Our World – Underwater Scholarship Society in Australasia

Hi everyone, and welcome to my first blog, yay! My name is Yoland Bosiger, (though most people call me Yolly) and I am absolutely thrilled to be named the new Australasian Rolex Our World Underwater Scholar. I cannot wait to share this year with you and I hope that my stories, photos, and videos will keep you all well informed on my adventures and most importantly exited about the many opportunities our underwater world has to offer.

So I should begin my telling you a little bit about myself. I am 25 years old and from as long as I can remember I have been completely infatuated with the ocean. I was born one year into my parent’s eight-year sailing circumnavigation around the world and hence my appreciation for the ocean began very early on indeed! Arriving back in Australia, my parents decided to settle in Mossman, a small town at the footsteps of the iconic Great Barrier Reef. In high school I volunteered on a dive boat called Calypso Reef Charters  www.calypsoreefcruises.com and it was there that I really decided that I wanted a career involving the ocean. I chose to study a combined Bachelor of Law- Bachelor of Science degree at James Cook University in Australia and tried my hardest to balance study with the ever alluring possibilities of weekend dive trips and volunteering. After finishing my degree I completed my Honours research year in marine fish behaviour and after finishing my thesis I was all set to work as a field research assistant for my Honours supervisor. And that’s where all my plans changed.

I had known about the scholarship for a while and after reading about past scholars’ incredible experiences I knew I had to give it a shot. That said, I applied for the scholarship with absolutely no confidence of success and was absolutely blown away when told that I had made it through the initial selection round. I flew from Lizard Island Research Station to Sydney to meet with Jayne Jenkins, Sue Crowe, Karen Raubenheimer, Peter Fields, and Steve Lindfield. I answered all the questions as best as I could but still left the interview with a hollow feeling in my stomach. Did they like me? Did I talk too much? Did I say the wrong thing? Finally the waiting game was over and I got a call from Jayne Jenkins telling me that I had been awarded the scholarship.

“Ahhhh, I couldn’t stop jumping up and down for a good few minutes (much to the confusion and alarm of the cashier with whom I had been buying food off at the time). I then called my mum who had climbed up the mast of our yacht in order to get reception. My excitement quickly turned to panic when I realised that my news had shocked my mum so much that she had almost completely fallen off the mast. Luckily there were no injuries! That night I went over to visit Jayne and was introduced to her lovely husband Collin and dogs, Barney and Mazy. After possibly the most monumental day of my life I was back on a plane flying to Lizard Island where I would continue to run experiments until the New York weekend.

Fast track a month and I was on my way to the big city. New York was like nothing I had ever imagined. Even with all the film coverage, I still didn’t really realise that it would be so big, and so busy! I arrived at the Hilton Times Square where I was to share a room with Erin McFadden (Europe’s previous scholar), Anthea Ibell (Australasia’s previous scholar) and Megan Cook (America’s current scholar). Megan and Erin arrived and with so much in common it was hard not to make friends instantly. I knew we were in for a fantastic weekend!

The next morning Jayne Jenkins and Sue Crowe took us to have our Rolex Watch fitting at the Rolex headquarters. It were there that I also met our third partner in crime, the European Scholar, Oscar Svennson. We met with John Flaherty and Randy Greenberg who gave us a tour of the Rolex building and filled us in on the history of Rolex. We also got to hear about James Cameron’s incredible mission into the Mariana Trench with the Rolex Deepsea Challenge watch – the fact that a Rolex can resist the extreme pressure at 12000 metres is an pretty astonishing. It was then time for fitting and I was amazed at how beautiful the Submariner was. I couldn’t wait until Saturday when our watches would really be ours.

That evening we met with Mike Emmerman and Patricia Stockhausen for pizza at their beautiful home in Manhattan. Pizza night was my first real introduction to the OWUSS family and I remember thinking to myself, “wow, I can’t believe that I am getting to meet so many people with the same interests as me”. I also got to tackle my first New York Pizza, which I found requires some serious technique. For those who are not from the Big Apple and not used to eating enormous pizza slices, pizza needs to be folded lengthways in order to eat effectively. Folding in half the other way does not work – thanks Josh.

