4. März: MBC-Projekt - Aufräumen unter und über Wasser

Heute hat das RSEC-Team, begleitet von einigen Freiwilligen im Gebiet des Masbat Bay (Bannerfish und Mashraba) eine Unterwasseraufräumaktion durchgeführt. Das empfindliche Ökosystem ist ständiger Belastung verschiedenster anthropogen bedingter Ursachen ausgesetzt, nicht nur die empfindlichen Korallenarten leiden darunter, die Seegraswiesen weisen enormen Algenbefall auf, einige Indikatoren sind seltener anzutreffen und größere Meerestiere wie Haie oder Schildkröten sind gar zur Rarität geworden.
Zur illegalen Netzfischerei und maroden Abwässersystemen kommt die zunehmende Umweltverschmutzung durch fahrlässig entsorgten Müll sowohl Einheimischer als auch Touristen. Das fehlende Bewusstsein für das Ökosystem stellt ein großes Problem in der lokalen Bevölkerung dar – so werden alte Fischernetze, Teppiche, Zigarettenstummel und jegliche Arten von Plastikabfall einfach im Meer entsorgt.
Die Folgen sind ersichtlich – Fische halten die teilweise giftigen Abfälle für Nahrung, wobei die Toxine in der Nahrungskette erhalten bleiben, alte Netze können zum Tod von den Meeresbewohnern führen und den Korallen wird das überlebensnotwendige Sonnenlicht durch Müllreste abgeschirmt.
Für diesen Tauchgang haben wir uns in Buddy-Teams aufgeteilt und jeweils Reissäcke gestellt bekommen, Scheren wurden ebenfalls mitgeführt um eventuell gesichtete Netze mit minimalem Schaden von den Korallen entfernen zu können.
Während des etwa 50-minütigen Tauchgangs, als wir uns von Bannerfish Bay nach Mashraba und zurück durchgearbeitet haben, fanden wir jede Menge Plastikflaschen und Glasflaschen, Dosen, Zigarettenverpackungen und unendlich viele Zigarettenstummel, sogar alte Teppiche und Kissen, die jedoch zu groß zum Mitnehmen waren, wurden gesichtet.
Alles in allem hat jeder Teilnehmer ein ordentliches Volumen zurückbringen können, viel mehr als man bei einem normalen Tauchgang unbewusst mitbekommen hätte, entsprechend war es schlussendlich ein gutes Gefühl, etwas getan zu haben für einen Ort, der auch in Zukunft seine Schönheit bewahren sollte.

Two weeks ago we started with the Masbat Bay Conservation Project. We arrived here by taxi in the new RSEC-headquarters-camp! Everything is nearly brand new. In the court we relax in the evening and we feel very cozy. During the first days ...we had some presentations about the method and aims of this project. And of course we had to learn all the fish indicators and different kinds of substrate. During several dives we had the possibility to practice a lot and even if we had some problems with our transect-line we managed some test-transects. Few days ago we had to demonstrate our ability to distinguish the different fish species and kinds of substrate. We are quite sure that we all passed the tests and hope that we can start with our surveys soon.
During the last dives we had a closer look at the algae and seagrass in the Bay. We took some photographs of different kinds of algae and seagrass so that we were able to determine them later in the office. The most common seagrass here in Masbat Bay is Halophila stipulacea and in-between we found some Thalassodendron ciliatum and Halophila decipiens.
Yesterday we started with the fish and substrate surveys. After some primarily problems we now manage to do three transects in one dive. And with some extra time and a closer look in every corner we also found some ghost pipehorses, double-ended pipefishes and two very good camouflaged little dragonfishes. (The devil is in detail!)
The Masbat Bay includes a large number of different habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass areas and sand/rubble areas. These areas are very important habitats for manifold life forms. Seagrass stabilize the sediments so that the local erosion in the bay is relatively stable and also leads to a rich infaunal community. The large seagrass areas establish a habitat which is completely different in ecological conditions compared to sandy soils. In the seagrass you can find a lot of biomass resulting from the habitat and hiding-places for many juvenile fishes. Special and not so common fishes are living in the Masbat Bay seagrass areas like the Jayakar’s seahorse, Hairy pygmy pipehorse, Robust ghost pipefish and the Tailspot goby. Furthermore seagrass meadows are among the most productive ecosystems of the oceans. The aim of monitoring the seagrass is to find possible (seasonal) changes in seagrass abundance and species composition.
Similar to the seagrass survey we analyze the long term and seasonal changes of the algae accretion. An increase in algae abundance may be an indicator of eutrophication caused by nutrient input or an indirect indicator for absence of herbivorous fish, which might be affected by overfishing in the local area.
Other threats are altering of coastline like building in the tidal zone, diving and snorkeling tourism. Therefore a long term study is necessary to assess the changes in habitats and marine life.

