Exercise Catalina Quest 06 is a Tri-Service diving expedition to the Maldives from 24 Feb to 15 Mar 2006. It is the third in a series of Service scientific expeditions to this area organised by the Defence Communications Services Agency. The main aim of this expedition is to locate the Catalina flying boat or identify which type of seaplane is located off the former RAF seaplane base at Kelaa in the North of the Maldives. Working from official RAF Air Historical Branch archive information and third-hand accounts of the incident and using high-tech location equipment and traditional survey methods, the team will create a detailed map of the area of the crash. Previous expeditions concentrated on projects on the far South of the Islands and in particular the wreck of the British Loyalty in Addoo Atoll lagoon, close to the former RAF base at Gan.

RAF Catalina

Poseiden Feenun 2004 Group

 The first in this series of expeditions, Poseiden Feenun 2004, was awarded a Highly Commended Nomination in the annual Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for the British Sub-Aqua Club Competition and many of the team went to Buckingham Palace to receive their certificates from HRH Prince Philip in November 2005. The Prize is awarded annually to a member, or group of members, of the Club in recognition of outstanding achievement in research in the field of underwater swimming. Amongst the subjects covered under this heading usually included the following : Geology, Archaeology, Oceanography, Marine Biology, Photography and Technology.

This Website is the main medium by which sponsors and interested parties will be receiving up-to-date news during the 2006 expedition.  Where words are underlined, double clicking will navigate you to web pages containing associated information. The Diary section of this Website will be updated regularly with reports and photographs of the progress made by the expedition. In effect, this Website is being constructed in real-time from the Expedition mobile live-aboard boat 'Southern Cross' and other static locations in the Maldives.

 

Southern Cross livaboard

Orientation

The expedition hopes to locate the Catalina flying boat or identify which type of seaplane is located off the old RAF seaplane base at Kelaa in the North of the Maldives.   The Indian Ocean Flying Boat Association have provided information in support of this task. As a secondary aim we are to continuing the work carried out by the previous Expeditions mounted in 2004 and 2005 under the  “Poseidon Feenun” banner on behalf of Earth-Dive, Shark-Ray Trust and the RGS.  In addition the expedition will conduct a challenge dive for Charity in aid of SSAFA.  All expedition members will attempt to complete a circumnavigation of Hittado Island on a single tank no air.  The last time this was attempted only Yousef, the current Maldivian Strongest Man managed to complete the feat. Donations to SSAFA can be made here.
The Maldives is a haven for wildlife and the opportunity for seeing Turtles, Sharks and Rays is fantastic. During Poseiden Feenun  2004, George Cuthbert conducted a Survey for the Shark Trust. This work was continued in 2005 by Steve Hazelwood. Catalina Quest 06 will continue the marine survey work undertaken over the last two years, seeking to support the Maldives Ministry of Home Affairs and the Environment in their goal of establishing baseline data and trend analysis for the health of the Maldivian reef ecosystems and key marine species.  As in previous years this work will comprise two key elements.

 


Tube Coral Belize  
Photo Arthur Kingdom

Reef Survey

The expedition will survey and report on the condition of the coral in light of the recent earthquake off the Maldives on the Carlsberg Ridge and the recent Tsunami resulting from the earthquake on Boxing Day 2004, off the west coast of Northern Sumatra.  The Carlesberg Ridge earthquake was one of the most intense of 2003 measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale.  The scale of the Tsunami damage in the Maldives is well known above water but little has been done to assess the damage below the water to date.
The expedition seeks to build on the snapshot of the health and status of the Maldivian reef system conducted in 2005.  This survey collected data using the Earthdive Science Log, a pioneering methodology of assessing reef health, developed in partnership with Coral Cay Conservation.  Five key indicator genera will be logged during all Ex CATALINA QUEST dives as will any signs of anthropogenic pressures suffered by the ecosystem.  Numbers of sharks, groupers, marine turtles, butterfly fish and Crown of Thorns Starfish will be recorded for each site dived and fed into the Earthdive Science Log for the relevant eco-region in order to build on data from previous years expeditions and other sources.  Again, as mostly new sites will be dived and with the statistically relatively small scale of the survey, this work is unlikely of itself to reveal major environmental issues but, in combination with other similar work, it will be vital to both the Maldivian authorities and environmental groups such as Earthdive in building a baseline picture of the health of the Maldivian reefs and assessing changes to their health and possible causes for those changes. In 2005 Steve produced a report which can be read here.