On Friday we were formally introduced to the OWUSS society at the board of directors meeting, and we watched Anthea, Erin, and Christian give their formal reports of the year. We then had some free time and Oscar, Megan, and I made the most of it – checking out the Rockefeller Center including a trip to the Top of the Rock. The evening rolled around and it was time for the dinner at the Terrace Club where we got to meet more incredible people from the society and have our initiation. I have to say I was pretty proud of my Aussie flag, Aussie flag jacket (yes they do make those apparently) and hat – thanks heaps guys.

It was finally Saturday and I woke up feeling both exited and slightly tense about what was to come. Our first stop was Mr. Emmerman’s building where we listened to presentations from the past scholars and interns. The morning was extremely beneficial as it gave me a real taste of how to approach the scholarship and what I could expect from the coming year. Maureen Sweeney then generously offered her time to help us with our speeches. It all went well and I felt a lot more confident after a couple of practices. A year long membership to the Explorers Club is one of the many generous gifts given to scholars and when Filip Wolski, the 2009 European scholar, kindly offered to take us on a tour of the Explorers Club and we all jumped at the chance. The Explorers Club was really amazing, full of incredible exploration history and artifacts (not to mention a full sized polar bear). I feel incredibly honoured to be a member.

After a bit of a frantic dash to get ready, Megan and I were out the door and on our way to the New York Yacht Club where we would be formally introduced as new scholars. “Wow” my jaw dropped when I walked into the Yacht Club. It definitely had one of the most incredible interiors I had ever seen. All over the walls were hundreds of model yachts and at the front of the room were exact replicas of the America’s Cup winning yachts – stunning. After some more mingling, the night’s events began and Anthea, Erin, and Christian all presented their films. Each scholar’s experiences were so inspirational and yet so completely different. I couldn’t help wonder what my film was going to look like next year and I hoped that I would not only learn and discover, but also grow as person just as they had. It was then our turn and we were all presented with an amazing array of gifts including medical supplies and a bag from Patty Seery at Divers Alert Network, a Light and Motion video housing, an Olympus camera and housing, and finally our Submariner timepiece from Rolex. This had to be one of the best days in my life so far. And the best thing – it was only the beginning.

After another late night, it was bagel slicing time at the Emmermans’ house. For someone who had never even eaten a bagel before, I think I did an okay job. It had only been four days but I really felt like I had a fabulous new group of friends who would be there for me throughout the year. It was lovely to spend one more morning chatting and relaxing before the trip home. After leaving everyone behind we had one more epic mission and that was to get Jayne, Sue, and my gear on the plane without paying for excess luggage (and yes our gear did include a person-sized pelican case). Luckily due to Jayne and Sue’s superior packing skills we made it on the plane.

I would like to thank all the wonderful people at the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society for making this weekend and my scholarship year possible. Thanks so much to Rolex for their amazing support as well as Sue Crowe at Tabata, Olympus, Light and Motion, Divers Alert Network, and the Explorers Club. Huge thanks also to Jayne Jenkins, my coordinator, for volunteering so much of her time and effort to this scholarship. Finally, I would like to thank my family, my partner Alex and his wonderful family, and all my friends who have supported me and helped to shape who I am today.

To end my scholarship year I had the opportunity to present my year in to the Scholarship Society, sponsors, family and friends in New York City. The past year has been an eye opening experience; I have gained a wealth of knowledge in a huge range of areas, met some very inspiring people and seen some of the most beautiful things I could have imagined. I have broadened my knowledge of the dive industry as well as learnt of the variety of career opportunities within the industry and beyond.

I want to thank the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society, Rolex and all the associated sponsors for providing this life changing experience. Thanks to Jayne Jenkins for all her help and support, Sue Crowe for her support from both TUSA and Waterproof and of course my family and friends for their encouragement.

I wish the best of luck to the 2012 Scholars; Yolly Bosiger, the 2012 Australasian Scholar, Megan Cook and Oscar Svennson.

Below is my end of year video; Welcome Home. It is only a glimpse into the amazing experiences I have had, but I hope you enjoy.

