Guest lecture at Hasanuddin University

December 3, 2015December 3, 2015 / Maarten De Brauwer / 3 Comments

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my research in Indonesia would not be possible without the help of local counterparts. I work with some excellent people at Universitas Hasanuddin in Makassar, Sulawesi.

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Last week I was invited to teach a lecture about the research I have been doing so far. The idea was to share ideas with local researchers and to suggest potential areas of research for students at the faculty of marine science and fisheries. I was honoured to get such an invitation. As a researcher you are often working on your little island (often literally in my case) and we sometimes forget that sharing knowledge should be the ultimate goal of doing your research.

Frame I feel this is even more important when working in countries like Indonesia. Places which are rich in biodiversity and natural resources, but often lack the infrastructure and resources to protect it in a way that benefits the local people. Over the last years I have met many very motivated and talented researchers, but all too often they do not have the resources to reach their full potential. Things that seem simple for those of us fortunate enough to be based in a first world country often are complicated for those who don’t. Whether it’s attending international conferences to stay up to date with what is new and network with other researchers, buying good quality equipment to do your research or writing scientific papers in a language that is very different to your own…

To me it seems logical to try and work with researchers and give something back for letting me do my work in their home country. Too often researchers or big international companies come in, do their thing (and in some cases make a huge profit out of it) without giving something back. “Bioprospecting“, the search for natural products or compounds to use and commercialise is becoming more common and is an important source of new medicines (among others). However, sometimes this turns into biopiracy, when compounds are taken without permission or without compensation. Which is why there is such a thing as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the newly ratified Nagoya Protocol. It is also one of the main reasons why the process of obtaining research permits in Indonesia is rather…complicated.

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So I talked about my research and why I think it is important and very exciting. I also talked about some of the new things I found out (hopefully more about that in the near future) and about some of the ideas I have for new areas of research. Hopefully this was the start of more future collaborations with researchers and students in Hasanuddin. The little critters I’m studying can definitely do with some more research attention!

I’d also like to use this blog to say a big thank you to the people at Unhas who invited me (ibu Rohani and pak Jamaluddin) and to the people who showed up for my little talk. It was a great experience for me and I hope it won’t be the last time I visit.

Little known facts about seahorses

November 29, 2015December 18, 2015 / Maarten De Brauwer / 5 Comments

I have been reading up about seahorses recently and discovered some interesting little bits of information I could not help but share. While seahorses seem to be a big favourite for divers and non-divers alike, we actually know surprisingly little about them. Some of their strange quirks are well known. The fact that the males get pregnant is probably one of the favourite and most retold bits of knowledge about them. I want to go a bit further and more interesting than that, so let’s get started.

The fused jaw of a seahorse (Source)

Seahorses belong to the family of Sygnathidae, which translates as “fused jaws”. What this means is that all seahorses and pipefishes have jaws that are stuck together, they can’t open them anymore. So if you were to imagine eating like a seahorse, try gobbling up your salad, steak, pizza, apple,… with clenched jaws, while only using your lips to help you suck the food in. A good thing seahorses do not have teeth, as that would make it even more difficult!

Hippocampus taenopterus, getting ready to growl

Another quirky thing seahorses do, is that they make noise. They make two distinct types of sounds: “clicking” and “growling”. I absolutely love the idea of a growling seahorse! It seems they do this when they are stressed out and it might even be some sort of escape mechanism to startle predators. Most likely because those predators would be laughing too hard because a seahorse just growled at them… The clicking sounds are mostly used during courtship and mating, so not only do seahorses growl to chase away predators, they also serenade their partners to get them in the right mood. Strange little critters indeed.

To keep up with the strangeness, have you ever wondered how strange the tail of a seahorse actually is? Probably not, I definitely hadn’t before reading this article. The tails of most animals are round, but nearly all seahorses have square tails. As it turns out, this square shape is better at grasping and holding items. At the same time it offers a higher resistance to crushing than a round tail would. So perfect for a camouflaged critter which spends most of its time clinging on to objects, pretending to be something it is not to avoid getting eaten by predators.

Different 3D printed models of seahorse tails (Source)

Hippocampus histrix

The objects seahorses hold onto can be anything, usually they cling on to objects like seagrass, algae, gorgonian seafans, etc. But they do not seem to be very picky at all. This article showed how seahorses living in areas with a lot of plastic actually use that plastic as camouflage. The seahorses even changed their colour to resemble the colour of the plastic and the spots on it. Unfortunately I cannot put the original pictures online due to copyright issues, so if you want to see them, follow this link. Since seahorses don’t really mind what they hold on to, artificial structures can be used to provide habitat for them when their natural habitat has been destroyed. This way populations can continue to exist until the natural vegetation has recovered.

