GVI Kenya

Category: Cetacean research, Humpback whales | Date: Sep 08 2008 | By: gvikenya

It must be fate after my final comments on the last blog… the humpback whales returned today and ironically it was the coastal forest research team and not the marine research boat that recorded them! I got a call at around 10am from our team in the forest who had trekked out to the very end of our transect 1, where the forest meets the ocean, to be presented with 3 humpback whales entering the Wasini channel, just 500m from our base on the island. I jumped on board our small wooden dinghy, ‘Squirrel’, with our marine staff Sergi, Ines and Shafii, and the necessary survey forms, and we headed out as fast as our 25hp would allow us in the direction the whales had gone. Sightings of a couple of blows on the horizon as the whales surfaced to breathe, and a splash as one of them breached, indicated that we were at least heading in the right direction although not necessarily catching them.

Beyond Nyuli reef and out to sea we stopped the engine and drifted looking out for signs of these huge mammals, which become very difficult to locate in the open ocean. And then a couple more tell-tale blows on the horizon pointed us in the right direction. Unfortunately they were too far and moving to fast to get close to, but through binoculars I had a perfect view of four large tails emerge from the water’s surface and slip back down again in perfect synchrony. Another blow behind them indicated that there were at least five animals in total.

The only time I’d seen humpback whales was about 8 years ago, between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, so it was fantastic to see them again, right on my doorstep… and another reminder of just how lucky I am to be involved in our project here in Kenya.

 The photograph above shows the ‘blow’ of a humpback whale as it surfaces to breathe, within 500 metres of our base in Mkwiro

The photograph above shows a humpback whale seen last Thursday, closer than we were able to get today

Share This

No responses yet

Category: Cetacean research, Humpback whales, Kisite Mpunguti MPA | Date: Sep 06 2008 | By: gvikenya

In the last blog I wrote about our latest encounter with humpback whales here in the Kisite Mpunugti MPA, so I thought I would share some of the many photos our marine research team on the day managed to get.

The mother-calf pair above visited Kisite Mpunguti MPA on Thursday this week

Humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, can grow up to 15m in length and 30 tonnes in weight. They are a highly migratory species travelling up the East African coast to breed in the warm clear waters off the Arabian peninsula. Sightings of very young calves  indicate that they may breed off the Kenyan coast as they will generally wait until their calves are strong enough before attempting the long journey back to the productive feeding grounds of the Antarctic for during the southern hemisphere’s summer months.

Humpback whales are baleen whales, or mysticetes, with baleen plates instead of teeth, for filter-feeding. They are named for their characteristic long hump beneath the somewhat short, stubby dorsal fin. Their pectoral fins are distinctively long, up to one third of their body length and the head is covered in numerous knobs called tubercles.

Share This

No responses yet

Category: Cetacean research, Humpback whales, Kisite Mpunguti MPA | Date: Sep 04 2008 | By: gvikenya

The exciting news from our marine research programme today was the reappearance of humpback whales in Kisite Marine Park. The mother and calf pair surfaced near to Kisite Island this morning in front of the team aboard our research vessel ‘Bardan’, a traditional local dhow that also goes by the name of ‘Lampard’ thanks to its Chelsea FC supporting owner. Lampard also happens to be the nickname I go by with the children in Mkwiro village so I’m feeling an affinity with our new boat!

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) photographed close to Kisite-Mpunguti MPA in August 2007

The photo identification survey was attempted this morning, however with these majestic whales, unique identification comes from the pattern of notches on the tail flukes as opposed to the dorsal fins of the dolphins that dominate our cetacean research. Unfortunately this pair did not demonstrate much tail-diving behaviour and so opportunities to photograph their tail flukes for analysis were few and far between.

Mother-calf pair Humpback whales surveyed last year in Kisite-Mpunguti MPA

However it is very exciting still to have the opportunity to record the movements of these infrequent visitors to the Kisite-Mpunugti marine protected area. This is only our second sighting of them on marine surveys this year, the first coming almost a month ago, again a mother-calf pair, although we can’t yet determine if they were the same pair. Humpback whales were also spotted in the Wasini channel at the beginning of July, but not whilst our research vessel was at sea. Taken together this represents valuable data in understanding their migratory movements on the south Kenyan coast which this year covers at least a two month period. In addition it is a remarkable experience for our expedition members that have been conducting our cetacean research on the bottlenose and humpback dolphins, to see their larger relatives close up in the same waters. I hope that I will have more to report in the coming weeks as it is always a privilege to see these kings of the ocean.

Share This

No responses yet