Follow us on:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube

Archive -Seychelles

Exhibition showcases mysterious world of cetaceans |19 February 2018

 

 

 

 

People are being encouraged to come and view an exhibition entitled ‘Mysterious Cetacean’ being held at the Natural History Museum, Victoria.

The showcasing style of the exhibition leads viewers through a journey to discover the mysterious and fascinating world of these huge sea creatures, mainly the humpback whale, through a combination of science, art and culture.

The educational exhibition, staged by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, was officially opened on Friday morning by its representative from the environment department, Begum Nageon de Lestang.

Present were the curator of the National History Museum Berthilde Belle, curator from La Reunion Tatiana Patchama, the permanent liaison officer of Seychelles for IOC Jacques Belle and other guests. Seychelles is the third country to host this exhibition after Reunion and Mauritius. The aim of the exhibition is to give the people of the Indian Ocean region a chance to learn about those amazing creatures. It was Patchama who guided the guests through the exhibition, a joint initiative between La Reunion and the Biodiversity Programme implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission, funded by the European Union. 

The interactive exhibition provides an opportunity for school children, the youths, young scientists, the general public and visitors the chance to be in touch with the whales through learning and gaming around with the whaling history and antimony, the sounds and behaviour of whales and its protection and threats, all through illustrated photos, text and sounds. It is to inspire everybody to care and to join hands in the conservation of whales and other marine mammals such as dolphins. 

Known as cetaceans, they very first appeared 34 million years ago and those that still exist today are the sperm whale, gray whale, humpback whale, blue whale, bowhead whale, Rorqual and right whale. Those deep sea mammals feed on planktons and small fish.

Little is known about the whales, huge as they maybe. The different types of whales which could weigh up to 30 tonnes, were heavily hunted long ago to the level of extinction of some species and had to be declared an endangered species and are now protected worldwide. Defying the whale ban, some countries today, like Japan and Norway, still hunt whales for industrial purposes. In support for its conservation, Seychelles was among the first countries in the early 70s to support the creation of the whale sanctuary of the Indian Ocean and last year some local scientists joined the Indian Ocean Network for Cetaceans Research, known as the INDOCET Consortium.  

Some locals and visitors to Seychelles might have been lucky for a rare chance, around August to October, to spot humpback whales who quite often passed through Seychelles waters off the northwest coast of Mahé, between Beau Vallon and Silhouette and on the outer islands mostly on Cosmoledo and Aldabra.

According to David Rowat from the Marine Conservation Society, it is suspected that the humpback whales around the northwest coastline of Mahé are part of a population from the Arabian Sea migrating down to mate and give birth but there is no scientific evidence to prove this migration.

He said most of the population of humpback whales lives in the Antarctica and they come down into the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean to give birth.

“All of Seychelles’ territorial waters are inside the whale sanctuary (no whale hunting zone) and with the fisheries legislation all marine mammals and cetaceans are protected, so the whales are protected,” he said.

He stressed that we have to make sure that those creatures get safe passage in our waters.

In his introductions, the permanent liaison officer of Seychelles for COI, Jacques Belle, thanked the regional institutions for sharing the scientific knowledge on humpback whales and concluded by saying:

“Let us remind ourselves that tourism is the mainstay of the economy of Seychelles and our environment, our biodiversity is at the centre of this economic sector. Therefore let us join hands to promote this regional approach to the conservation of the threatened and marine migratory mega fauna’s species, particularly the whales.”

He encouraged the public, especially the school children and the youths, to come and learn about the amazing huge creature that comes in our waters.

The exhibition will stay open until Friday this week, after which it will move to Comoros and Madagascar.

The accompanying photographs show Ms Patchama guiding guests through the exhibition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

» Back to Archive