The Socio-economic Impact Of The Dolphin Watching Industry In The Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area (KMMPA)
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, bottlenose dolphins | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: gvikenya
The activity of dolphin (whale)-watching is described as “the commercial observation of cetaceans in their habitat from a platform on land, sea or air” (Hoyt 2001).
The dolphin-watching industry constitutes an emergent business in many coastal areas around the world and has seen spectacular growth over the last fifteen years. The industry began in the 1950’s in San Diego (California) and has since expanded as far as Antarctica. During the 1960’s, the industry grew significantly in the United States and Canada, followed by Australia, New Zealand, the Canary Islands, Japan and Norway in the 1980’s (Hoyt 1995, 1996) and, Iceland, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Tonga in the middle of 1990’s.
In 1998, the number of dolphin-watching tourists totalled around 9 million, estimating the volume of income generated to be 1 billion US Dollars, doubling the income in 1994 (Hoyt, 2001). In 1998, of those nine million participating in dolphin-watching trips, one million were from the United States alone. More recently, other countries and regions such as the Canary Islands and Canada have reached similar volumes. Australia and South Africa are expected to double their numbers from 500,000. (Hoyt, 2001)
This activity has been developed in more than 492 communities with the majority experiencing a real transformation. Dolphin-watching provides important incomes, creates new activities which generate new employment and moreover, constitutes a very useful tool to study marine mammals and marine environments.
Whale and dolphin watching have become an increasingly popular and financially important tourist activity along the East African coast. Currently, dolphin research and conservation efforts are being undertaken in Tanzania (Zanzibar) and Mozambique within the Sustainable Dolphin Tourism in East Africa Project. However, to date, few studies of cetaceans have been undertaken in Kenya and there is an urgent need to initiate research to aid future conservation and management of the species found in Kenyan coastal waters.
A bottlenose dolphin being watched by tourists in the KMMPA
Global Vision International (GVI) Kenya has set up a new project focused on the dolphin-watching activity of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area (KMMPA). The objectives of this project are to collect information about the socio-economic impact of tourism operation on the area and to analyze the sustainability of increased levels of human-dolphin interaction. Further, to identify existing problems and to propose constructive changes to respective government institutions that would help boat operators, tour companies, and the local residents in running the activity sustainably. These objectives will in turn add value to the Code of Conduct for KMMPA, developed by Kenya Wildlife Service in 2007.
Aims:
1. Analysis of the socio-economic activity (dolphin-watching) in KMMPA.
2. Impact of tourist dhow boats on the cetacean population.
3. Education and awareness of boat operators and tour guides.
The data will be collected through interviews to tourist, boat operators, hoteliers and local community members in Mkwiro, Shimoni and Wasini. Also, GVI research vessel will assess the impact of this tourism investigating the abundance, distribution and behaviour of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). Moreover, we will compare sightings and behaviour on different areas and with different levels of tourism activity that will allow us to evaluate the Code of Conduct. And finally, GVI will create awareness and education of local dolphin species and habitats engaging the boat operators and tour guides in different projects so as to promote conservation issues.
References:
Hoyt, E. 1995. The Worldwide Value and Extent of Whale Watching: 1995. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Bath, UK. pp. 1-36.
Hoyt, E. 1996. Whale watching and community development around the world. Keynote lecture to the International Whale Watching Festa ’96. The International Whale Watching Forum (Japan). Zamami, Okinawa, Japan, 9 Mar. 1996.
Hoyt, E. 2001. Whale watching 2001: Worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding socioeconomic benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, MA, USA, pp. i –vi; 1-158.
