We are delighted to share our 2024 Annual Report. Once again, it’s a visually stunning representation of our collective work, showing both the productivity and impact of the Marine Science Programme’s research. We celebrate the six new PhD graduates over the year and 39 peer-reviewed papers, bringing the programme total to an impressive 213 papers since it began in 2017.

You can access the report here: Marine Science Programme 2024 Annual Report 

The marine science programme was established by the Bertarelli Foundation in 2017 to advance our understanding of large marine protected areas so they can be better managed. Our focus is on the Indian Ocean, where we address the protection of marine biodiversity and securing ocean health and use science to inform management and conservation in the region. Our highly collaborative and interdisciplinary projects are led by some of the world’s leading marine scientists who are pushing the boundaries of their fields. We have a strong emphasis on effective and innovative communication, capacity building and increasing regional opportunities and access to marine science.

Many thanks to the Bertarelli Foundation for all their support.

In December 2024, a report on the ‘Global status of sharks, rays and chimaeras’ was published by the IUCN. Marine Science Programme scientists contributed their time and knowledge to deliver sections within the Indian Ocean Chapter which can be read here: Global Status Sharks and Rays_Indian Ocean Chapter

Download full report here

ABSTRACT 
In the 20 years since the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group’s first status report (2005), much has changed for sharks, rays and chimaeras. This report updates our understanding, and the scope of information reflects the scale of these two decades of change. The breadth of research topics has expanded, mirroring the inclusion of a greater diversity of species, and attention is being trained on the emerging threats and the accelerating global changes to aquatic ecosystems. The 2005 report heralded a sea change for sharks, rays and chimaeras, whose historical obscurity in policy, conservation and fisheries management was a serious concern. In this report, the increased focus that was called for is now apparent in the scale of work happening across the planet.

Jabado, R.W., Morata, A.Z.A., Bennett, R.H., Finucci, B., Ellis, J.R., Fowler, S.L., Grant, M.I., Barbosa Martins, A.P., & Sinclair, S.L. (eds.) (2024). The global status of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. https://doi.org/10.59216/ssg.gsrsrc.2024

The Nautilus Rewilding issue with the Bertarelli Foundation is a powerful testament to the resilience of nature. When invasive species are removed and ecosystems are given a chance to heal, the delicate balance between land and sea can be restored. With careful stewardship, we see islands thriving once more, their seabirds returning, their coral reefs replenishing, and the circle of life resuming its natural course—a hopeful reminder that, even in the face of climate change, nature has an astonishing capacity for recovery.

Read here

We are delighted to share our 2023 Marine Science report, which celebrates a wonderful year of high quality and high impact research across the Indian Ocean region. We celebrate all the students in the programme, particularly those who successfully completed their PhDs in 2023.

Accessible here: Marine Science Programme 2023 Annual Report

In 2023, the marine science programme delivered another productive year of excellent science and a large cohort of PhD graduates of whom we are particularly proud. The programme continues to build a reputation in the Indian Ocean region for significant, collaborative, and inclusive research. Workshops, training sessions and technical capacity sharing initiatives were conducted by project teams across the region. Programme scientists published one book and 23 peer-revied papers in 2023, with the majority in high impact journals.

Many thanks to the Bertarelli Foundation for all their support.

The team of four arrived in Male on 6 January 2024, where they joined the Patrol Vessel, Grampian Endurance.  Scientific work commenced on 8 January 2024. During the five transit days down to Diego Garcia, Dr Clara Diaz took conductivity, depth and temperature (CTD) profiles to depths of up to ~130 m at various locations to establish the current depth of the region’s thermocline. In the south of the Great Chagos Bank, Isha recovered a hydrophone that has been recording dolphin and whale sounds since it was deployed in June 2023. At the same location, Jessica Savage sampled water for microplastics.

