Stella Diamant
Who I am
Born in Belgium, I was always drawn to the natural world, remote places and exploration. I am fascinated by marine megafauna and their mysteries and strive to use my scientific knowledge to support sustainable development and capacity building at my study site. After studying biology at the University of Warwick, I visited Madagascar for the first time and knew I would return. The island has amazing wildlife and biodiversity, but very little is known about the life in its waters, even though this life plays such a major role for communities locally.
After specialising in ecology and conservation for my Master’s from Imperial College London, I started working in the field as a biologist. In 2014, I saw a whale shark for the first time back in Madagascar and subsequently started the country’s first whale shark research and conservation programme in 2016, in the hope of learning more about Madagascar’s whale shark population to better protect the species and its habitat.
The Madagascar Whale Shark Project Foundation has been running since 2016 and focuses on collecting baseline data to drive protection measures for elasmobranchs at the national scale, focusing on whale sharks and manta rays.
Aside from running the project, I am an avid free-diver and underwater photographer, and a keen horsewoman and swimmer.
Where I work
The Madagascar Whale Shark Project is based at Madirokely beach, on the island of Nosy Be in north-western Madagascar. The tourism capital of Madagascar, Nosy Be lies in an incredibly biodiverse archipelago of tropical islands. Through our work we have identified the island as an important whale shark feeding aggregation site, home to juvenile whale sharks as they come to feed each year on small baitfish and plankton. The bay also hosts a plethora of marine life, including cetaceans such as dolphins, humpback whales and the rare Omura’s whale, elasmobranchs like oceanic giant manta rays, various species of devil rays and sharks, and all five species of marine turtles. The area is still widely understudied and lacking protection measures, which is why our surveys are so important to record which species occur.
As a growing destination for whale shark tourism, Nosy Be faces rising threats from the development of tourism, such as waste management, law enforcement and heightened boat traffic, in addition to ongoing artisanal and illegal fishing activities.
What I do
The Madagascar Whale Shark Project, which I founded, is the only project in Madagascar dedicated to studying the whale shark – a species classified as Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List – using scientific research as a basis to trigger local, regional and national conservation action. This is achieved through community engagement, environmental education and capacity building.
We collect standardised data on marine megafauna species through boat surveys, while training Malagasy students and collaborating with local NGOs in Madagascar to empower local actors and stakeholders. Through the collection of standardised photo-ID data thanks to citizen science, the deployment of acoustic tags and the collection of skin and prey samples, we aim to better understand Madagascar’s whale shark population.
Our research trips take place a few times a week, and are open to the public. From our research boat, we collect opportunistic data on marine megafauna species using a tablet, take photo-identification pictures of every whale shark we encounter and deploy acoustic tags when possible. We also collect skin samples for genetic and diet studies, and samples of baitfish and plankton. Swimming next to recognised whale sharks, some which I have seen seven years in a row, is the best feeling in the world!
Every year we welcome to the team student interns who lead their own research as part of their Master’s thesis. We also support the development of sustainable tourism, thanks to training sessions for tourism operators.