How travellers can join marine scientists predicting the future in Mozambique

04.10.2023 - 19:41 / nationalgeographic.com

It’s a stormy morning in the Bazaruto Archipelago, a constellation of five coral-fringed islands in the turquoise waters just off the coast of southern Mozambique, between the mainland and Madagascar. From our ship’s deck, I watch wind-sculpted dunes gleam silver on the horizon as triangle-sailed dhows glide past, their wooden bellies full of freshly caught fish. The water’s so clear that meadows of seagrass are visible on the ocean floor beneath my feet; occasionally, a green turtle pops its head above the surface, gulping down the warm, humid air. 

As Mozambique’s first marine national park, the archipelago is a haven for five types of turtles, from leatherbacks to olive ridleys, as well as over 150 species of bird and four types of dolphin. It’s also known for its flocks of flamingos, and as one of the last strongholds of the dugong, the sea cow-like creatures thought to have inspired tales of mermaids.

While there’s no doubt the scenery and sheer abundance of wildlife is spectacular, my fellow passengers are more interested in something else — their eyes are fixed on a monitor above the helm. On it, a small symbol of a ship shows our position in the Mozambique Channel, and with every yard we move, it judders a squiggly, rainbow-hued line in its wake. There are ‘oohs’ and ‘wows’. The excitement is palpable. To my untrained eye, there’s little reason for it, but to the scientists aboard, that squiggly line might just hold the key to predicting the future of the archipelago’s vibrant but fragile ecosystem. The ship is a research vessel operated by the Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS). Africa’s first permanent ocean observatory was founded in 2017 by Swiss entrepreneur Nina Flohr as a crash pad and laboratory for PhD students, research divers and scientists who can use the facilities for weeks-long stints around the archipelago. It’s housed in a small village of breezy, thatched-roofed dwellings on Benguerra Island’s northern shore. 

For guests of Kisawa, the splashy beach resort that Nina opened in 2021 on Benguerra’s dune-hemmed southern tip, the centre offers the rare opportunity to see this idyllic island setting through the eyes of some of the world’s brightest minds in oceanic research. Depending on the scientists in residence, guests can tag along on trips to observe dugongs, humpback whales and reef-dwelling shark species. Or, in my case, an expedition led by visiting reef ecologist Shirley Parker-Nance, a chirpy South African who, armed with a Tupperware box full of waterproof GoPro cameras, has sailed us out to index a patch of previously unmapped seabed off the coast of Bazaruto Island. 

On the boat’s screen, the pixellated trail ranges from bright orange to dark blue,