Project Manaia

We have been working hard again this last week and are still hitting new bumps every day almost. Now this coming week we have to head to Phuket again, hand in paperwork, have it signed off at the Consulate, head back to Myanmar, keep working on the boat and get a whole lot of hard work done - And we will deffinitely try our best to make it all happen!

As planned things are moving along and the team of Project Manaia is slowly dripping into Thailand - Ao Khoei specifically getting ready to start the season... On the way to Thailand - only about 20 hours on the way For me that meant arriving this last Monday 19th in Phuket, getting a pickup from Luca and heading on to Ao Khoei the next day. And now the preperation work in the actual location is getting real. Sorting out permits for SeaNomad, getting Peppino, the small workboat in place up and running again and of course having a closer look at Namaste, the boat that will be joining us on expeditions from next season on. Our "House Beach" at the Station in Ao Khoei While two out of the team of three are already in place we are still waiting for our Geographer Will comming in from the US in the middle of next week together with Marley our first volunteer to join us working on the Moken topic with us for about two months time.  So on 26th we (Luca and Manuel) will be headed up ...

Project Manaia recently teamed up with MABR to work together on getting this pristine island group along the border on Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand protected… here are the latest updates from the project! We are happy to announce changes in our MABR Research Expeditions. This year will feature a diversified but integrated approach to the preservation and exploration of the Mergui Archipelago. With the help of our new team, William Ruzek (Geographer), Manuel Marinelli (Marine Biologist), and Marley Walker (Journalist), our Expeditions will increase the study, appreciation and conservation of the Archipelago across the borders of Myanmar and Thailand.  The MABR Expeditions will focus on these four 'M' themes:  M apping , M onitoring , M arine megafauna , M oken people  While each expedition will have a primary theme and therefore itinerary, every cruise  will incorporate all “4M's” throughout the cruise. M apping : Thanks to our sponsors an...

Our Fish free week was the second of a hopefully long line of projects in which we try to engage with the public and motivate people to take action on a small scale and make an impact on environmental issues. And even though not eating fish for one week sounds like a small and easy thing to do, if enough people join this cause it does make a big difference! The Fish Free Week is not over yet, but already we have a few successes to post here: 4 Restaurants in Austria took fish off the menu for the week The same Restaurants agreed to take Tuna off the menu permanently A major Hotel in Carinthia removed their Fish buffet (Marine fish) from the weekly menu and replaced it with local fresh water fish from sustainable Aquaculture It is small steps in the right direction. And just because the Fish Free Week is over doesn’t mean we have to stop trying to make a difference. If you have the connections try and make a difference. Take Tuna off a menu, protect endangered species and try to lower y...

The "Fishing for Plastic" Project started up as a simple idea: What if people really like their waters clean but only need a little push to get moving and pick it up? So we created a  Facebook event  and set a date: One week would be dedicated to cleaning up. What started as a simple idea caused a couple of big waves and we got a bunch of people to join us in the cleanup process. Some of the big successes were: A school in Mumbai agreed to send one class to clean up every day! A diving school in Croatia sponsored a full day diving for all customers who would dedicate the dives to cleaning up under water A group of Volunteers in Egypt gathered people to clean up beaches there A sailing club in the great lakes sent out a little fleet to fish for plastic And many more... And as usual it is every single person that counts in the effort. I got many replies and Mails from people all over the world promising they will go out and clean up their beaches , rivers, lakes and other bodie...

Being environmentalist often times I come across people and after long conversations we end up at this... "What if" moment. Just as an example it could be What if I don't drive my car every time it's further than 100 meters/yards What if I look at the labels and don't buy endangered species fish What if I pick up that wrapper I see in the street? And there are many more of those questions. Now for me the big step is that if all the thousands of people who ask exactly those questions would actually stop asking them and just stepped up and did what they are thinking about we were one step further already! So here is the idea: What if we all made an attempt and at least one time a day we actually did what everyone is talking about? Go ahead, pick up that piece of garbage before it ends up in the ocean. Pick your bike for that errand, that is only a few meters away, have a closer look at the label and maybe check back if that is really what you want to buy. It is smal...