blind men and elephant fish : Our first live Data Page is up!

For almost 5 years now we at the Maru have been conducting underwater population and biodiversity surveys of Lake Malawi's amazing cichlid fish living at Kande Island just 1 kilometer off of our beach. Using scuba gear we have gone down almost every month to identify and record the numbers of about 35 different cichlid species that we believe are a good representative sample of the wider populations at the island. And now you will be able to follow the results of all this work! Every month we will update and upload the new data that we are collecting so that you can see how Lake Malawi's cichlids are faring at our survey sites wherever you might be in the world. Right now you can see the data from our two longest running surveys, the "Kande Island" survey and the "Outer Reef" survey and very soon we will have pages dedicated to presenting all of the other data we collect, from water quality indicators, to the results of our bower grid surveys, to the data we collect on nearby fishing activity. We believe that the more people know about Lake Malawi the more likely it will be cared for wisely. So take a look at our first data page by clicking right here or by inputing www.themaru.org/data.html into your web browser and stayed tuned for more!