Your Essential Guide to the Shores and Marinas of Fiji
By Alison Newell, Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development, USP
Oceania, 10 million people and 25,000 islands scattered across 3 million square miles of the Pacific, the world’s largest ocean, is arguably the region most dependent on sea transport in the world.
Modern living generates garbage. An ever increasing amount of it. Finding a way to manage all this waste is a huge challenge, especially for an island nation like Fiji. Our ancestors here were acutely in tune with the natural environment, fashioning tools, crockery, and even carrier bags and tin foil of sorts from nature before the invention of modern day conveniences. Join a fun family picnic to the beach in the outer islands and you will likely see perfect examples of these for yourself.
Global Vision International (GVI) has been working with the ‘Daughters of Charity’ who have been sharing the success of their initiative in Indonesia with us here in Fiji. The ‘Daughters of Charity’ have developed some impressive ‘up-cycling’ programs to generate income from recycled products.More info here…
Throughout the months of April and November every year, you have the opportunity to help celebrate and record Fiji’s amazing coral reef biodiversity, show you care about our world’s delicate coral reef systems, and have fun, by taking part in the FIJI-WIDE SHARK COUNT!More info here…
Whale strandings are a phenomenon that occur throughout the world for a variety of debated reasons.
Here in Fiji we have a trained response team that you can call should you happen upon a whale stranding while cruising our waters.More info here…
We have 15 species of cetaceans frequenting our waters (see table here). The most culturally significant of these species is the sperm whale. As in other South Pacific island cultures, Fiji places immense spiritual value on an object that although today has little ‘market’ value, was once used as currency; that is the tooth of a sperm whale – known as ‘Tabua’.More info here…
If you are of an environmentally conscious mind and consider yourself a bit of an ‘Eco-warrior’, it is likely that you are on the lookout for something to get involved with and support to give our beautiful planet a helping hand.
Here in Fiji there are some great national projects you can choose to participate in as you cruise our waters.
Until a bird was captured in 1984, the Fiji Petrel (Pseudobulweria macgillivrayii), a Critically Endangered sea bird was previously thought extinct and known only from a single museum specimen collected in 1855.
It is believed that fewer than 50 pairs survive today, breeding in 52 km2 of rugged forest on the island of Gau in Lomaiviti.More info here…
The Pacific Islands region is important for a great number of cetaceans (whales and dolphins), whether as a permanent habitat, a breeding ground or a migration corridor. Currently, more than thirty species of whales and dolphins have been identified in this area, and in Fiji alone we have 15 confirmed species of whales and dolphins.
Dr Cara Miller and her team are working on establishing a long-term dataset for monitoring trends in humpback whale migration through Fijian waters. Documenting the migration patterns of Endangered Oceania humpback whales is an important component to understanding the recovery, trend and status of this species within our waters.