Category: Toliara
The coastal city of Toliara is the regional hub for our activities in southwest Madagascar. We have a small office here, with staff working on programmes ranging from locally managed marine areas to small scale fisheries management, aquaculture and blue forests.
Staff Q&A with Shawn Peabody, Madagascar Country Director
In the second instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Shawn Peabody, our Madagascar Country Director, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your scientific background? I have a BSc from the...
Have you ever encountered a live sea cucumber?
by Taylor Mayol, Communications and Programme Development Officer, Madagascar I hadn’t either until just a few months ago. I knew I was in for a wild ride during my fellowship after I dove into a crystal clear turquoise bay in...
The highs and lows of the octopus project
by Sophie Andriamalala, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar For the last two weeks the octopus team in Toliara have spent 10 hours a day staring at our computer screens and cleaning, checking and organising over 900 notebooks filled to the brim with...
From Toliara’s sights to Hong Kong’s bright lights
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar Arriving in Hong Kong direct from Toliara, southwest Madagascar highlighted some fairly stark contrasts. While Toliara is in fact the sixth largest city in Madagascar, bright lights and fast cars it is not....
BV Scholar Paubert is ‘cruising’ on a wave of success
by Paubert Mahatante, Roger Samba and J. Paul Getty Scholar, Toliara, Madagascar (introduction by Joanna Hudson, Blue Ventures Science Intern, London) Introduction: This blog is written by Blue Ventures scholar, Paubert Mahatante, who was chosen to participate on a Agulhas and Somali...
Mapping the octopus: road tripping south of Toliara
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar On a recent trip to the south of Toliara I seem to have confirmed the stupidity of domestic livestock. Drive past a herd of grazing zebu and they may look up with a...
Rediscovering Malagasy wildlife
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar I have become a city girl again. My move to Toliara, the capital of the southwest region after two years in Andavadoaka, a small fishing village has dramatically reduced my exposure to nature...
Finding Nemo… and some Kenyan inspiration as well.
By Shawn Peabody, Locally Managed Marine Area Coordinator, Toliara – Madagascar I didn’t know that clown fish could be so cocky, at least not outside their protective sea anemone. If I were a clown fish, I would be cocky only...
A Day in the Life of a Samba-Getty Scholar
By Ravelomahafaly Andriamihaja Guénolé “After I had completed my scientific option baccalaureate in 2009, I had no idea what university life had in store for me. But now, I can congratulate myself on having survived” My name is Ravelomahafaly Andriamihaja Guénolé....
“Des Baleines et des Hommes”
By Sophie Benbow, Marine Science Coordinator, Toliara, Madagascar In total, 11 species of marine mammal have been sighted in the coastal waters around Madagascar. Of these, the most abundant and most frequently sighted are the humpback whales which visit Madagascar...
From southern Madagascar to Rodrigues: promoting dialogue to share lessons learned in fisheries management
By Alasdair Harris, BV’s Founder and Research Director, Antananarivo, Madagascar Throughout southern Madagascar, temporary closures of octopus fishing grounds are emerging as a popular management tool for this economically important fishery. In southwest Madagascar alone, over 100 such fishery closures...
Samba-Getty scholars and committee meet to review academic progress
In Toliara, southwest Madagascar, on the 28th of April 2011, the IHSM (Institut Halieuteque et des Sciences Marines) successfully played host to the first meeting for all students supported by the “Roger Samba – J Paul Getty” fellowship programme. As well...
Relocating to the bright lights of Toliara
By Shawn Peabody, Conservation Coordinator, Toliara, Madagascar. In September, I left the dramatic ocean sunsets, gently lapping ocean waves, and starry, breezy nights of BV’s Andavadoaka field site for the dust, noise, and stagnant air of the city of Toliara....
Descending the mighty Mangoky
By Alasdair Harris, BV’s Founder and Research Director, Antananarivo, Madagascar The mighty Mangoky river, perhaps best known for its rich mangrove delta bordering the Mozambique Channel, is Madagascar’s biggest, starting its journey in the central highlands near Fianarantsoa, descending between...
What is the probability……?
By Charlie Gough, Marine Research Coordinator, Belo-sur-mer, Madagascar. The last week of November, and the dust bowl city of Toliara was the location for the 1st Parfish workshop to be held in Madagascar. Parfish, a participatory approach to stock assessment,...