Volunteers on teams 4, 5, and 6 certainly had the pleasure of meeting one of our HSBC fellows from Malta: Celine, Robert and Eugene all came from this small island in the Mediterranean to make a big contribution to our efforts in Monterey. As part of their fellowship, they must spreak the word about their adventure to their colleagues and community. Below are some excepts from the write-up they submitted to HSBC Malta and their local media.

"2006 was the final year of this five-year Partnership with Earthwatch. During these years, 2000 HSBC employees worldwide, together with experienced scientists, worked as field assistants on international research projects. The objective of these expeditions was to give employees the opportunity to make an active contribution to a conservation research project and to the environment in general. Three Maltese employees, namely Celine Schranz, Robert Mallia and Eugene Schembri were selected as volunteers to participate on one particular project in Monterey, California, USA The Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay Project. The expeditions took place between August and October, and seven different teams where involved. This participation was possible thanks to the full sponsorship, and as part of HSBC’s global Corporate Social Responsibility. This project laid particular emphasis on Bottlenose Dolphins and Sea Otters. Each expedition lasted ten days, and teams were made up of around 6-10 people from all over the globe. "
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"On a particular day, Robert’s team was out at the field at 05:30am to observe the different behaviour patterns at different times of the day. In fact initially they counted the number of Sea Otters in the Slough, which in those early hours amounted to about 80, but which by noon had reduced to 45. Such observation revealed that after sunrise Sea otters move, either out in the Ocean or up towards Elkhorn Slough. Celine’s team on the contrary carried out a survey at dusk till late at night. At this point all otters gathered all in one raft and most of them were just resting. The same team, as well as Eugene’s team, also carried out an “Otter Census” in the slough, with Tom Kiekhefer the chief surveyor on the census."
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"Another interesting activity from Celine’s group was participating in a Coastal Clean Up Day at California’s Coastal State Beach. This Clean-Up Day was organized by the Ocean Conservancy, and the group agreed that it would benefit otters and dolphins. They were provided with two sets of bags- one for garbage and one for recyclables and they also took along a data sheet to keep track of select items that were found such as cigarette butts, food wrappers, boating materials etc. Along the beach, they encountered all types of debris, such as a few dead marine mammals which included a harbour seal and a very bloated sea lion. They also found lots of balloons, which are extremely harmful to marine wildlife. After 90 minutes of combing the beach, they turned in 25lbs of waste! Hopefully their efforts, combined with others across the California Coastline, made a significant impact in cleaning up the marine habitat."
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"Robert and Eugene’s teams were quite lucky with a lot of Dolphin sightings. In fact on one particular day, they could observe more than 30 dolphins which were on either side of the boats. They kept them company for a long time with some bow riding and others surfing and milling. Both teams came across Humpback Whales just in front of their boats. "
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"This opportunity was certainly an unforgettable experience for all the 3 Maltese participants. What could normally be enjoyed through TV documentaries was at an arm’s length, and a hands on experience. Moreover the chance of joining up other bank colleagues from all around the globe, and meeting other people with different cultures and backgrounds, but yet sharing the same environmental ambitions, was an opportunity in itself. Surely an experience that left an impact at a personal level which will encourage others to participate in and contribute the HSBC’s monetary grant towards Malta’s environmental projects."


Thank you, Robert, for submitting this for the blog!

Celine, Robert Eugene- we look forward to hearing about your community project!