I returned in April from an expedition with the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) to the remote Aldabra Atoll in the western Indian Ocean to find out if one of the last sanctuaries on our planet has been spoiled by over fishing and to document what we find in photographs and words. My daily blog / journal of the expedition is on http://www.saveourseas.com/Aldabra and the newspapers coverage is posted under my publications, The Daily Telegraph and Independent Newspapers.

Aldabra is one of the most remote islands within the Seychelles island group and in 1982 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, meaning it is considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. Aldabra was once a well-known location for large shark species, but an exploratory visit last year by SOSF strongly suggested that these top marine predators are rare or even absent altogether. A new report recently published in the journal Science states that only about 4% of the world’s oceans remain undamaged by human activity. Fishing, pollution and climate change are cited as major factors in exacting a heavy toll from almost half our ocean waters. Has heavy fishing pressure, particularly from long liners, in the Western Indian Ocean and the huge trade in shark fins decimated the shark population here as it has in all our oceans? 

We were on the Atoll for four weeks, and were fortunate to document the abundand population of reef sharks including black tip reef sharks, sicklefin lemon sharks, grey reef sharks, silver tip and white tip sharks. Our search for the larger shark species such as tiger, oceanic-white-tips and great hammerhead sharks, however took a different twist.

I believe a single photo speaks a thousand words and hope that a combination of increased knowledge and appreciation for our oceans will help stop the rapid decline of sharks and ocean health.