Loss of habitat is one of the risks that endanger seahorses, the trade for traditional Chinese medicine is another big threat to them. IUCN has listed 7 species as Vulnerable and one species as Endangered, but most species have either not been assessed or we lack the data to assess whether or not they are endangered. To combat the illegal trade and offer some means of protection, all seahorses are listed with CITES, which means trading them is strictly controlled. One of the simple rules used to do this, is a size limit of 10cm. This size ensures that most traded seahorse species are mature individuals who can reproduce and that juveniles are left alone.

Hippocampus pontohi

The fact that we don’t really know how many species of seahorses exist, makes protecting them hard. Estimates of the number of seahorse species range from 40 to 48 species. It is quite likely new species are still waiting to be discovered, though the opposite might happen as well. Two species of pygmy seahorses (Hippocampus severnsi and Hippocampus pontohi) were described in 2008. But recent genetic analyses showed that they are actually the same species which comes in different colour variations.

If you want to know more about seahorses or just have a good laugh, check out this great video from Ze Frank with some more true facts about seahorses.

Explosions of colour in the centre of marine biodiversity

November 19, 2015November 19, 2015 / Maarten De Brauwer / 10 Comments

Sea Safari 6

I recently returned from another liveaboard trip, this time in Raja Ampat. I’m writing this blog in Sorong, after just having disembarked from the Sea Safari 6. We spent 10 days diving both the south and north of Raja and it was pretty spectacular. I was lucky enough that Safari Bali saved me a free spot on the boat again, allowing me to do research. The only thing I had to do in return, was talk about fish, since I do that all the time anyway, I consider this to be a pretty sweet deal.

The Raja Ampat region is found in the east of Indonesia, in the province of West Papua. The name “Raja Ampat” means “Four Kings” and comes from a local legend. The legend tells of 6 eggs that were found and from which 4 kings, a woman and a ghost hatched. In marine biology circles, the area is known as the global centre of marine biodiversity. It lies in the very centre of the Coral Triangle and is home to nearly 600 coral species and 1600 fish species. For comparison, the entire Caribbean has less than 70 species of coral.

Raja Ampat: Painemu Lagoon

Alfred Russel Wallace

Unknown to most people, the Birds of paradise found here and in the Halmahera region further west also played an important role in publishing the theory of evolution. Between 1854 and 1862 Alfred Russel Wallace traveled and conducted research in Borneo, Sulawesi, Halmahera. He was collecting specimens of all kinds of animals, amongst others the birds of paradise found in the region. His observations of these birds helped him develop his own theory of evolution, parallel to Darwin. Darwin had been working on his manuscript for many years, but was hesitant to publish any of it. A letter from Wallace to Darwin, in which Wallace explained his ideas, sparked Darwin to finally publish his magnum opus. Darwin presented the article “On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection” in 1858 at the Linnean Society as a joint work from himself and Wallace. Once Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was published, Darwin ended up getting all the credit for the theory, but if not for Wallace and his birds of paradise, things could have turned out very different indeed.

While the birds of paradise are pretty amazing (we did go on land for a few hours to try and spot a few), the reason for this trip was to observe the diversity under water. This was the second time I dived Raja Ampat, and I can tell you it is fantastic. I’ve never dived anywhere else where the colours are so…everywhere, just everywhere. The quantity of soft coral, gorgonian seafans, corals, sponges, ascidians, etc is just staggering. You’ll find shades of every colour everywhere, some sites are so overwhelming that you’d almost forget to look for small critters and instead just float around to try and take it all in. Especially when there is a lot of sunlight and strong currents ensure all soft corals look like pink, orange, yellow, purple or white balls of fluff spread out over the reef. One such dive prompted the comment “This must be the campest divesite ever!”, and I couldn’t agree more. Many of the divesites around Raja Ampat look like the marine equivalent of letting a 6 year old kid decorate the Christmas tree…

Explosions of colour (source)

Of course the diversity extends beyond corals, the fish life is just as great. It might be harder to find critters than Komdo or Lembeh, but there is a lot to make up for that. One of my favourites are the wobbegongs you find everywhere, especially at the northern divesites. But it’s also great to see all the schooling fish, and a very healthy amount of predators. We’ve seen a fair few sharks, tunas, Spanish mackerels, and other pelagic predators you don’t see very often in Indonesia. It’s also great to see lots of large groupers, since they are a very popular food-species, having a lot around means that protection is working and fishing pressure is not too high.

