Why this Mauritian climate activist held an underwater protest in the Indian Ocean

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Shaama Sandooyea had never seen such lush seagrass as when she plunged into the waters of the Indian Ocean to call for its protection.

The 24-year-old climate activist held an underwater protest earlier this month above the Saya de Malha Bank in the Indian Ocean, home to the world's largest seagrass meadow — a major absorber of climate-warming carbon dioxide.

"It was amazing, because the whole seabed was covered in green patches. It was really dense, and we could see the seagrasses swaying with the currents, and fish swimming above and some corals growing in the patches," Sandooyea told As It Happens host Carol Off.

"I've always seen seagrasses dredged, cleared and destroyed, and this is the first time I'm seeing such a pristine area."

For the last three weeks, Sandooyea has been aboard a Greenpeace ship called Arctic Sunrise. 

She and the team onboard are collecting data about biodiversity in the remote and understudied area, while raising awareness about the Saya de Malha Bank's rich stretch of seagrass — a source of marine food and habitat, as well as a natural carbon sink.

Elsewhere, the world is losing some seven per cent of its seagrass cover per year due to dredging, rising ocean temperatures and other factors. And Sandooyea worries the Saya de Malha Bank could be next.

Thousands of marine species also rely on the bank's seagrass for food and habitat, including endangered green sea turtles and rabbitfish, a crucial species for artisanal fisheries in the region.

So on March 6, to coincide with worldwide climate strikes this month, Sandooyea donned her snorkel and dove beneath the waves holding a placard that read: "Youth Strike for Climate."

"This area, the Saya de Malha, it's threatened by the climate crisis itself … and it's threatened by illegal fisheries. It's threatened by pollution by so many things," she said. 

"But at the same time, the seagrass here, they can help us fight the climate crisis. And that is an amazing thing to know."

While in the water, she says she saw pristine seagrass teeming with life. 

But she also saw indications the remote area has not entirely escaped the wrath of climate change and ocean pollution. There were bleached corals, for example, and pieces of plastic trash. 

It's a problem that could get worse as the oceans get busier. Global shipping traffic increased four-fold between 1992 and 2012 with the Indian Ocean seeing one of the sharpest rises, according to a 2014 study in Geophysical Research Letters.

If it's not us from the Indian Ocean fighting for it, who's going to do it for us?- Shaama Sandooyea, Mauritian climate activist 

For Sandooyea, these threats are personal. The Indian Ocean, she says, is home. The island nation of Mauritius shares jurisdiction over the surrounding seabed with the Seychelles. 

That's why she says it's a "privilege" to be aboard the Arctic Sunrise.

"I wanted to do something more for the Indian Ocean for a long time now. And I'm just really glad I can contribute to it because, I mean, we have to do it. And if it's not us from the Indian Ocean fighting for it, who's going to do it for us?" she said.

It's especially important now, she says, as Mauritius grapples with the aftermath of an oil spill in which a Japanese ship hit a coral reef in July 2020 and leaked some 1,000 tonnes of oil into the waters.

"There are many things that we don't know about the impacts of the oil spill, and we still have to monitor it in the long term," Sandooyea said. 

"The situation is not really easy socioeconomically for the fishermen, for the diving centres, for the people from the region and everyone who depends on the ocean."

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Reuters. Interview produced by Lisa Bryn Rundle.