Tags: , abundance, Antarctica, Australia, behaviour, boat operators, California, Canada, Canary Islands, cetaceans, coastal areas, code of conduct, commercial observation, conservation efforts, constructive changes, distribution, dolphin research, dolphin-watching, East African Coast, emergent business, financially important, generate new employment, Global Vision International, government institutions, habitat, Hong Kong, human-dolphin interaction, Iceland, important incomes, indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenyan coastal waters, local residents, marine environments, marine mammals, mkwiro, Mozambique, new activities, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, platform, real transformation, research vessel, San Diego, shimoni, socio-economic impact of tourism, South Africa, spectacular growth, sustainability, Sustainable Dolphin Tourism in East Africa Project, Tanzania, Tonga, tour companies, tourist activity, United States, useful tool, Wasini, whale watching, Zanzibar
Joining The Tourist Ranks
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, bottlenose dolphins | Date: Aug 11 2009 | By: gvikenya
Today, our marine team piled onto a tourist Dhow to continue the research we’ve started with them. We are mainly looking at the routes the dhows are taking, where they get their sightings, how many other dhows are at each sighting and how the animals behave and react to them. Emily, tells us how the day went;
We boarded Aqua and waited for our “subjects” to come on board. Eventually our boat was filled with 2 Swedish families who were both here for 6 months to adopt their children and 2 Dutch couples on holiday. After a brief introduction of GVI and our dolphin research methods, we set off in search of dolphins: Absolute record breaking! Dolphins appeared 2 minutes into the trip! I hadn’t even managed to write the date on to the log form yet! 8 dorsal fins were slowly bobbing up and down in a docile fashion. It was all excitement on board, kids pointing fingers, adults pointing cameras, Ines pointing at the dorsal fins and immediately identifying the species/age and even their catalogue number.
Data collection in the sun
Several of them had perfectly shaped dorsal fins, so undamaged that they could only have been juveniles; a couple of them had distinguishable chips and marks that enabled us to recognise them as the “regulars”. #027 was spotted (“Melika”). He swam around our boat, surfaced for air a few times and characteristically dove down for a minute or so as dolphins do with the juveniles following one by one; beautifully synchronised, breathing through their blow holes, backs and fins glistening in the sun. A couple more boats arrived and the dolphins lingered on. We left them in peace after 20 min and headed to Kisite Island for spot of snorkelling.
No. 27 - “Melika”
We mingled with our multi-national guests; Steph showing the kids laminated photos of dolphins explaining their behaviours; Ines sign languaging the direction of Kisite Island to me behind the Dutch as I, in turn, looked very knowledgeable about the geography of the local area. We arrived in no time and everyone stripped to their swim gear and jumped in with snorkels. It was low tide and as I gently put my foot, something wriggled under my foot that felt far smoother than sand. I put my head under and saw a blue-spotted stingray burying itself in the sand in a huff: Whoops! Sorry! The water was clear and the entire cast of ‘Finding Nemo’ was there, plus all the extras who didn’t make it into the final cut, chomping on the brightly coloured corals.
Kisite Island
After a small snack of coconut, bananas and biscuits on the boat, we headed to Wasini for some lunch. We sat down at a table with flowers scattered all over it. A beautiful steamed crab was placed in front of us along with coconut rice, vegetables, seaweed, chapattis and an assortment of fish! Well worth $8!
We got the tourists to fill out questionnaires before getting picked up by Bardan, our very own research vessel, and headed home.
Tags: catalogue, data collection, dolphin research, kisite island, kisite-mpunguit marine protected area, snorkelling, tourist, tourist dhow
Humpback Dolphins Sighted With Four Calves
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Humpback Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles | Date: Jun 04 2009 | By: gvikenya
Today we chugged our way along the coast of the Shimoni peninsula all hoping for an exciting day to finish off the marine research week. Not long after leaving the Western end of the Wasini Channel our hopes were fulfilled when Shafii sighted Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins just off the coast. First contact was with a mother and calf but shortly afterwards we spied another group about a hundred metres away and so headed off to check them out… and were rewarded with a group of twelve to fourteen humpback dolphins literally frolicking in the shallow waters.
Humpback dolphins are meant to be ’shy’ but this group were anything but as they spy-hopped, breached, swam around the boat and generally showed off, posing for the paparazzi on the boat. Most excitingly, there were four mother and calf pairings - baby humpbacks are particularly cute with their little humps and tiny dorsal fins and they gave our two photo-identification photographers plenty of opportunities while the rest of us ooh-ed and aah-ed at the display. It can’t be a bad day when you are sat on a boat in the sunshine watching a group of dolphins at a time of day when you would normally have been arriving at the office to start work! We had a spectacular snorkel in the warm waters off Kisite Island then spied a turtle swimming on the surface as we headed back to base.