Fish soup in Pulau Daram

This protection can be credited to the efforts of many local and international NGOs working in the region. Their work helped motivate local and national governments to establish Indonesia’s first MPA (Marine Protected Area) network. Raja’s 15 MPAs protect nearly 6 million hectares of marine habitats. The area is also a shark sanctuary where capture and killing of sharks, rays, dugongs and turtles is prohibited. To me, knowing that this beautiful area is being protected in the best possible way makes diving it an even more rewarding experience.

Dragons, Currents and Hidden Gems

October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 / Maarten De Brauwer / 3 Comments

There hasn’t been much activity on the blog recently, mostly since I’ve been stowed away on various boats exploring the marine life around the Komodo Islands. I just got back from a very comfortable liveaboard trip ran by Safari Bali, who have been kind enough to let me hop on the Sea Safari 7 as resident marine biologist. In return for the trip I do presentations for the guests, help them identify creatures they’ve seen, or generally answer any ocean-related question they might have. A great deal if you ask me, since it gives me the chance to do research in one of the best dive destinations in the world.

Komodo has been one of my favourite spots since I dived it the first time six years ago. The enormous diversity in marine life and dive sites is hard to find anywhere else. Raja Ampat might have more species, but to me Komodo is more interesting. There are more muck sites, stronger currents, lots of weird critters and they’ve got dragons…it’s hard to top dragons.

Komodo Dragon (Photo by Jennifer Tambosco)

Komodo national park was established in 1980 and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. The park was originally designed to protect the endemic Komodo Dragons. They are the world’s largest reptile and are only found in the Komodo National Park and a few areas on the west coast of Flores. It was quickly recognised that the diversity in the surrounding ocean was a lot bigger than on land and protection was put in place for the marine environment as well.

Ghostpipefish party, six Solenostomus paradoxus hanging out

Life under water is governed by the strong currents around the islands. The Komodo islands form a passage between the Pacific and Indian Ocean, the water flowing between them causes the famous currents in the area. These currents bring in important nutrients on which the marine life depends and it doesn’t take many dives in the area before you realise just how much of an effect they have. Diving in Komodo is always exciting, not just because you’re often flying around under water at exhilarating speeds, but also because of the enormous diversity of life that is created by these currents.

Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti)

Explaining just how diverse and exciting diving in Komodo is very difficult. To make life easier for myself, here is an excerpt from my logbook from the trip: manta rays, sharks, eagle rays, frogfishes, octopuses, turtles, napoleon wrasses, seahorses, ghostpipefishes, giant trevallies,… On top of that reefs are generally very healthy, with huge clouds of reef fish hovering around them. From the boat we’ve seen at least 3 different species of dolphins and a whale. In this crazy fish soup I spent most of my time looking for pygmy seahorses, which greatly confused some of the other divers on board. Why bother with critters 1cm in size if you’ve got manta rays and sharks flying overhead? This is a fair point, but I am trying to get an idea of how many pygmy seahorse are out there, so the manta rays will have to wait… In all fairness, I might have gotten distracted a few times, but who can blame me for that?

Selfie time with the local kids 🙂 (Photo by Jennifer Tambosco)

I am also using these trips to explore other sites in the area for critters. There are over 17000 islands in Indonesia and the best way to explore them is by boat. Some of the places we dived at along the way are absolutely beautiful and still pretty unexplored. One of my favourites was Sangeang, an active complex volcano (it has 2 cones) with 2 small villages on its slopes that specialise in traditional boat building. The dive sites around Sangeang are phenomenal; great muck diving, loads of critters, and mostly unexplored. Another gem (though better known) is the south of Komodo. The waters around Nusa Kode are cold (20°C) but very rich, it had some of the highest concentrations of anemonefishes I’ve seen in Asia. A night dive in the bay made it in my top 3 of best night dives ever, I won’t bore you with details, but if you like weird and wonderful critters it’s an absolute must!

Bontoh village, Sangeang volcano in the background

Critter Research

Investigating a world of muck

Marine biology

Guest lecture at Hasanuddin University

Little known facts about seahorses

Explosions of colour in the centre of marine biodiversity

Dragons, Currents and Hidden Gems