UKDIVING SCUBAINTERVIEW
Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Home for the next two weeks was a traditional homestay right on the beach, which Mae described as‘ paradise’. But she was initially concerned that, after all the research and planning, they would struggle to find the Banggai.
“ That first day, I was so anxious- what if they weren’ t there? But that was soon dispelled as we swam through the lush seagrass that merged with the coral reef to find Banggai in nearly every nook and cranny.”
The underwater camera operators were actually able to capture the elusive‘ egg transfer’ from the mother to the father Banggai on the very first dive.
“ The team would spend nearly six hours a day in the water, and it took my breath away every time I dived there. It is the most biodiverse place I’ ve ever been to. We’ d mark up the best groups of Banggai with SMBs and return to them daily, watching the fish closely for the key behaviours and waiting for the right moment to press record.”
They also recorded footage of the subsequent release of the now-hatched fry from a male Banggai’ s mouth onto the coral reef. The BBC website has since described the footage captured of the Banggai as‘ one of the most charming moments of the series’. This, said Mae,‘ filled her with immense pride’.
" It is the most biodiverse place I’ ve ever been to "
“ It’ s one of the first stories I found and the first story I was able to run with and direct. I believed it would make an engaging story filled with colour, wonder, and character and so to see the baby Banggai faces peer out of their father’ s mouth on screen, with Sir David Attenborough narrating it all … well, it certainly helps with the imposter syndrome!”
Having qualified as a BSAC diver at the age of 14, and with a UK scuba diving dad( BSAC’ s North West Regional Coach, Stephen Dorricott), Mae has credited her UK diving experiences for helping to equip her for the role of underwater researcher.“ Going on BSAC club trips has given me the team skills that have been vital to my career so far- understanding what we need to do collectively to get the job done and getting stuck in where it’ s needed, whatever that task may be. And it’ s important to keep skilling up as there’ s always something new to see, and something new to learn.”
Mae now hopes her story of the Banggai cardinalfish will inspire more people to connect with and protect the marine world.“ Humans learn through stories, and this empathy is key to protecting our natural environments. Parenthood is a series of stories strung together with a theme of raising the next generation in a changing world. I think that resonates with pretty much everyone,” she added. �
The complete series of Parenthood, including the Ocean episode, is available to view on BBC iPlayer.
Banggai cardinalfish favour the protection of urchin spines, making them tricky subjects for close-up filming
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