Today is the first day of the 2014 MantaWatch Internship Program. Its seems only yesterday that we said goodbye to last year’s cohort. But while the time has passed quickly, so much has happened this year.
In February the Government of Indonesia declared the world’s largest manta ray sanctuary, and the encounter data submitted by MantaWatchers helped support the scientific basis for this decision. The District Government of West Manggarai has continued to develop and strengthen a 7,000 km2 shark and manta sanctuary, and again our collaborative approach to monitoring is supporting this process. Anindita Rustandi, one of MantaWatch’s first interns, joined us as a full-time staff member  and Regional Coordinator for West Manggarai and Komodo. And Ranny Ramadhany, one of last year’s interns, was recognized as a leading female conservationist by Dive Magazine.
The bar is set very high for this year’s interns!
This year I am extremely happy to welcome six MantaWatch Interns to our team: Ayu Syukur and Dharmo Ramadhanny from the Department of Fisheries; Evi Nurul from Diponogoro University; Gerald Wenur from the University of Indonesia; and Niomi Pridina and Evina Tami from Padjadjaran University.
These four exceptional students were selected from over 50 applicants to receive a Guy Joseph MantaWatch Award and a place on this year’s internship program. Over the next four weeks they will receive academic training in manta ecology, develop practical manta research and conservation skills, and learn how public-private collaboration is supporting the development of conservation policy in West Manggarai.
Today we started with an introduction to MantaWatch and an orientation about the program ahead, before heading out into the field for a dive skills refresher.
Our Internship Program is multifaceted. Students learn about manta rays, but they also have an opportunity to get involved in real conservation efforts and policy support; to network with professionals working with NGOs, government and industry; and to benefit from career development support. Perhaps most importantly, students have an opportunity to share ideas and approaches with their peers from different universities and backgrounds.
I hope that these experiences will assist this year’s interns to become Indonesia’s young marine leaders and manta ambassadors, and to set the bar even higher for next year’s interns!
