Seychelloise wins grant for unprecedented deep-sea research   |02 June 2022

Sheena Talma

• Becomes country’s first National Geographic Explorer 

Sheena Talma has become the first Seychellois to be awarded a National Geographic Society grant to carry out research in Seychelles’ deep waters.

The grant was awarded to Talma following her project application in 2021 in which she outlined the gaps in data relating to Seychelles’ and Indian Ocean deep waters and their habitats.

Globally, the deep-sea remains largely unexplored, and the Indian Ocean deep waters are no exceptions to this. The lack of data on the composition of our deep waters, their habitats and the marine lives they sustain result in their lack of inclusion in national policies and conservation efforts. Talma’s new project aims to reduce this gap by collecting data from ocean depths up to 1500m to characterise deep-sea habitats, within the Indian Ocean especially in Seychelles – an area anecdotally known for high biodiversity and fishing prevalence. The data and imagery collected will be used to share the wonders of the deep sea with a wide community through a locally produced film and a one-week exhibition to be set up at the National Museum of History in Victoria.

The ambitious project will bring together a group of partners that will use affordable deep-sea technology and make the derived data accessible to interested parties, so that in future we can better understand and incorporate deep sea management into our marine conservation policies.

Talma will be collaborating on the project with several stakeholders including Rodney Govinden from the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), Sophie Morel from the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Dillys Pouponeau, Jake Letori, April Burt, Travis Boniface, Lynsey Talma, Shania Talma, The Ocean Discovery League, Nekton, local and international scientists.

On the science front, the findings of the project will hopefully complement existing data derived from other initiatives such as the 2019 Nekton Mission and the ongoing Marine Spatial Planning in Seychelles. Community-wise, Talma aims to increase the public’s curiosity in wanting to know and understand more about our deep waters.

The grant is another first for Talma who was also the first Seychellois to be accepted into the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship Programme back in 2017 where she went on to complete her Master of Science in the field of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science. In recent years, her name has been cited in ocean-related science and conservation work in Seychelles and internationally including her nominations as a finalist for the 2022 Blue Marine Foundation’s The Local Hero Award, which recognises individuals who impact positive change in the marine environment within their local community.

She considers herself a conservationist above all else with a particular interest for fish and their habitats, passionate in science research and communication with an interest to see more science leadership coming from the global south.

In addition to receiving the grant from the National Geographic Society, Talma will become a member of the Society’s global community of National Geographic Explorers and will be offered unique opportunities for training, networking, coaching, mentorship, and more.

Contributed