MES - posts

Mana Island Resort Releases 3 Hawksbill Turtles. [1]

Diana Nagatalevu — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:31:35 GMT

Last week (04/11) the Project – e organised an environment day which saw activities such as coral planting, rubbish picking and the release of 3 turtles take place. This week is Mana’s guest returnee week whereby guests who have been visiting Mana island for many years all come together for a weeks stay on the island. During the environment day the returnee guests and current guests engaged in coral planting, rubbish picking along the northside of the island and the release of three 3yr old Hawksbill turtles into their natural home. It was a good day and ended with an emotional goodbye to 3 residents (turtles) of Mana who had been looked after by Mana staff for three long years. We wish the turtles a safe and long journey and welcome another 5 juvenile turtles into the pond!

Seawater analysis for member resorts!

Diana Nagatalevu — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:09:56 GMT

Yesterday we set out to our 12 member resorts for seawater sampling. Seawater samples are collected from two sites at each resort. Samples are then transported to the Institute of Applied Science laboratory in Suva where they are tested for phosphates, nitrates and faecal coliform bacteria. These parameters are tested to identify the level of pollution in our waters and to look for ways to control any problems of pollution. Elevated levels have detrimental effects to our coral reef systems such as a shift in species dominance of reef building stony corals to larger non calcified macroalgae. So far the nutrient and FC bacteria levels are well below the accepted levels and we hope to keep it that way.

Mana Project - E

Diana Nagatalevu — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:27:31 GMT

Mana island resort in partnership with MES have been continuing in their efforts on environment conservation. The Project – e is a committee formed by a handful of Mana island staff and MES to discuss environmental issues and organise environmental activities for staff and guests once evry month. Activities such as coral planting, beach and underwater cleanup, tree planting and vegetable farming are a few activites that are ongoing. During this time corals have been transplanted onto the north beach reef and we look forward to the next set of transplants onto other reef areas. Thumbs up to the Project – e for their consistent hard work!

Reef health.

Diana Nagatalevu — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 20:18:45 GMT

We are well into our reef check surveys, surveying only house reefs at this moment. We have covered most of our member resorts with only a few remaining. From our data sheets we can conlude that our reefs are not doing too bad with minimal damage from trampling, boating, and watersports activities. The high hard coral and rock cover on our reefs ensure settlement of coral larvae and continuous reef building. The fish and invertebrate diversity also show positive signs of reef health and we are positive that we will see this on all the remaining house reefs!

Crested Iguana in Castaway!

Diana Nagatalevu — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 23:36:46 GMT

Staff are keeping their eye out for any iguanas they see