegaFauna Foundation (Originally MegaFauna Association) and as their chief scientist she now travels the world researching Manta Rays and their habitats and fighting for their protection. In the past three years she has traveled to over a dozen countries with her ‘Ray of Hope’ research expedition, her mission to satellite tag as many Manta as possible and share her findings on the online database. Educating scientists, dive centers and the public about the threats facing Manta Rays though fishing is very important to Andrea, her research and global lobbying governments have created marine reserves and made legislation to protect this incredible species. In 2013 her efforts helped make history with the inclusion of Manta Rays in CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna).
For more information on Andrea check out the Queen of Mantas Website: Life in the Blue and her profile on The Marine MegaFauna Website
If you feel inspired to make a difference and start a career in diving, get in touch with us at Dive HQ Christchurch today, and ask for a free info pack detailing our career courses in diving.
Dive HQ Christchurch
0800 DIVEHQ
By Sarah Prier
July 17th 2015