Masbat Bay Conservation Projekt - März 2010
Die Masbat Bay ist nicht nur für den Tourismus von Dahab von großer Bedeutung, sondern auch für die vielfältigen darin lebenden marinen Organismen. Das Ziel des in diesem Jahr erstmalig stattfinden Projektes ist eine genaue Bestandsaufnahme der Flora und Fauna in der Bucht. Die dabei gewonnen Daten sollen zu der Entwicklung eines Managementplans beitragen,  der dem Erhalt des marinen Ökosystems in der Bucht verhelfen soll. Die in den nächsten vier Wochen gesammelten Daten zielen vor allem auf eine Kartierung der Habitate und eine Überprüfung der Fischbestände in Bezug auf die von der Fischerei bedrohten Arten. Außerdem soll eine permanente Untersuchung der Seegrashabitate etabliert werden und das ein oder andere Unterwasser- und Beach-Cleanup gestartet werden.
Natürlich wären all unsere Vorhaben nicht ohne die  Hilfe von unserem engagierten RSEC-Team (Nina, Chris und Vicky) möglich, das uns in zahlreichen Präsentationen und praktischen Übungen am Riff, im Seegras und im feinen Sand des Roten Meeres alles für unsere Arbeit notwendige Wissen vermittelt hat. Nach einer Woche (relativ) harter Arbeit sind wir sogar in der Lage eine Kalkrotalge vom steinigen Substrat zu unterscheiden, und selbst bei geringster Sicht und starkem Wellengang ein Maßband im rechten Winkel zur Küste auszulegen!
Um die erforderlichen Daten zu sammeln wird für die Substratanalyse die Line Intercept Transect (LIT) Methode verwendet, bei der ein Maßband im rechten Winkel zur Küste gelegt und das Substrat, das sich genau darunter befindet, aufgenommen wird.  Die Erhebung der Fischbestände läuft im Gegensatz dazu auf einer rein visuellen Methode ab, bei der in verschiedenen Tiefen jeweils ein fünfzig Meter langes Maßband parallel zur Küste ausgelegt wird und die Indikatorarten entlang dieser Strecke gezählt werden. Um die Seegrasbetten zu untersuchen, werden wir in den nächsten Wochen einige Quadrate auf einer permanenten Basis in der Bucht auslegen, so dass diese dann im Laufe der nächsten Jahre immer wieder überprüft werden können.
Trotz der fantastischen Arbeit in Dahab, schadet es nicht seinen Horizont ab und zu ein wenig zu erweitern, weswegen wir letzte Woche einen ereignisreichen Tagestrip nach Nabq unternommen haben – einen wunderbaren Schnorchelgang in den Mangroven mit eingeschlossen. Und sonst, selbst nach der Arbeit gibt es genug Beschäftigung in Dahab, von einfachem Entspannen in einem der am Meer gelegenen Restaurants, bis hin zum Austoben beim Schnorcheln und Free-Diving - direkt vor der Haustür. Diese Kombination aus Arbeit und Vergnügen lässt sich einfach nicht in Worte fassen –  trotzdem, alles in allem: es macht einfach verdammt Spaß!

Trip to Nabq protectorate on 10.3.2010 with Volunteers of this project

Normally our primary work takes place at Masbat Bay, right in front of beautiful Dahab, but after a week or so we were also eager to explore some of the surrounding area. Organized by Chris and Nina, our daytrip to Nabq, a protected reserve located a mere hour’s drive to the south of Dahab, provided a great opportunity to see some more of the countryside and exceeded every expectation we might have had that day.

After putting together our snorkeling gear, our first stop on the drive through the desert was at a small patch of trees that have been known to harbor venomous snakes and stinging scorpions. Even after turning over every rock in the area, (un)fortunately none of them could be discovered. However, just before leaving we were rewarded for our patience by the sight of a beautifully colored lizard that stayed put on a rocks and posed professionally for our cameras.

Our next stop were the dunes in which nothing too alive could be found, but due to the recent rain we spotted the tracks of a desert fox on some dried-up sand tiles and admired the plants that are able to grow in such a harsh environment. Since the prevailing winds come from the north, plants such as Limonium axilare and Nitraria retusa consistently get covered with sand on their northern side and therefore - instead of growing in height - extend their branches just above the ground towards the south. Sand is accumulated on the opposite side and therefore most of the small dunes only exist, because those amazing plants are able to deal with the high salinity and little fresh water supply.

Escaping from high noon heat, the visitor centre proved to be a good retreat and – even though it offered little insight into the protected area which we hadn’t been briefed on already – gave us some interesting information about the desert’s inhabitants. Did you know that there are still hyenas living in Sinai, and that the last leopard spot in the area was more than fifty years ago, effectively making it an extinct species? Well, we certainly didn`t.