Tags: Cetacean research, dolphin research, indo-pacific humpback dolphin, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, photo-identification, Turtles, wasini island
Chizi The Lone Ranger
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA | Date: May 12 2009 | By: gvikenya
Between nauseous stomachs, blazing sun and turbulent waters, Shafii spots our first and only sighting of the day. With the boat bobbing up and down like a yo-yo and Kate calling out “dolphin, dolphin!” everyone rushed to one side of the boat to catch their look at the sighting. The unique nicks on the dorsal fin gave the game up straight away, it was the infamous Chizi, a familiar bottlenose dolphin for our research team, swimming along on a lazy Monday morning in its world under the sea.
‘Chizi’, a bottlenose dolphin is a very distinctive individual with the pattern of nicks on the trailing edge of its dorsal fin
One other tourist dhow full of extended lenses and safari hats nearly capsized their boat trying to photograph the lonesome Chizi. We spotted Chizi just off the east side of Kisite Island travelling along by itself, which was unusual as this individual he is not normally seen solo! The sighting lasted approx 10 minutes and in that time Chizi was not in a playful mood, no peduncle dives or cheeky tail flips in sight. Chizi means ‘crazy’ in Swahili however the dolphin was not living up to its name on this particular sighting.
After Andy captured some good photos and Chizi had been down for a while we decided to end the sighting and return to the rolling waters and samosa time! This has been GVI’s second sighting of Chizi this expedition.
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, dolphin behaviour, dolphin research, kisite mpunguti marine protected area
Witnessing Unique Dolphin Behaviour
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles | Date: May 04 2009 | By: gvikenya
Megan is working with GVI over the next few months and describes her experiences on our marine research project so far:
Growing up in the central California desert, I developed a fascination for water. I followed my affinity to Washington State, where low clouds, mist and the Puget Sound shaped my existence for five years. I have come to know water in many ways. After only one week in Kenya, the unique anthropological and environmental culture of water begins to reveal itself. We experience it in late afternoon salt-water runs, thick humidity, dynamic rain storms, and most notably, the Indian Ocean.
Each day brings hard work, but also terrific amounts of beauty. Typically, we spend eight hours on the water in our research boat a traditional wooden dhow. The day is long and hot. Aided by Shafii the captain, we carry out turtle transects and dolphin surveys. We have spotted rays, reef sharks, hawksbill and green turtles, barracuda, and bottlenose and humpback dolphins. Often, the dhow startles schools of small, flying fish, which travel out ahead of the boat. One of our most interesting sightings this week involved a mother bottlenose dolphin and her calf. Using a dead parrot fish, the mother appeared to teach her calf to feed. The mother would approach, take the fish in her mouth, and then release it. The calf then tried. Significant amounts of time on the water allow us to witness many different dolphin behaviours.
Last night, the rains came. After a week in the hot sun and salty showers, we welcomed the fresh water. I look forward to more time in our small corner of the Kenyan coast. With little electricity, a vast range of native species, our proximity to the friendly Mkwiro villagers, and vast amounts of water on our doorstep, working with GVI provides you with a unique opportunity to push yourself physically, mentally and emotionally.
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, dolphin behaviour, dolphin research, indian ocean, mkwiro, turtle research
Sustainable Development Through Dolphin Research - A Dhow For The Dispensary
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins | Date: May 02 2009 | By: gvikenya
On the remote island community of Mkwiro where GVI are based, it is has rarely been easy to access healthcare. The community themselves raised money to build a dispensary and for a few years enjoyed medical assistance on their doorstep with a government nurse. However by the time GVI arrived the dispensary had been effectively closed for a couple of years, the nurse having been transferred and never replaced.
In April 2006 our friend and member of the Mkwiro dispensary committee, Fadhili, appealed to us for help - without a nurse, the provision of drugs and medical resources was to be cancelled - this would mean that there would no longer be vaccines and basic medications available for a visiting public health officer from the mainland in Shimoni to administer. All healthcare needs, including child vaccinations, would depend on crossing to the mainland. Having already been called upon twice in just a few months to provide emergency night time medical evacuations in our boat for advanced cases of malaria - Juma, a boy from the orphanage and Shafii, our own boat captain - we were acutely aware of the risks of delaying medical assistance because of the expense and inconvenience.