Anthea Ibell

Leaving the South Island behind, I headed to Wellington to visit the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa. The museum’s fish collection dates back to 1869 and contains around half a million specimens. The collection consists of many ‘type species’ from which new specimens can be identified with. I met with Andrew Stewart, the fishes Collection Manager. With 30 years experience Andrew is New Zealand’s leading fish taxonomist. With the introduction of genetics to species identification, taxonomy is a dying art – especially since the only way to get good at it is practice – generally involving a 10 year internship period, the longest of any profession.

A tour of the museum’s facilities made me realize just how important the collection is. With a recent multimillion dollar upgrade the facilities are setting the standards for museum collections. There storage areas are protected from hazards with alcohol detectors that set off an alarm if any traces of leaking alcohol are detected and a fast foaming fire extinguishing system. Ventilation in all the work and lab areas means that people are safe from hazardous fumes and strict regulations on the opening of samples or removal from the collection ensure that all the samples are accounted for in the database that is continuing to grow. Te Papa houses some of the world’s largest fish and marine animal specimens including a great white, squid and even a manta ray found in the North of New Zealand .

Walking through the building it is obvious that such meticulous care of the specimens is not an easy, nor inexpensive job. This brings with it concerns that many facilities are not able to care for or catalog their collections in such a careful and useful way. Te Papa’s collection is important not only nationally, to preserve important specimens of endemic and rare species but also plays an important role internationally, providing ‘Type Species’ from the South Pacific and also the Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic.

While at Te Papa I was also able to learn about a current project that is looking at deep water fish species around New Zealand. The project “Biodiversity highways and biogeographic origins: a voyage of discovery in the deep sea” funded by the Royal Society (Marsden fund) is being led by Vincent Zintzen. The project is looking at quantitative ecological analyses of the fish fauna of seamounts and ridge systems and investigating the relationship between depth and latitude on species richness.

The project involves Baited Remote Underwater Videosystems or ‘BRUVS’ which are made up of two cameras mounted on a frame and face slightly inwards and have bait in front. This is similar to 3D camera systems and allows the video to be analyses with specialist software and with this the species, measurements and counts of fish can be collected. The BRUVS were deployed at seven sites thorough New Zealand and over varying depths. The camera systems were deployed using ropes and were buoyed at the surface. The deepest deployment was 1750 meters… that’s a lot of rope!

The video collected has so far been incredibly interesting. Vincent recently published a paper on his findings with Hagfish. Not only are these interesting animals scavengers but he has evidence of them actively hunting by burrowing into the sand grabbing fish and then tying their eel like bodies into a knot to put themselves and their prey out of the hole. The video also revealed the Hagfishes ability to produce large amounts of slime that chokes predators. There is still a lot to learn about these animals but the video observations have definitely brought more to light about these deep fishes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZq4Dme7wi4&feature=plcp&context=C4eba7ecVDvjVQa1PpcFOwWmlzySuf4jF4MQOrpz4AvzCO5XhsnFM%3D

While in Wellington I attempted to help with Post Doctoral Fellow, Shane Geange’s work with Macrosystsis through the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Laboratory. The weather did not cooperate and apparently this is not surprising after the unseasonably bad weather since the beginning of the year. Shane’s work is looking at the  stratification of Macrocystis pyrifera and its role in the ecosystem through habitat use and competition with the introduced species, Undaria.

In Auckland I was able to meet with John Montgomery who is the head of the Leigh Marine Lab at the University of Auckland. John has been working on sensory systems in Elasmobranchs; specifically looking at the electroreceptors. Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) have the ability to detect the electrical field given off by their prey. John has discovered the part of the shark brain that allows the individual to cancel out the interference from the animals own electrical field when hunting.

The movements of New Zealand’s Great White Shark population have been investigated by the Department of Conservation (DOC)  through tagging and photo identification. I was able to meet with Clinton Duffy, the head scientist on the project that has run from 2005 to 2011. With DOC’s recent change to only fund research on high priority species, the shark research has stopped. Unfortunately no marine species have this priority, not even the Maui Dolphin, which was recently shown to only have 55 adults in the population!!!