At this point it wouldn’t hurt to give you a little overview of where we actually are, geographically speaking. Having stopped in the desert for the lizard, we had moved on towards the coast and into the dunes, with the visitor centre close to the sea and right in front a shipwreck which astonishes with its rusty magnificence and is surrounded by pristine blue water, providing the occasional diver with a not-too-crowded and attractive dive site. However, getting there would have meant walking over the reef flat, and that of course is not an option, so we drove north to our final stop for the day – an area along the coast that features one of the northernmost stands of mangroves, consisting exclusively of Avicenna marina. Mangroves on the Red Sea grow under extreme conditions of high salinity and low winter temperatures. Some of the mangroves around Nabq have adapted to this harsh environment by becoming completely terrestrial , now forming part of the coastal marsh and dune vegetation, having lost their aerial roots altogether. However, since we had taken our snorkel gear, the land based trees were not of the greatest interest – after all, mangroves form an important and sensitive ecosystem, providing an ideal environment for young fish and invertebrates.

To explore those shallow water nurseries we set up our last camp at a beautiful beach hut that provided us with a shady palm leaf roof and a couple of chilled-out hammocks, all looked after by a very forthcoming Bedouin, who also made us some great food for after the snorkel session. And then we went into the water – usually one might think of being in the mangroves as a very muddy affair, but that was far from the truth. Swimming around two mangrove stands proved to be an exciting and entertaining lesson – so much life! After exploring a forest of upside-down jellyfish in various colors (including a very confused upside-down upside-down individual) , most of them sitting on the ground supplying their zooxanthellae with the much needed sunlight, we quickly found several gobies and their little shrimp fellows, living in a mutually beneficial relationship. The shrimp maintains a burrow in the sand in which both the shrimp and the goby live. The shrimp has poor eyesight compared to the goby, but if it sees or feels the goby suddenly swim into the burrow, it will follow. The goby and shrimp keep in contact with each other, the shrimp using its antennae, and the goby flicking the shrimp with its tail when alarmed. Each party gains from this relationship: the shrimp gets a warning of approaching danger, and the goby gets a safe home and a place to lay its eggs in. And then things just went crazy – batfish, boxfish, hermit crabs, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, juvenile fish of countless species, moray eels… even a Hexbranchus sanguinis, a Spanish Dancer, completely exhausted from just laying a pile off eggs and resting under a massive sea urchin. We must have stayed in the water for over two hours, appreciating all these stunning marine organisms, but all too soon it was time to go. After having some food, we chilled out and admired the blue waters, the desert and the high mountains from our shady palm hut refuge– a magnificent sight that cannot ever be caught on camera and much less put into words.

As already mentioned, this trip exceeded all our expectations and we did not only enjoy the extraordinary nature, but also learned a great deal about it – not from a textbook or a presentation, but through an experience we will remember for a long time. If you ever have the opportunity to visit and explore Nabq, by all means – do it!

by Eike Steinig

Masbat Bay Conservation - Clean Ups after the storm & wadi flood this year

Coral reefs and seagrass beds are fragile ecosystems. Their delicate balance can easily be destroyed, particularly through anthropogenic influences – including rubbish and all sorts of things that just don’t belong in the water. Plastic is found everywhere – unfortunately it takes a small eternity to disintegrate. The plastic constricts animals’ movements or kills through starvation, exhaustion, or infection from deep wounds caused by the tightening material. The animals may starve to death, because the plastic clogs their intestines thereby preventing them from obtaining vital nutrients. When plastic film and other debris settle on the bottom, it can suffocate immobile plants and animals. In areas with some currents, such as coral reefs, debris can wrap around living coral, smothering the animals and breaking up their coralline structures. The impact on the ecosystem is terrifying, and this is only a one part of what can be found down there. Moreover, who would like to dive through a sea of trash and rubbish?  Imagine coming to your favorite chill-out spot and everything is covered in filthy garbage – well, that’s what it is like in some places of the bay, especially on the sea grass beds close to the main promenade.
As part of the Masbat Bay Conservation Project, we try to organize a clean-up every Friday. This time we collected four rice-bags of garbage ranging from cables, pipes, carpets and innumerable pieces of plastic to cigarette butts, plastic bags, empty cans and even a sunshade umbrella, which we couldn’t take up due to its size - in only forty five minutes! Also, extensive coral damage and breakage was observed. In many places, rubbish got entangled in the corals, reducing the amount of sunlight for their symbiotic algae, causing the death of the coral and other related organisms.
We would like to encourage all dive centers in and around Dahab to support our efforts by organizing their own clean-ups and initiate other measures to keep Masbat Bay as clean as possible – not only for its reputation as a unique dive site, but also to minimize our destructive impact on its sensitive environment!