Thumbs up from Fadhili for support for Mkwiro dispensary
With the agreement of Mkwiro orphanage we allocated some of their funds from GVI’s Charitable Trust to pay a nurse’s salary, get the dispensary re-opened and ensure medical care was available once more for the orphans and wider community. Generous donations, including from one of our volunteers, Mirka Meyer, ensured the nurse’s salary for two years, but we were aware all along that this was not a sustainable solution and sooner or later the donations would dry up… which is what happened last year.
Jane volunteering in the classroom
Fortunately another former team member, Jane Hainsworth-Birt was on the case with her employer, Timberland. Raising over £4000 for Mkwiro, they managed to fund new furniture for Mkwiro primary school, send students on to secondary school with scholarships and allocate the biggest slice for a sustainable business initiative that would allow Mkwiro dispensary to earn the money to pay for their own nurse and improve facilities. It has taken a long time to find the right initiative but in an exceptionally generous gesture to help his community, Pandu, the owner of the dhow boat ‘Bardan’ that we hire as a research vessel agreed to sell it to the dispensary at less than market value.
Pandu whose sale of the boat to assist his community was as generous a gesture as anyone else
And so last month, the money we paid to hire our marine research vessel went directly to the dispensary committee to employ a public health officer. And when GVI don’t need the boat, Kisite Marine Park will continue to draw tourists in search of dolphins aboard a traditional dhow. With enormous thanks to Jane, Timberland and Pandu, it looks as though we have found the perfect, sustainable solution for Mkwiro and look forward to a happier, healthier future for the community!
Dolphin research… it’s good for your health!
Corti
Tags: community healthcare, dolphin research, mkwiro, sustainable development
An Epic Day Of Dolphins (And Turtles)
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles | Date: May 01 2009 | By: gvikenya
Keziah gives us the news from yesterday’s marine research:
I woke up 6am in Shimoni, waiting to find out when the boat would come to pick me up at the jetty. With the rainy season, start times of marine surveys become a wee bit unpredictable - with one eye on the rain clouds you just have to wait for the opportunity! However, the sun was shining, there was no sign of rain and a phone call later I was jogging through Shimoni village to the boat.
We headed out towards Funzi Bay, across Nyuli Reef and to Upper Mpunguti Island when we had our first sighting of dolphins, something that has also become less predictable with the season. At first we thought there were eleven Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, but soon realised this was an underestimation. Ten on the port side, ten on the starboard side, we didn’t know quite where to look, excitedly swapping sides with a chorus of gasps and squeals from our team, and splashes and blows from the dolphins.
Several individuals were identified immediately, including one of my favourite pairs; Besty and her calf. I had the pleasure to be on the boat when we spotted Besty and her newborn calf for the first time, adorably small with the foetal folds still showing! Others including Twende and the yet to be named individual ‘063’ were also identified.
The group were at first travelling fast in a southerly direction, then their pace slowed, with a couple of individuals approaching the boat to bow ride. This enabled us to get good shots of the dorsal fins, which will be used for photo-identification in our mark-recapture study. Unfortunately we also noticed an adult and juvenile that appeared skinny compared to the rest, with their ribs visible. We hope this wasn’t a sign of illness in the population or lack of food in the area… After taking enough photos we left them to continue south to the open sea.
The dolphins had done us a service, leading us to the start of the snorkel transect our survey leader had selected for the day, by Kisite Island… and it turned out to be the perfect day to pick this transect! As we climbed out of the water to board the boat post-survey, everyone’s face was an absolute picture: 3 hawksbill turtles, 5 green turtles and 1 moray eel! Ruth and I even had the pleasure of watching one of the green turtles swim slowly to the surface, stop for a few seconds and then continue to raise its head out the water, beak open for a gasp of air. This was closely followed by us both surfacing and giggling hysterically with joy having witnessed a behaviour in full that we had only seen before from above the surface as a turtle’s head appear and disappear in a second!
With the weather being on our side, we decided to return towards Funzi Bay again, but the sea was just a little too rough, so we diverted in to Wasini channel. Within 5 minutes of turning the boat around there was a shout from Katalin at the front, “DOLPHIN”, followed quickly by “HUMPBACK DOLPHIN!”. We had to wait 10 minutes for the individual to reappear, a very large Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin that seemed curiously darker than usual. We put this down to the glare of the sun, and waited for what we thought was a lone individual to resurface. Then two individuals surfaced riding a wave, both smaller than the first. Several more minutes of waiting and we were shocked to see not only the three individuals from before, but another two adults and calf!
