Full video

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[Music]

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The Fantastic Grandmothers are a

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group of grandmothers who meet every

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day to photograph and collect

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data on venomous sea snakes.

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At first, we were terrified,

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but very happy to participate

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in

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scientific research. Every morning we get up and

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say, "What are we

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going to see today?" [

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Applause]

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[Music] My

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name is Monique Le Ciel, I am 70 years old

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and I have been retired for ten years. The

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Fantastic Grandmothers are seven in number:

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Geneviève Briançon, Maryline

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Sarocchi,

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Sylvie Hébert, Cathy Lebouteiller, Monique Gagné.

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The group was formed in

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2007. Every day, we meet to

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help research, to find our

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friends, to participate in collecting

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data that will be useful in Clairoix.

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[Music] My name is Monique Le Ciel, I am 70

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years old, and I am the one who

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does the scientific studies on

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the sea snakes. I have already been asked

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why I I was working with

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grandmothers, and why not

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grandmothers? We could laugh, "

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Grandmothers only know how to make

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jam, they only know how to knit." But for

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us, no, it's our sport,

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exactly! Working with the

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grandmother team started a little by

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chance. It's at the university, night shifts, you don't

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work like that, nor does Walsh, the

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only one working with volunteers

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on big venomous snakes, on

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dangerous animals, lining up sneakers, a

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dynamic I'd known for a long time

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because, diving in the

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same diving club, it was Aline who

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offered to take these photos for me and

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then asked her neighbor to

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also lend a hand. They

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asked another friend, another

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friend, and without meaning to, I found myself

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with this team of

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grandmothers who do extraordinary work.

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They allowed us to learn lots of

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things we wouldn't have

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suspected until now. This is

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the day of the 9th Mother's Day. It

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starts in the morning at 7:45,

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so we take our masks, fins, snorkels, and

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cameras. And we go into the

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water

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if the sea is very calm and there's no

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current. We sail to the

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rock and back, which means we swim about

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two

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and a half kilometers every day.

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The first time I saw a

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snake in the sea, I was really

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scared. The air

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really put us in the right frame of mind to

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photograph them. How do you approach them

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if you see them coming towards you?

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Claire took us for a ride. We stay still, we don't

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move. They don't attack; they're very

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curious. They really let the

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photographer take the picture.

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The number of snakes recorded at

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Lemon Bay astonished the researchers.

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We're at 260.2. Before

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starting the study, I would have bet on

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three, four, maybe ten at most. We

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know they'll inevitably eat a huge amount

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of fish every year, so

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we know their role in the

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functioning of the ecosystem is

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important. I'm very proud of the work

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done by this team of

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grandmothers. It's even an honor to be able to

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participate in the search for clear water, to be

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able to help people. It's

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fantastic.

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[Music]