A new Arrival.
Arriving in Anadavadoaka is not something for which you can really prepare. Having travelled for nearly 4 days from home in London expectations are pretty high, but safe to say it was definitely worth it! On arrival everyone seemed in...
International Womens Day
I have now been in Andavadoaka for just over three weeks, and each day seems to go by faster than the last! I have greatly enjoyed learning about coral reefs and SCUBA diving, but being welcomed as a part of...
The Village of Andavadoaka, Finalists in the UNDP Equator Prize, 2007
This week the village of Andavadoaka joins an esteemed list of 25 finalists for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Equator prize, 2007. The prize recognises sustainable community initiatives in the tropics that help to reduce poverty through the conservation...
Corals, divemasters and free divers
I arose at 1:30 am in Toliara to meet the Copefrito fish collection truck for the visit with Blue Ventures. Sixty hours, two trucks, one boat full of octopus and one crowded zebu cart later, I walked into Andavadoaka. I...
Get the latest conservation and science news from Blue Ventures
Blue Ventures’ latest Scientific Research Update is now available online. In this edition, learn how marine protected areas may hold the key to keeping global fishery industries healthy and productive. Also in this issue, read about Blue Ventures’ new whale...
No time to write
I had been intending to write a comprehensive, witty, blog about my time here in Andavadoaka but for the last few days the weather has been absolutely stunning so we have all been doing some quite amazing things. For the...
Round trip of local villages
Hello everybody, here are some news from Andavadoaka. Thomas and I went to the Southern villages to collect the data on shark and turtle catch as well as the pictures. We took a different mode of transportation this time as...
Andavadoaka’s first local Dive Master
Blue Ventures wants to congratulate Bic, one of our local Malagasy staff members, for receiving his Dive Master certification. Bic, who has been with Blue Ventures since its founding three years ago, is the first member of the Andavadoaka community...
BV’s Social Enterprise
Blue Ventures’ founder Alasdair Harris was recently highly commended in the Young Enterprising Brits Award and received his honour over breakfast with Gordon Brown in Downing Street. Following Enterprise week in November 2006 a video was developed summarising all the...
The Rainy season…
Expedition 27Well the rains have arrived in Andavadoaka, Madagascar. Upon arriving in Andavadoaka in mid-September, it was hot and dry; so dry that I did not see rain for almost three months. So when someone promised that it did, in...
Duck rediscovered
A species of duck previously thought to be extinct has been resighted on Madagascar. The Madagascar pochard, Aythya innotata, had not been sighted since 1991 despite constant surveys of marshy lakes with lots of reeds and emergent vegetation, believed to...
Time to say ‘Veloma’…
I am back in Andavadoaka after traveling around Madagascar for 2 weeks over my Christmas break. Alan and I had a great time visiting a few national parks, finally getting a chance to see the mountains, rainforest, lemurs, tree frogs...
New species and possible cures
A new species of bat has been discovered, Myzopoda schliemanni, in the dry western forests of Madagascar. New research published onine in the journal Mmmalian Biology states that the new species is particularly unusual as it belongs to very rare...
BV-OFFSET Launch
Exciting news to start the New Year, BV have developed a new project called BV-Offset. Blue Ventures has had great success in protecting coral reefs and other marine systems over the years, but climate change threatens to undo much of...
Interphase tranquility
It’s maintenance fortnight and a cool humid 35 degrees here in Andavadoaka. With an unusually long window between expeditions over the festive season, those of us left behind during this blissfully quiet time on site have a daunting schedule of...