We continued to watch them for 20 minutes as they were feeding, coming up for several breaths before peduncle dives took them under for several minutes. After surfacing for the third time, in unison, they formed a compact group, changed direction and headed south, crossing the channel towards Wasini Island. We were able to compare the colouration of the first individual and yes, he was distinctly darker, not something we had seen before. The mother of the calf had a deep scar around her neck, possibly from a fishing line. Only 2 weeks ago an individual was spotted with a huge chunk out the back of his dorsal fin, the shape suggestive of a boat propeller injury. Both these wounds emphasize the humpback dolphin’s vulnerability to fishing activities, boat traffic and marine debris around coast lines. But fortunately also an ability to recover from significant injury.
All in all it was quite an epic day for our research team and for me one of complete brilliance!
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, Cetacean research, dolphin research, funzi bay, green turtle, hawksbill turtle, humpback dolphin, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, turtle research, wasini channel
Appreciating the Wider Perspective
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA | Date: Apr 27 2009 | By: gvikenya
Neil joined us as a volunteer here in Kenya and below gives us his thoughts on the experience:
Having travelled for three days – including a wonderful overnight stay at the Reef Hotel in Nyali, Mombasa – it was good to arrive at Shimoni, cross to Mkwiro, and start the settling in process. Meeting lots of people for the first time, getting to grips with living very simply in a constantly changing community, and starting a steep learning curve for the activities of the next five weeks is no easy matter! It is however, interesting, exciting and challenging.
This is certainly not a holiday; long working days in intense heat – and I haven’t got into the forest yet – are hard work. So, too, is the fact that the base is on an island with no mains power or running water. Everything has to get to this island and the last part of its journey is usually a matter of carrying it from the boat by the staff and volunteers: at high tide, that means up the steps from the sea and at low tide, there’s an additional journey along the beach before reaching the steps!
All this effort is to enable GVI to work with and serve its partner organisations here in Kenya, principally Kenya Wildlife Service and, of course, the wider community, both in Kenya and throughout the world. Conservation and living in more sustainable ways is not just a concern for local populations but for us all. This wider perspective is very important. This last week, I’ve been on the boat for three days: on the first two, we saw spinner, bottlenose, and humpback dolphins and it was very exciting and rewarding; on the third, we saw just one humpback dolphin and spent hours hoping for more that didn’t appear. But that’s one of the differences between being a tourist and contributing to scientific research; the experience of my third day may be telling just as important a part of the story of dolphins here in Kenya, as the one of my first two.
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, conservation, dolphin research, humpback dolphin, Kenya Wildlife Service, mkwiro, spinner dolphin
A Bad Day On The Ocean Is Better Than A Good Day In The Office
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Turtles | Date: Feb 25 2009 | By: gvikenya
Ross Hellings has recently joined us as a volunteer to assist in our research and community work, and gives us his first impressions of life with GVI Kenya:
I arrived on base in Mkwiro on Saturday afternoon after an adventurous trip from Mombasa, and from that point on it’s been a hard, fast and fun learning experience…
Day 1: camp training with exciting items like fire extinguisher training, oxygen tank checking, radio training, safety lectures and practice scenarios, and the list goes on!
Day 2: the real fun began… we started the day with lectures and tutorials regarding the on-going marine research, and then into identification of different marine mammals and turtles, and methodology of the research. A swim test was also thrown in for good measure before lunch, under threat of otherwise needing to wear highly fashionable fluorescent orange life vests for 2 weeks.
Day 3: our first day on the water, and what a day! Early on we found Bottlenose dolphins, and then the highlight, a pod of almost 100 spinner dolphins! These fantastic mammals stayed with us for around 30 minutes, playing, socializing, jumping, surfing the waves, and bow riding! It was an amazing experience to watch. We ended the day with an ‘exam’ to test our identification skills as well as our knowledge of the methodology and practice of the research.
Day 4: again early on in the day we had our first encounter, this time humpback dolphins, followed shortly by bottlenose dolphins!
I could continue, but there is too much to say… My first week has been amazing, seeing the major species we would expect to see in the region, as well as spotting a few elusive turtles! I can definitely say doing marine research is much much more fun than a normal working day; I have a new saying, a bad day on the ocean is better than a good day in the office!
May the adventure continue!
