Te Mana O Te Moana

2010, June 1st to 7th – First International Conference on Manta rays held in Tahiti and Bora Bora.

helene.duran — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:52:33 +0000

Protected since february 2008, not any precautions are developped to give to them a Biodiversity status for tourism.
At least, more than 6 international marine biologists working on manta rays where invited to share experiences and researchs. Cecile Gaspar has also presented her thesis based on sting rays explaining the importance of doing tourist activities in preserving those beautiful animals.

2010, January 17th – International diving show in Paris

helene.duran — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:02:16 +0000

On the invitation of the GIE tahiti Tourism, Dr. Cecile Gaspar presented Te mana o te moanas’ actions in two specific areas: sea turtles and sting rays and the importance of the public awareness. In addition, the patron of our foundation, the astronaut Jean François Clervoy, was invited share his experiences in diving and zero gravity characteristics. It was the opportunity to remember that from ocean to space, we need to protect our blue planet.

October 24, 2007 – Special TV program «C’est pas sorcier» about sharks

helene.duran — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:42:52 +0000

The well known French TV program named «C’est pas sorcier» (explaining science to kids) came to French Polynesia to film a special program on sharks. This topic brought the camera crew to Moorea’s lagoon where sting rays, some cousins of sharks, can easily be seen.

On October 24th, Fred, the reporter of the TV program, jumped in the water in the marine protected area of Tiahura, Moorea. Te mana o te moana helped providing information prior to the filming, and contributed as scientific advisor on the sequences concerning sting rays.

This part of the program showed the common characteristics shared by both sharks and sting rays: the coarse skin and 5 pairs of gill slits.

2005, November – Documentary video with Ushuaia TV

helene.duran — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:46:06 +0000

Te mana o te moana participated in a documentary footage for Ushuaia TV. On November 29th and December 1st, they covered two topics: one on the sea turtle clinic, the other one on a sting ray research component using acoustic tagging.

The turtles footage included the release of one of them, an animal that had been successfully rehabilitated after a few months of intensive care.

These TV series are included in a documentary called «Sentinelles de la nature», focusing on individuals in the world, working towards biodiversity conservation.