Whilst on Diego Garcia, the scientists collected microplastics samples and tested a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Volunteers from the UK and US military were recruited to assist with manta ray surveys and to help deploy satellite tags. Dr Joanna Harris and the volunteers conducted a total of 64 hours of surveys around the island. The team of four were then joined by another expedition group, from the seabird project (Heriot Watt University, University of Exeter, ZSL), before they all embarked the Grampian Endurance once again and travelled to Nelson Island. Upon arrival, the seabird team disembarked to camp on the island for 10 days whilst the others conducted plastic transects, collected sand samples and carried out reef manta ray surveys. During their time at sea, the weather was very unpredictable with some challenging conditions which prevented some work from being conducted. However, scientific research was conducted wherever possible including CTD deployments, DropCam surveys of MCEs, ROV exploration, reef manta ray identification and tagging, sand and water sampling for microplastics. Isha also successfully deployed two hydrophones and conducted dolphin and whale surveys during transiting time.

During time spent on Diego Garcia, all teams engaged in a well attended outreach session, giving four scientific talks.  Following the talks, the audience participated in a competition to win science-related merchandise and got to experience diving with reef manta rays through the power of virtual reality.

The team were hugely grateful for all the support they received on the Grampian Endurance and on Diego Garcia to facilitate their research.

Last week we heard the terrible news that our friend and the ‘father’ of marine science in Chagos had passed away. Our thoughts and condolences are with his wife Anne and his children during this incredibly sad and difficult time.

For many of us across the programme who’ve been privileged to work in Chagos, we were introduced to this incredible part of the world through Charles – either from reading his research papers, hearing him present at conferences, or being lucky to spend time together in the field. I remember vividly as I came up from my first dive in Chagos in 2012 with the biggest grin and over-excited gushing and Charles saying it was one of his greatest pleasures to hear scientists squeal like children when they first experienced the wonders of the Chagos archipelago!

Expeditions with Charles and Anne were always educational and entertaining due to their incredible experience and long history of working in Chagos. Charles was an absolute font of knowledge, especially when it came to his beloved corals. Sometimes his local knowledge made it hard for the rest of us – trying to find his temperature loggers that he had deployed ‘off the coconut tree and next to the coral bommie’! He was not only a highly respected scientist, but also a passionate conservationist who championed marine protection, doing the right thing, and cutting through with scientific honesty whenever things got bureaucratic. That became increasingly important as he saw the devastating changes happening to reefs worldwide and the urgency to use science to inform local and global action. He recently published his book on his life’s work which we can all look forward to reading; The Chagos Archipelago: A Biological Biography.

Charles received many eminent awards, notably being awarded an OBE from the Queen in 2014. He was also a ZSL Conservation Fellow and awarded the ZSL Award for Outstanding Contributions to Conservation in 2016.

Many of us can credit our scientific and conservation pathways from the guidance, mentorship and opportunities provided by Charles. He will be sorely missed.

Professor Andrew Brierley passed away on the evening of the 19th of February, following a battle with an aggressive brain cancer diagnosed in November last year.

Andy will be remembered by his colleagues and friends as a passionate advocate for scientific inquiry and formidable champion of his students. Andy started his career in marine biology researching the population genetics of squid, before moving to the British Antarctic Survey where he began his lifelong fascination with krill, which he investigated through echosounders. Andy’s first trip to Chagos was in January 2015 and resulted in the first regional baselines for pelagic prey and fish populations. He is survived by his partner Kirsti and his daughters Abi and Laura.

From Tom Letessier, former student of Andy.

From Pete Carr, reflecting on his friendship with Andy.

I first met Andy in 2015 on a science expedition in the Chagos aboard the patrol vessel, the Pacific Marlin. He was everything I admired in a person. A straight-talking no-nonsense academic who did not tolerate and called out slackers and fakers. The converse side of his sometimes-brash character was that he was fiercely loyal and supportive of those who gave their best. Andy thought big in terms of scientific research and conservation solutions. He was also physically a big man with an impressive CV of mountain marathons, iron-man and endurance events to his name. I thought he was both brilliant and physically indestructible.

I last saw Andy in November 2023. We drank beer and told tales. One was of how he broke his leg on a mountain run in Scotland and crawled for hours in running vest and shorts until he found a phone signal to initiate his rescue. Leg mended, we were talking of future adventures in the hills together. I still thought he was brilliant and indestructible. We were unaware that his tragic fatal medical condition would erupt the following week.

Professor Andrew Brierley was a true friend of mine; an inspiration, accomplished academic, physical powerhouse and ace raconteur and I will always regret never having had that last adventure with him.

The Marine Science community sends their thoughts and condolences to all of Andy’s family, friends and colleagues on learning this sad news.