Ross
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, dolphin research, humpback dolphin, spinner dolphin, turtle
Spinner Dolphins East of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles | Date: Jan 29 2009 | By: gvikenya
It doesn’t happen as often as I’d like with so much else going on but yesterday I joined the marine research team, 6.30am departure aboard our research vessel ‘Lampard’, on calm waters with the rising sun to warm us…
I take the tiller, captaining the boat east out of the Wasini channel, the rest of the team assume positions for dedicated watch. Passing the coastal forest of Shimoni I spot a colobus in the canopy and an African Fish Eagle… but today is the marine research programme, and it’s dolphins and turtles that we search for.
Rounding the south-east corner of Shimoni peninsula we enter Funzi bay, hoping to spot Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins that favour these near-shore habitats. No sign of them today. We pass a green turtle, but sadly a recently dead one floating at the water’s surface. No obvious cause of death, but this time of the year, during the kaskazi winds (the NE monsoon winds), seems to bring a peak of turtle mortalities each year. Much of Funzi bay is shallow and doesn’t leave us much room to manouvre so we turn the boat around and head south, towards the continental shelf and open water. A flock of terns dives persistently at the water’s surface but the fish shoal they target has gone unoticed by any dolphin.
A more distant splash and a suspected dolphin sigthing, something dark and rounded surfacing. Half-way there before it becomes evident it’s another dead turtle bobbing at the surface. A huge one this time, a hawksbill, it’s been dead for longer and given the size it reached, somehow a sadder loss as we circle around it and continue our route south.
Sergi, our marine research officer takes over from me at the stern as I join the rotation of observers up front, each with our 45 degree field of view to patrol. Tom calls out a potential dolphin far ahead, an apparent leap and splash, Sergi steers us toward the point on the horizon and we keep scanning the surface. We rotate positions, both Tom and I looking forward, he sees something again, but is disappointed when there’s no following dorsal fins or repeat splashes.
Still we head further south, further from the shore and are rewarded 15 minutes later by 4 dorsal fins breaking the water’s surface ahead. They approach the boat to ride the bow and a further 3 dorsal fins join them. We expect them to be Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins out here, but the small triangular fins, the smaller torpedo-like bodies and the long narrow beaks all point to something different. Three tone body colouration as they surface confirms we have found a small group of spinner dolphins.
Sergi hands me the camera, I try to get photos of the dorsal fins of each one as they sruface to breathe. It’s not as easy as it seems it should be. Unpredicatable quite where and when they will surface as they dart across the bow just below the surface, the angle has to be right, the sun behind, sharp focus… and you have to be quick. Sergi uses the time to talk the team of observers through the dolphins’ behaviour. Close to the surface, regular slow shallow surfacing, no obvious directional travel; they were probably resting. We leave the small group and within minutes an apparent lone individual further away leaps from the water, an acrobatic spin that gives them their name. Then 10 dorsal fins surface to our right. We barely get through counting them when at least 20 fins appear on the right. Our group of 7 was actually part of a larger group, in the end we estimate 40 to 50 individuals.
Spinner dolphins are thought to be seasonal visitors to this part of the Kenyan coast, possibly crossing the channel from Pemba, following the food with the kaskazi. In previous years we have recorded them between mid-February to mid-March, in large active groups (up to and over 200) off the shelf, south of the MPA. This kaskazi we had one sighting in December, and then last week. We do not think that this season represents any ‘break from the routine’ but more likely that our new research vessel gives us a higher, clearer viewing platform, and survey routes take us further from shore so we simply see more. The real exctitement is that we are now understanding more about these seasonal visitors; their ’season’ is longer than we first thoguht, and they are using habitats east of the MPA for resting suggesting they may be here for more than just quick foraging forays. Ironically, the fact that they are consistenly recorded outside of the marine protected area is not of too great concern. They are free from disturbance by the dolphin-watching tourist boats and in the absence of commercial fishing activities are not threatened here by high levels of accidental deaths from by-catch that plague some of their open-ocean counter-parts through industries such as tuna fisheries which are yet to be quite as ‘dolphin-friendly’ as we might be lead to believe.
I’ll keep you posted throughout our ’spinner season’…
Tags: African Fish Eagle, Colobus, dolphin research, green turtle, hawksbill turtle, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, spinner dolphin
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