Brazil is well known for its forests but it is also a coastal country with a very rich marine fauna and flora. Follow us and discover with us the "blue Amazon"... Our destination is this time Arraial do Cabo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Why this location in particular ? Mainly because this rocky coast shelters one of the richest an most specific marine biomes of all Brazil. Among the islands of the bay, a phenomenon of resurgence makes cold waters go up in the tropical waters allowing the cohabitation of a typical marine fauna of the tropical environments with another more adapted to cold environments. This tremendous biodiversity is evident. Put your diving mask and enjoy it!
Arraial do Cabo, a trade off between protection and tourism...
In order to learn more about the marine fauna, we met a team of researchers from the Reef Systems Ecology and Conservation Lab of the UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense). They allowed us to dive with them in the protected area called RESEX (Reserve Extractivist). It is a unit of ecological and social conservation inaugurated in 1997, with the aim of protecting both biodiversity and traditional and subsistence fishing methods.
"For twenty years, tourism has dramatically increased. When I started working here in the 2000s, there were only 30 boats in the port. Today there are over 350."
The establishment of this protected area is essential for the maintenance of the ecosystem in a region where intensive fishing and lawless tourism are raging... Marcel, captain of the research expedition boat and resident of Arraial do Cabo confides to us: "For twenty years, tourism has dramatically increased. When I started working here in the 2000s, there were only 30 boats in the port. Today there are more than 350". Indeed, in the early 1970s, investment plans to open up coastal regions in response to tourist demand exposed the coastlines... Even if Arraial do Cabo was affected later, a mass and anarchic tourism was set as the main economic activity. Nowadays, this strategy has led to conflicts about the use of maritime spaces between local populations, living on traditional fishing, and holiday-makers. In addition to this, intensive fishing, illegal fishing and the near absence of control and surveillance of the area complete the endangerment of this ecosystem. For the record, during the dive in the RESEX, we came face to face with a fisherman who was illegally hunting with a harpoon... But "not seen not taken" as the saying goes...
Arraial do Cabo : hotspot of biodiversity
Arraial do Cabo is remarkable for its contrasts: the infamous spectacle of the tourist mess versus the beauty and quietness of the marine ecosystem. During our dives, we got to observe globe fish, rays, leopard morays, corals and, cherry on the cake, to swim with turtles, the doyens of the oceans...
The Brazilian coast hosts 5 of the 7 existing species of turtles. We identified three different ones during our dives: the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea).
It is well-known that sea turtles are threatened with extinction. According to the WWF, 6 of the 7 species of turtles are endangered by climate change, pollution of their habitat, poaching and bycatch. Thus, the protection of their breeding and feeding areas appears to be essential for their conservation. In the RESEX of Arraial, we noticed the abundance of turtles ! Moreover, as Juliana Fonseca, a doctoral student at the Reef Systems Ecology and Conservation Lab, told us, "Turtles here are like pigeons, they are everywhere!".
Their omnipresence makes the region a site of interest for their study and encourages scientists to set up monitoring projects such as the "Mar de Tartarugas" project in 2009. These projects are essential to their protection because even within the protected area threats persist: we witnessed a graphic scene, a turtle trapped in fishing nets stretched along the coast. This turtle reminds us that the fight for the preservation of ecosystems is never granted and that we must constantly redouble our efforts and means to see the benefits of this conservation methods...
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