GVI Kenya

Category: Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles, mpunguti island | Date: Oct 21 2009 | By: gvikenya

Around 2000 years ago, trade in sea turtle products was observed in the Red Sea and East Africa region and although trade in ambergris and ivory occurred, tortoise and turtle shell was the most commonly mentioned product.  (Jack Frazier, Proceedings of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Turtle Conservation Workshop, Mombasa, 2005). All five species of Indian Ocean sea turtles are considered to be endangered and can be found in Kenya. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are reported to nest throughout the coastline but although there are some green turtle nests confirmed in the nearby area of Funzi Island, sea turtles haven’t laid their eggs in the KMMPA (Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area) for at least seven years.

So it was with great joy that last week GVI Kenya heard the good news about a green turtle visiting the white sandy beach located in the Lower Mpunguti Island. Lily, from Coral Spirit Restaurant, located in Wasini village, shared with us the pictures she took while she was visiting the island.

Green turtle arriving in Lower Mpunguti Island in September 2009 (photo by Lili Angel).
This is an amazing happening in this Marine Protected Area, and will hopefully contribute to the conservation efforts GVI and its major local partner KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) are putting in place in the area. The islands of Mpunguti are known to support an important population of coconut crabs, nesting sites to African fish eagles, and its surrounding waters are frequently visited by Bottlenose and Humpback dolphins, as well as Hawksbill and Green turtles that feed on sea grass and algae. Both local fishermen and KWS rangers still recall the days when the turtles came to lay eggs on the Lower Mpunguti Island, the only sandy beach available for setting up the nest.  It has been almost seven or eight years since the last turtle arrived on the Lower Mpunguti Island.

 Female Green Turtle preparing the nesting site, throwing sand with her flippers (photo by Lili Angel).

Green turtle leaving the beach, returning to the sea (photo by Lili Angel). 
Green turtles typically live about 45 to 59 years. Given that a female nests in six or seven of those years and lays about 330 eggs each nesting season, she will produce 1900-2300 eggs in her lifetime. Factoring in natural predation, fungus infection of nests, and other embryo failure rates, one can expect each healthy female to produce 1000-1900 hatchlings (Spotila, James R. Sea Turtles, 2004). This information emphasises the importance of a single nest in this region. Although this turtle did not lay its eggs, she might go back to the nesting place or other turtles might look for this place as an option to nest. The next crucial step in this process is to take management actions in order to protect the nesting area and recognize it as a non-disturbance place.

Nesting site attempt (photo by Lili Angel)
The historic decline of green turtles is one of the most cited and best documented conservation issues. Its population has declined 50-70% since the 1900’s and they are recognized internationally as endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and are protected in the Appendix I of the Conventional on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and in Appendix I and II of the Convention Migratory Species (CMS).

The Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee (KESCOM) was established to complement government commitment to addressing global concerns for marine turtle population decline. GVI works closely with KESCOM in sea turtle conservation efforts, through research, education and capacity building activities such as training in biology and ecology of sea turtles. The data and the pictures collected in our study area (KMMPA) are shared with this organization in order to recognize and protect important foraging, mating and nesting areas for sea turtles. The ultimate goal is to restore green turtles to population levels at which they can fulfil the ecological roles they performed in the past.

 Ines Gomez

Tags: , African Fish Eagle, algae, ambergris, biology, bottlenose dolphin, capacity building, coconut crab, conservation issues, Convention Migratory Species, Conventional on International Trade in Endangered Speci, Coral Spirit Restaurant, East Africa, ecology, education, embryo failure rates, endangered, fishermen, fungus infection, Funzi Island, global conscerns, hawksbill turtle, humpback dolphin, indian ocean, ivory, Kenya, Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee, Kenya Wildlife Service, kisite mpunguti marine protected area, KWS rangers, Lower Mpunguti Island, management actions, natural predation, Red Sea, research, sea grass, sea turtles, tortoise shell, turtle shell, Wasini Village, World Conservation Union

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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

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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

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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

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Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Turtles, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 27 2009 | By: gvikenya

Tom O’Dell travelled from the UK to assist us with our marine research programme so we thought we’d share is perspectives on the work and the life out here in Kenya… 

I think I am a little different to the others here, everyone else is involved in some type of conservation work, or has spent, or is spending months travelling. Not me!

I am a so-called IT professional who was owed a couple of week’s holiday and can’t stand the idea of sitting on a beach reading and sunning myself for days on end. I had two weeks, no plans, a hatred of being bored and fancied something different , so I packed my bags and headed off to Kenya to do a couple of weeks marine conservation work. That was two weeks ago, and I am sitting here, on my last day wondering how I can wangle more time off work.

To say the conditions here are rustic is a small understatement, there’s no fresh water except that which is collected when it rains, the shower facilities consist of a bucket and jug on the floor and the toilet is, literally, a hole in the floor. And with all this “rusticness” comes probably the greatest sense of community and togetherness I have ever experienced.

You are never alone here, unless you want to be. If you are feeling under the weather, everyone does whatever they can to help you out (I have had my fair share of acclimatization problems); if you are feeling down, they will do whatever it takes to cheer you up and if you do want some time to yourself, then they will leave you to it.

Despite my intentions, being here is not a holiday, you work most days, cooking, cleaning, building, but everyone has their jobs and everyone helps out each other where they can, adding to the sense of community.

Working on marine conservation is quite simply amazing. The best way to describe it is probably to quote a text I sent a friend of mine back home; “Typical day, up just before sunrise, have breakfast and traipsed down to the boat. Watched the sun come up across the water then started “work”. 7am, watching a pod of bottlenose dolphins feeding about 20 meters away from the boat; 10am snorkeling on a reef looking for turtles, managed to photo a green before it swam away; 11.30am back on the boat heading home for lunch, took a slight detour to watch some humpback dolphins socializing. Back at base to learn about the dolphins and turtles we saw, relax in a hammock, do a little computer work, then dinner and drink in Paradise. Wednesday tomorrow, more of the same”. Let’s just say the response I received was blunt (she was a little envious).

Were it possible, I would stay out here longer, and I definitely heading back to explore further. Unfortunately, the “modern world” beckons. I’ve been two weeks without television, internet access, cars, running water, microwave and have only sent and received 10 texts in total which for a so called IT professional borders on heresy, and I’ve loved every minute of it.

Tags: bottlenose dolphin, dolphin research, green turtle, humpback dolphin, Kenya, volunteer

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