Satellite tags were deployed on sharks at both the Chatham Islands and Steward Island. The long range movements of the sharks showed that the populations at the islands remained completely separate while in NZ but there was cross over in the tropics around New Caledonia. All the sharks tagged and observed at the islands have been sub-adult or adult males, with the females likely staying further north in the warmer waters off the Northern Cape. The tags also showed that some of the individuals from New Zealand were travelling along the east coast of Australia. This information has gained interest from Australia’s CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research because this data will affect their efforts to gain a stock assessment of Australian Great White populations. Photo identification was introduced at Stewart Island and has shown that many sharks return year after year.

Great White Sharks are notoriously hard to study and this is due to the fact that there is very little known about them. The findings gained through this research of the New Zealand populations is showing more about where they travel and from this hopefully we can understand more about their life histories and population dynamics.

Many thanks to Andrew Stewart and Vincent Zintzen at Te Papa, Shane Geange at Victoria Univeristy, Prof. John Montgomery at the University of Auckland, Clinton Duffy and Joe and Jane Camuso for all their generosity.

Returning home to New Zealand with a couple of months left on the scholarship provided an opportunity to travel around my own country and meet people to learn about current research and our facilities.

In Dunedin I met with people at the University of Otago, where I will be returning to study after the scholarship year is over. Steve Dawson from the marine department was kind enough to meet with me and explain his research with Hector’s Dolphins. Hector’s dolphins are one of the smallest marine mammals and are only found in New Zealand waters. They are considered endangered with only 7000 individuals left. The closely related North Island population of Maui’s dolphin have hit incredibly low numbers with the Department of Conservation recently assessing that there are only 55 adult individuals left. These small animals are particularly vulnerable to gill nets and other fishing techniques.

Steve Dawson and fellow Otago Professor, Elizabeth Slooten has been working on a long term monitoring project of Hector’s dolphins for the past 30years. It has been with their research that management plans have been put into place. These include numerous marine protected areas and gillnetting was effectively banned within 4miles of the coast around a majority of the South Island.  Talking to Steve about his work showed the effect that a few…even as little as two individuals can have on the conservation of an important vulnerable species.

While in Dunedin I took the opportunity to visit my old diving haunt. Aramoana Mole was the site where I completed all my dive training through Dive Otago before receiving the scholarship. Returning to the cool waters for a night dive, this time with my Waterproof Drysuit, I reminisced and enjoyed the kelp covered wreck of the Mokoia. A pleasant end to the dive was to surface next to a blue penguin.

In Picton I was able to take part in some of the National ‘Seaweek’ events with a documentary film evening at Ecoworld Aquarium premiering films made by Otago University’s Natural History Filmmaking and Communication post-graduate students. The films were a great way to show New Zealanders some of the conservation efforts currently taking place but that don’t get a lot of news publicity. It was very interesting to learn about the collapse of the Bluff Oyster fishery, the catch and release of Longfin Eels by Merdian Energy Ltd. after interruptions to the life cycle due to dams and the recent removal of the shark nets at Saint Claire beach in Dunedin.

Recent changes to a Blue Cod fishing ban in the Marlborough Sounds has caused a fair amount of controversy. In 2008 a complete ban on Blue Cod was put in place due to concerns that the population was being overfished. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research’s (NIWA) recent change now acts as a ‘slot length’ and so fish between the sizes of 30cm – 35cm are allowed to be taken. I was able to meet with John Leader and his wife Jennifer Bedford who are the scientists aiming to learn more about the ecology and life history of the fish in an effort to put more appropriate management plans in place. They aim to gain a stock assessment through surveys of fish caught as well as look at the mortality rate of released fish. In the long term they aim to investigate whether the Blue Cod recruitment occurs within the sounds or the eggs are fertilized outside the sounds and carried in with currents. This will also in turn affect the management plans for the species. With surprisingly little research being carried out in the area at the moment there is also concerns on the effect of the mussel farms and salmon farms that make up a growing aquaculture industry in New Zealand.

