Ep:#36 Andrea Marshall, the Queen of Mantas

You can’t breed a whale shark. Or a humpback whale. When they are gone, they are gone. And, what about borders when it comes to the ocean? Who is responsible for caring for these charismatic creatures when they go into other territories? I had never thought of ocean conservation in those terms before. Today I speak with Andrea Marshall, known as the Queen of Mantas, as coined by the BBC for their documentary on her in 2009. She’s a pioneer for Manta Ray research. Before she started researching Mantas, there was simply no data on them. “How can we have people going to space, yet we don’t know anything about the biggest animals in our ocean. That’s crazy!” She and her friend Simon Pierce decided they needed to study threatened charismatic marine megafauna. And to protect the marine habitats in Africa at the same time. And so they did.   She moved to Mozambique. And they created the Marine Megafauna Foundation. Today she tells us her story. How she went from living in Australia, to selling everything, and building a hut in Mozambique, to start her life’s work. We hear about the (many) challenges they face in Mozambique. The impact of COVID on her personally, but also on the organisation. The challenges, but also the incredible silver linings. Andrea talks us through what keeps her up at night (as an ocean conservationist, it’s not easy), but what also gives her hope. Andrea is a true inspiration, her passion and dedication to marine conservation is thoroughly contagious, and this chat will inspire you. So grab that favourite beverage or throw on those running shoes, and here is Andrea. We will shortly be kicking off our next TIE Accelerator programme. It will take place in January. If you are keen to know more, do get in touch at [email protected] or check out apply.tieaccelerator.com. And please don't forget to let us know what you think of this episode, leave a review and subscribe.