Coral Survey

Turtles abound

 Sharks and Rays

All sharks and rays encountered during Ex CATALINA QUEST 06 dives will be record to provide data to the Maldivian authorities and the Shark Trust.  The Shark Trust, a member of the European Elasmobranch Association, was established in 1997 to promote the study, conservation and management of sharks, skates and rays in the UK and internationally.  Exact details are to be confirmed but it is anticipated that, because this year’s expedition is unlikely to revisit many of the sites dived on previous expeditions and because of the statistically relatively small scale of the survey, this work will be most useful in helping to build a baseline picture for the Maldives and the Indian Ocean generally from which further expeditions will be able to draw trend analysis in order to assess the effects of environmental and anthropogenic pressures, particularly fishing activities, on this vital part of the marine ecosystem. As this expedition is likely to concentrate on the Northern Attols, the results will contribute towards the realisation of a full picture for the whole archipelago. 

In nearly all our 2004 reef dives, sharks were seen, usually in ones or twos.  On a few sites, notably Mukadan in Addoo Atoll and Cocoa Corner in South Male Atoll, larger numbers were seen. All sightings were predominately white tip reef sharks. On one site the divers saw approximately 20, which included other types- black tip reef sharks and grey reef sharks, but these other species were few in numbers. The majority of ray sightings were large stingrays, other rays included Spotted Eagle rays and at one particular site at Addoo Atoll, large Manta rays. In 2005, we observed sharks on 14 of the dive sites and a total of 41 rays were observed on 8 of the dive sites.

Ray in full flight

Look close for the shark!

  In 2004, the Manta rays were all seen at a known Manta cleaning station, and numbers therefore are an estimate, as it is assumed there was a degree of double counting during the two dives. Data from key indicators - Sharks, Groupers, Crown of Thorns Starfish,  marine turtles and butterfly fish are used to identify human pressures on the marine environment. In 2005, Steve Hazelwood collated ecological data from our surveys for submission to Earthdive for inclusion in their Global Dive Log.

 During the 2004 Expedition Jan Gillespie undertook a scientific survey of Hydroids. Hydroids look like plants but they are actually animals belonging to the same phylum (cnidaria) as corals and sea anemones (Figure 1).  They belong to a class with an estimated 10,000 species which includes some fire corals, hydrocorals and floating colonies such as Portuguese man’owar.  All the animals in the phylum are characterised by good cellular differentiation having a digestive region but no digestive organs.  They are basically cylindrical with a mouth at one end which is the only opening, consequently all undigested food has also to be expelled from it.  The mouth is surrounded by at least one row of tentacles but some may have many rows or cycles which are armed with stinging cells (cnedocytes)  which contain nemetocytes.  Hydroids are grazed upon mostly by nudibranchs or grazing snails and whole colonies seldom live very long as grazing is intense in the natural system.

Free Descent - Photo David Ball

Down for the reef survey

A collection of 14 hydroid specimens were collected while diving during exercise Poseidon Feenun 2004 and successfully transported back to the UK.  The majority of divers on the expedition were not familiar with hydroids at the start of the trip but most were adequately able to identify a hydroid after a few dives, leading to a successful collection.  Many divers brought back a hydroid from their dive only to find we already had a specimen of that particular kind. Identification of the specimens was carried out during late 2004 and early 2005. A full report, including identification of the specimens, was forwarded to Naeem Hussain at the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Environment. 

 
 

 In order to re-familiarise some members of the expedition with modern archaeological survey techniques, a course with the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) was set up and attended by several of the expedition members.. The course 'An Introduction to Foreshore and Underwater Archaeology' was held at RAF Henlow on 8 Nov 05.  A follow-up NAS Course has been arranged for some members of the expedition to enhance the general survey knowledge and experience for the Expedition.

 

NAS Theory Session

NAS Practical Session - Photo David Bewick

 Apart from some classroom theory work there were dry and wet practical sessions consisting of measuring and drawing exercises included as part of the course.  It looks easy but the lessons learned in the pool are invaluable for the live environment where current and other hazards make successful survey work very satisfying.
The 2006 daily dive site and diary reports will be updated to describe how the expedition progresses from the starting point at Male, the capital of the Maldives, to Kelaa and the other dive sites to be visited in the Northern Attols. On some days it may not be possible to do an update, but a delay of more than 2 days is not normal.  During the 2004 and 2005 expeditions, we sent e-mail reports back from hospitals and hotels where internet time could be borrowed or hired.  Since bandwidth restrictions limit the size of files that can be transmitted some photographs may not initially be of a representative quality.   For more detailed maps of the Maldives and information about the Atolls and resorts see Netmaps.

Maldivian Sunset