Here is the occasion to make yourself useful in the centre of miraculous landscapes. In the centre of the oceanic desert, an oasis welcomes thousands of animals each more gigantic than the next.

13-15 years 16-18 years - Expertise
Lieu : Huahine (Tahiti)
Domaines : Environment, Oceanology, Biology, Ecology, Water, Zoology,
Participants : 10
Encadrants : 2 Sciences Educators

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The Island of Huahine has many particularities. Among them, the island has captured the attention of Objectif Sciences International : it is on the beaches of this island that flying fish came by the thousands each year to lay their eggs… until man caused them to disappear. Today it is possible to reintroduce them, and for that we need your help !

The flying fish (Exocoetidae) is called « Marara » in Tahitian. Te Marara means the flying fish.

A true emblem of the island, today the flying fish have almost completely disappeared from their lagoon. However, there are some that have survived and the hope rests with these last individuals to reintroduce the original population.

This animal, original to say the least, capable of flying out of water for dozens of meters, is a fish of the high seas, who doesn‘t have the habit of laying eggs on floating objects. The original layout of one of Huahine’s beaches in relation to the passage found just in front of it makes this beach easy for fish accustomed to the deep sea to access. Throughout the history of Polynesia (and probably of the Pacific as a whole) this beach is apparently the only one where we can watch flying fish lay their eggs.

But the amount of Marara spawning at the same time is not an anecdote ! There were so many flying fish that the islanders still tell stories of seeing tuna beaching themselves on the shore in order to eat the flying fish as they spawned !

And it is there that all the issues of the reintroduction become clear : The flying fish is eaten by the Tuna and Mahi-Mahi, who are then eaten by Swordfish. This demonstrates that the revival of the Marara population may well participate in the preservation of a whole food chain in the Pacific Ocean… which reaches all the way to our plate.

It is clear this camp Summer camps
camp Les colonies de vacances ne sont plus ce qu’elles étaient, c’est à dire énormes, anonymes et sans activités précises. Heureusement les choses ont changé et les enfants qui ont vécus il y a 20 ans les premiers camps de vacances, qui à l’inverse des colonies de vacances proposaient des stages de qualité au grand air et bourrés d’activités intelligentes, ont grandis et sont devenus eux-mêmes
organisateurs de séjours de vacances intelligentes et hors du commun. Ces
séjours, vous les trouvez sur ce site... will allow you to meet the inhabitants of the island and discover its fauna and flora.

Well, if you have the desire to serve a great cause with boys and girls of the same age, join us in the project « Te Marara » in the RAHUI research programme.

See you soon !

Humpback whales come to Polynesia to give birth to their young and during the year it is possible to see them near Huahine, and sometimes even in the lagoon. If they are available for an encounter, you will have the privilege to swim with them in the warm waters of Polynesia. Accompanied in complete security by humpback whale experts, you can observe them swimming, underwater, in the clear waters of the Pacific. This will the be the occasion for you to contribute to scientific observations regularly carried out on these immense marine mammals and note your observations on their behaviours and enrich the existing databases on the subject. If you wish to get a more precise idea of what you will have the opportunity to live, you can visit the site « baleinomane » (=« whalemania »).

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