SPECIAL LOMAIVITI SURVEY EXPEDITION UPDATE
NAI'A's May 10-24, 2003 trip gets more exciting by the day with the wonderful news JUST IN that internationally-renowned ichthyologist, Dr Gerald Allen, will be joining this expedition representing Conservation International and completing some of Lomaiviti's first ever reef fish surveys. Allen is the author of dozens of the most popular fish and coral reef ecology guides ever written including Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea and Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide. His most recent journey with NAI'A was in July 2002 to the remote Phoenix Archipelago as chief ichthyologist on our Primal Ocean Project with New England Aquarium - there he discovered yet another new species of damselfish! Allen starts each dive at about 40 meters and gradually works his way shallower, noting every single fish species he sees, photographing everything and capturing only if he finds something as yet unknown to science. After the dive he marks these sightings off on a massive list of expected and possible encounters. An expert on coral reef fishes, Allen already knows the scientific names of more than 2500 Indo-Pacific fish. And during a single dive he has memorized 238 species. We are absolutely thrilled to have Allen back aboard NAI'A bringing his immense diving experience, scientific expertise and unbridled enthusiasm to our greater goal to create a national marine park in central Fiji.
As if this isn't good enough news, we will also be welcoming aboard, for the first time, Wildlife Conservation Society marine biologist, Dr Michael Marnane. Marnane's specialty is in the management of coral reef habitats and he will also be playing the crucial role of training three Fijian ambassadors for this marine park project - including NAI'A's inimitable diver and "turaga ni koro" Rusi Vulakoro - in the key elements of marine research methodology and education.
For anyone with a passion for combining beautiful diving experiences with practical conservation science, this trip provides an unbeatable opportunity to watch, learn, participate and, most of all, ADD to our understanding of Fiji's most diverse and abundant coral reef habitats. Please join us on this important journey with National Geographic Magazine photographers Tim Laman, and Zafir Kizilkaya as well as National Geographic Society biologist and writer, Dr Les Kaufmann. A feature article about this extraordinary expedition will also appear in US Sport Diver magazine.
