Join the Count!

Easy to do, this is suitable for visitors and locals alike, whether you like to fish, snorkel, or SCUBA dive.

We’re passionate about keeping our shark population healthy, cruising the reef, hanging tough, playing cool. Which is why it’s important we learn as much as we can about these magnificent creatures.

Over millennia these prehistoric vertebrates have survived everything the universe has thrown at them…that is until humans came along. Hunted for their fins and caught up in fishing nets, unfortunately their numbers world-wide are dwindling!

Photo: Brigitte Dewhirst

By having many eyes on many reefs, we can collect data from hundreds of observers around Fiji to paint a clear picture of which sharks live where, and get an idea of shark, ray and turtle numbers within our waters.

We hope that tourists, school children, scientists and all people with an interest in the marine environment will take to the reefs with us to search for the Sharks of Fiji!

“People flock to Fiji for this event and we’re pretty excited by the response we’re getting”, said Ms Nani Ledua of Pacific Harbours Beqa Adventure Divers.

Here in Fiji there are some great national projects you can choose to participate in as you cruise our waters.

The first is the national Whale & Dolphin Sightings Database. The second is the endemic seabird, the Fiji Petrel Sightings Database. The third is The Great Fiji Shark Count and the fourth is the Sea Turtle Nesting Beach Database.

If you are keen to get involved with either project, you will find downloadable pdf sightings forms here:

Fiji Whale Sightings Form

Fiji Sea Petrel Sightings Form

Sea Turtle Nesting Beach Form

The Great Fiji Shark Count Form

Read through the feature articles and sighting forms carefully so you know what information to take note of when you encounter these creatures.

You can email your completed forms directly to the contact person listed on the form, or send back to the team here at Fiji Marinas and we will make sure your contributions are submitted to the correct people.

This very important information will help Fiji gather valuable data on some of our resident and migratory endangered species and your contribution will be significant in helping us achieve our goal of bringing these magnificent animals back from the brink of extinction!

Join in some of these Citizen Science Projects!

It is believed that fewer than 50 pairs survive today, breeding in 52 km2 of rugged forest on the island of Gau in Lomaiviti.

Fiji Petrel at sea, 20 nm south of Gau, May 2009. Photo: Tubenoses Project © Hadoram Shirihai/NFMV

The Critically Endangered Fiji Petrel

Nesting grounds for these birds have yet to be located; and as land-based threats through predation from introduced (think BioSecurity!) cats, rats and feral pigs increase, action to locate the nests and respond to such threats has become more urgent.

NatureFiji-MareqetiViti is Fiji’s only domestic NGO working solely for the conservation and sustainable management of Fiji’s unique natural heritage. Recognizing the key role to be played by Fiji’s indigenous landowners, NatureFiji-MareqetiViti promotes a greater understanding and awareness of Fiji’s endemic wildlife such as the Fiji Petrel.

As such, working closely with the landowners of Gau Island and using New Zealand trained Petrel Search Dogs and acoustic attraction methods; the team is trying to locate nesting burrows with the hope of initiating a conversion to nest boxes.

© Hadoram Shirihai/NFMV

33 species of ”tubenoses” (petrels, shearwaters etc) have been recorded in Fiji waters, of which four nest. Two of these: the Collared petrel (Pterodoma brevipes; Handling Birdlife Vulnerable), and the Fiji petrel (Pseudobulweria macgillivrayii; Critically Endangered) are found on the island of Gau.

The ultimate goal of NatureFijiMareqetiViti is to establish a safe nesting colony by translocating Fiji petrel nestlings to fledge in the safety of artificial nest boxes, after which time, the juveniles will leave, but return to the safe nesting colony to establish a protected Fiji petrel colony.

In 2009 the Fiji petrel was photographed at sea for the first time by Hadoram Shirihai, but there have been 20 recorded landings of Fiji petrels – attracted at night to village lights. NatureFiji-MareqetiViti need as much information as we can collectively gather, whether on land or at sea.

This is where YOU come in.

While sailing around the islands of Fiji, particularly around Gau and the Koro Sea please keep your eyes open for any Fiji petrels and record your sighting on the Fiji Petrel Encounters Form (pdf 1.9MB)

When you reach shore, if you can detach and mail the sightings form to the address provided and NatureFijiMareqetiViti can hopefully begin painting a clearer picture of our Fiji petrels and initiate measures to bring them back from the edge of extinction.

NatureFiji-MareqetiViti is the Species Guardian for the Fiji Petrel which is a priority species of BirdLife International’s Preventing Extinctions Programme.

For more information, see NatureFiji-MareqetiViti and Birdlife International ,  or contact Dick Watling at watl…@naturefiji.org

How to handle a seabird

How to release a seabird

A Guide to the Birds of Fiji

If you’d like to know more about the Sea and Shore Birds that you are in some instances likely, while in others extremely lucky to see while cruising Fiji, we highly recommend ordering a copy of the Pocket Poster Guide To the Birds of Fiji 2 Sea and Shore Birds’ from the Nature-Fiji website. With a tough laminated cover, the guide is cleverly designed and folded to be read as a pocket-sized book or opened out to an informative poster.

