Henriette Grimmel holds a baby blacktip shark in St. Joseph Atoll. The scarf on her face protects her from the sun.
Robert Bullock / Save Our Seas Foundation
Henriette Grimmel is a scientist passionate about marine research. And it is far from his family and friends, on a small isolated island in the Seychelles, that this Swiss person studies life in the ocean. Portrait.
This content was published on
January 7, 2025 – 08:31
When looking for Henriette Grimmel’s location on an online map, you have to zoom through a lot of blue before you finally find D’Arros, a small island in the Seychelles. Located 250 kilometers from Mahé, the main island, D’Arros is part of the outer islands and looks like a tourist paradise in every way. However, no one spends their vacation there. And especially not Henriette Grimmel.
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D’Arros is a private island which belonged to the Shah of Iran, then to the heiress of L’Oréal Liliane Bettencourt, before being bought in 2012 by Abdul Mohsen Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh, at the origin of the foundation Save Our Seas. Henriette Grimmel is a scientist dedicated to marine research. With her husband, she runs the foundation’s research center on the island.
Teleworking due to pandemic
Henriette Grimmel grew up in Germany and Switzerland. Her fascination with sharks and diving then made her discover marine sciences. Today, this dual German-Swiss national holds two master’s degrees, one in marine biodiversity and protection and the other in marine development. maritime territory.
It was while writing her first master’s thesis in the Bahamas that she met her husband, a British marine biologist. In 2019, after several years of a long-distance relationship, the couple came across a job offer addressed directly to partners: the D’Arros Research Center in Seychelles was looking for new management.
In March 2020, Henriette Grimmel and her husband were able to go to D’Arros Island for a first visit. But the pandemic forced them to start their new jobs from their respective homes in Switzerland and England. It wasn’t until December 2020 that the couple was finally able to travel to the Seychelles.
Cunning manta rays
Researchers on site study the beings that live on the island and the reef. Their goal: to learn as much as possible about the animals that grow there, to better understand the relationships that exist in the oceans, and to contribute to the protection of these species.
Every morning, a team member walks around the island on the beach – for about an hour to an hour and a half – to examine the sand for signs of turtles that have laid their eggs.
Henriette Grimmel uses a GPS to follow the tracks of a sea turtle in the Saint-Joseph Atoll.
Jeanne Mortimer / Save Our Seas Foundation
Particular attention is also paid to sharks and manta rays, which Henriette Grimmel is particularly fond of. “I always think sharks are cool, but manta rays have more character,” she says. “Among fish, reef manta rays have the largest brains in relation to their bodies. And it shows.”
The oldest females can reach three to four meters. While diving, Henriette Grimmel is able to identify manta rays by the distinctive black spots visible on their white bellies. Some are shy, others curious or don’t notice her, almost hitting her.
A reef manta ray in the water off Arros Island. Among fish, reef manta rays have the largest brains in relation to their bodies.
Robert Bullock / Save Our Seas Foundation
Work away
Life on the island is “difficult to describe,” explains Henriette Grimmel. She and her husband consider themselves very lucky to be able to work on the island and coral reef without being disturbed. The couple forms a team with two other women from Seychelles. In total, around 30 to 50 people live permanently on the island. Those who are not part of the center take care of the maintenance.
But the island remains very wild, underlines Henriette Grimmel. “There is no cafe or bar. After work, apart from a little sport or a game of cards, there is nothing we can do.” Living far from her family and friends, with whom she only has digital contact, sometimes represents a challenge for her.
There is still a small shop on the island where you can buy food, the researcher points out. But so that she and her team can concentrate on their work – which can take, depending on the season, up to 60 hours, 5 and a half days a week – a cook takes care of meal preparation.
The situation is comfortable, but leaves little room for decision-making, regrets Henriette Grimmel, for whom it was a change of habit. “But I make my own sourdough bread,” she explains, adding that she will soon also start making yogurt.
Henriette Grimmel is on the lookout for manta rays and her colleagues in the water during their weekly session to study these animals.
Robert Bullock / Save Our Seas Foundation
On site, scientists can only carry out certain work in perfect conditions, when the ocean is as smooth as a mirror and you can see up to 40 meters deep. Twice a year, during the monsoon, the sea is too rough to work outside.
The monsoon months provide the couple with the opportunity to visit family and friends in Europe. And as the northwest monsoon rages at Christmas, it allows them to return for the holidays.
Swiss rigor in the laboratory
While her husband is a “classical marine biologist”, who mainly deals with research, Henriette Grimmel describes herself as a generalist. In addition to field work, she is responsible for the management and administration of the center.
The organization and structure of the laboratory allow it to express its German and Swiss rigor. Everything must be in its place. “That’s where I’m strict,” she confides with a laugh: “And if there’s sand in the laboratory…”
We ask him if there is any hope for the oceans? Henriette Grimmel thinks. “Yes,” she replies, acknowledging that “there are a lot of problems for the oceans and ecosystems.” But his work allows him to see that many people put their energy at the service of the oceans. One of the objectives of the foundation is also to train people on site, “so that we are no longer needed,” she specifies.
Henriette Grimmel weighs a small black tip reef shark. Children who participate in the D’Arros Experience learn about the creatures of the ocean.
Dillys Pouponeau / Save Our Seas Foundation
Its team regularly offers courses and a competition exists to offer young people the opportunity to spend a week on the island of Arros. “Several of them are now studying in this field,” rejoices Henriette Grimmel.
We still ask her what she and her husband will do when they have made their own work on this island obsolete. She smiles and replies, “In the future we would like to live in Scotland.”
Text proofread and verified by Marc Leutenegger, translated from German using DeepL/dbu