After all my incredible and unforgettable travels it is still a wonderful feeling to be back home in the South Pacific and see the ocean from a familiar perspective. Thank you to Steve Dawson and Sue Heath at Otago University; my dive buddy Lei Quinger and Dave and Mary Watson at Dive Otago; John Leader and Jennifer Bedford, Debbie Eddington and Dan and Phil Madill.

An unfathomably big thank you to my wonderful parents Michael and Jacqui for the unending support.

Olive Ridley and Leatherback Turtle hatchlings at the Pretoma hatchery, Caletas, Costa Rica. The turtles hatch at night in the hatchery. Volunteers transfer them to the beach where the hatchlings then walk into the water. During the day the old nests are exhumed and any surviving hatchlings are taken to the water. I volunteered with PRETOMA 29/12/11-10/1/12. Music ‘Y Tú Qué Has Hecho’ – Buena Vista Social Club.

Thanks to Erick Lopez and Nicole White for their help and support.

I have talked to a lot of people who have said that Hawaii is one of the most beautiful spots they have seen. I wanted to experience it for myself after hearing Christian’s stories of shark tagging adventures. I visited Oahu for two weeks to gain some experience at the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, meet people who are carrying out research and learn about the ocean related courses offered through the University. A flu meant I was unable to dive much during my stay but I was able to meet some very inspiring people.

The Marine Options Program at the University of Hawaii offers students the opportunity gain experience and knowledge related to the ocean, no matter what their area of study. Art students can make instillations or pieces about the ocean, business majors can create fishing related business models, anthropology students can learn about the interaction of humans and the sea. All of these projects can count as credit towards their studies. While I was listening to Jeff Kuwabawa, Marine Option Program Coordinator, I was thinking to myself how great it would be if more universities encouraged this kind of education about our ocean world.

While at the university I also spent a day in Jeff Drazen’s deep sea research lab. Jeff’s current projects are trying to learn more about the food web and ecology of deep fish species through isotope analysis. By looking at the chemical compounds in tissue they can gain information about diet and metabolism. Gut content analysis is also used but is a limited method when dealing with such challenging areas of the ocean.

The Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology is located on Coconut Island, a small island in Kaneohe Bay on the Eastern side of Oahu. It is here that Christian’s shark tagging stories came from, and it is here that I visited for a day to try to catch a Hammerhead. James Anderson welcomed me to the Pelagic Lab and we set up the gear; 60+ hooks were baited with fish and squid, we got on the little boat and headed out into the bay. Oahu’s impressive mountain-scape surrounds the bay and we laid line with extraordinary views of the island. The lines were set for three hours and then retrieved. Unfortunately we didn’t catch anything but it was interesting learning the process. The Hammerheads are more common in the bay during summer months when the females come in to pup and the males follow them. The team at HIMB continues to set lines throughout the year as to have consistent efforts tagging the sharks.

By a fortunate coincidence, 2007 North American Scholar, Brenna Mahoney was visiting Coconut Island for post graduate research. I was able to meet her and share scholar stories! Brenna and another grad student’s work involved scouting for research sites so I joined them for a kayak in Kailua bay. 1993 North American Scholar, Katie Laing also came along for the day’s adventures. Katie and I caught up and paddled out to the Mokulual State Seabird Sanctuary.
Continuing with Scholar introductions, I met with Alan Hilton, 1986 scholar. After a 20 year career with NOAA, Alan is now the Technical Director for CEROS, the National Defence Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences. It was great to meet the past scholars and be inspired by their work since their year.

As a climax to my Hawaii visit I was able to go out whale watching with Gordon Tribble, Center Director USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center and John Ford from SWCA Environmental Consultants. We headed out from the marina and toward a dive site to the east. Within minutes there were Hampback Whale spouts heading toward us. We watched as a group of whales breached and finslapped a short distance from the boat!

I would like to thank Reagan and her parents, Todd and Ginger Grant for hosting me in their beautiful home. Thanks to Jane Schoonmaker, Jeff Drazen, Erica Aus, Kevin Weng, Gordon Tribble, John Ford, James Anderson, Dave Pence, Narineh Nazarian for all the amazing experiences I had during my stay in Hawaii. And thanks to the past scholars; Brenna Mahoney, Katie Laing and Alan Hilton.