Every breeding bird and regular migrant (including the Fiji Petrel) is illustrated in full colour, and each bird has a paragraph of text with identification and size information.

Humpback whales are seen migrating through our waters, as they travel to Tonga to breed and calve after feeding in Antarctica. There are large groups of pilot whales that inhabit our waters, and false killer whales that seem to come through annually singing loudly as they do!

Of course we also have the odd individual that you may encounter, minkes and sperm whales being the most common.

L. Molleson/WDC images | Learn more about cetaceans here 

Cetaceans may be disturbed by the presence of people, vessels or aircraft. In order to ensure the conservation of these magnificent animals in our region, it is our responsibility to minimize the disturbance caused by our presence.

Towards that goal, the collaborative efforts of SPREP, Cetacea, IFAW, and FFEM have produced some regional best practice guidelines.

Regional best practice guidelines

Whale and dolphin watching activities can potentially cause long-term disturbance to cetacean populations, which include:

• Disruption of behavior (e.g. feeding, nursing, mating, migrating);
• Displacement from important habitat areas (e.g. resting, feeding, breeding and calving areas);
• Long term stress;
• Injury;
• Reduced breeding success;
• Increased mortality.

Changes in the behavior of whales and dolphins need to be recognized and acknowledged as such, so that animals can be left undisturbed. The following behaviors may indicate that a whale or dolphin is affected by our presence:

• Changes in swimming speed or direction (to avoid boat);
• Changes in breathing / diving patters;
• Stopping or changing activity patterns (e.g. vocalizing, feeding, nursing, socializing);
• Changes in group size and cohesion; changes in acoustic behavior and surface behaviors such as peduncle tail throws and trumpet blows.
  

  NEVER get between a mother and her calf.

Populations, and individual cetaceans may react differently depending on the species, their age, sex, and if accompanied by a calf. Do not encircle animals and always leave them an ‘escape’ route.

Persons shall always:

• Operate vessels so as not to disrupt the normal movement or behavior of whales and dolphins; 
• Stop any interactions with a cetacean at any sign of the animal becoming disturbed or alarmed;
• Allow cetaceans to determine the nature and duration of interactions.
  

  Caution zone: The caution zone is the area within 100m – 300m from a whale and 50m – 300m from a dolphin. Source: Pacific Islands regional guidelines for whale and dolphin watching. September 2008.
  SPREP Cetacea, IFAW, and FFEM.

Therefore, the following recommendations need to be considered:

• Do not touch a cetacean;
• Do not feed a cetacean;
• Do not make any loud or sudden noises;
• Do not make sudden or repeated changes in direction or speed;
• Dedicated observers should be on duty in addition to the captain of the vessel;
• Do not place a vessel up wind of, or in a position where it will drift into, the no-approach zone (see diagram).

When vessels are within the caution zone of whales or dolphins:

• Approach cetaceans slowly and cautiously;
• Observe cetaceans at a speed not exceeding the speed of the animals;
• No more than 3 vessels should be in the caution zone of a whale or dolphin at a time. Coordinate approaches into the viewing zone with other vessels to avoid “trapping” whales or dolphins;
• Leave boat engine on and in idle when watching cetaceans;
• Do not disperse or separate a group of cetaceans;
• A vessel should not chase, encircle, block the direction of travel of cetaceans, or position itself in the middle of a pod;
• If cetaceans approach a vessel, slow down gradually and put engines in idle;
• If cetaceans approach a vessel to bow-ride, maintain a slow and steady speed and avoid sudden changes in course;
• When departing from watching cetaceans, determine where the animals are relative to the vessel to avoid collisions or coming too close to the animals, and increase speed gradually while exiting the caution zone.

The most appropriate method for approaching a whale or a dolphin is from the side and slightly to the rear of the animal. Avoid approaches from head on or directly from behind.

Report Whale and Dolphin Sightings

There are sightings of humpack whales being reported from all over Fiji! Some females set up camp in a nice shallow, sheltered bay to calf while many others are just pausing to say “Hello” en route to Tonga to do the same. Sightings have been recorded in locations such as Lau, Beqa, Namena, Savusavu, Koro and Macuata.

This is where YOU can help us determine a clearer picture of numbers, and migratory patterns of our whales!

Whale Encounters Form (pdf 1.8MB)

If you encounter a humpback whale (or any other species of whale for that matter) you can record the information about the sighting on the form(pdf here), tear it out and post it off to the provided address from the next post office you visit.

Dr Miller and her colleagues at the Department of Fisheries will add your data into the national database and compile the findings that will help our government conserve and better protect whales and dolphins in Fiji.