GVI Kenya

Yesterday we had an incredible blue day out in Marine. The days start quite early, by 6:00am we are all taking our breakfast, while the sun is still half asleep. At 7:00am we are already in the boat, searching for some animals in the blue pristine waters of the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area.
Just as we went off, we saw this beautiful African Fish Eagle, just staring at the water, resting in a tree by the water. This big eagle is commonly found in this area and nests in high trees, especially acacias, figs or euphorbias and feeds mainly on fish, but also water birds and carrion.

The magestic African fish eagle (Haliaetus vocifer) 
After surveying the beautiful Funzi bay, we changed course and headed to Nyuli Reef and the Marine Reserve. In the shallow waters of Nyuli, we had another interesting sighting; two big green turtles were mating just about 30m from our research vessel. We turned off the engine and witnessed the courtship and mating behavior, while we recorded the coordinates on our GPS. Hopefully all went well for this pair and soon enough the female can lay her eggs in the sandy beaches of Funzi Island. Green turtles can lay more than 100 eggs, which take about 60 days to incubate and hatch. In Funzi, the Local Turtle Conservation Group, helped by KESCOM (Kenya Sea Turtle Committee), and GVI Conservation interns, patrol de beaches and provide environmental education to local people to help to conserve and protect this endangered species.

 The mating turtles

A turtle surfaces and is caught on camera
We continued our survey and headed to Kisite Marine Park, when we found a group of dolphins socializing and traveling. Excitement on the boat, while we grab our marine mammal sighting form, GPS and camera for photo-id. Some of the animals in the group are well known to the research team, such as chiizi, as well as two mothers and their calves. The water was so calm that we were lucky enough to see the calf breastfeeding under the water, just next to the boat. Wooohh! The mother and calf association in dolphins is very strong and the baby dolphins can breastfeed for more than two years. The mother’s mammary slits are located in either side of the genital slit.

 A mother (catalogue number 37 or “Patsy”) and her calf

“Patsy” and her calf
 

The day went on and we decided to snorkel transect 9. As if it couldn’t get an better, we had two turtle sightings while snorkeling; one juvenile hawksbill turtle and one adult green turtle. This green turtle seems to be resident at this spot, since we have seen her over and over on transect 9. It is very easy to identify her, as she is missing the back right flipper. It might have been caught in a net or hit by a propeller while younger, but managed to survive and heal its wounds. Alongside with the turtle we witnessed the amazing reef fish variety of the Marine Park.

 The turtle spotted on transect 9
 

Hopefully, all the data GVI is collecting will continue to contribute for this ecosystem to maintain its unique characteristics and help to conserve its biodiversity for the years to come!

This past Wednesday found the GVI marine team travelling from Wasini Island to Funzi Island for two days of training with the Funzi Bay Turtle Club, a local community effort to save endangered sea turtles.  Currently there are about 30 members in the club, 20 of which, including the chair, are females from this traditional Muslim community on the island.

Since we usually spend our days on the water monitoring local and migratory marine species, to have two full days on dry land was quite a change of routine.

 Douglas explaining the importance of sea turtle conservation

Upon arrival, we were met by one of the club members and taken to our house, where we met up with KESCOM volunteers Sonya and Avidad from Sweden, here for three months.  KESCOM (Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee) currently supports many grass-root turtle conservation efforts along the Kenyan coastline.  This support comes in the form of monetary donations, grant writing, providing volunteers, management and contacts with other local organizations.  Douglas is the KESCOM Funzi Island representative.

 Jennifer LeClair giving the presentatoin about whales and dolphins

After our introductions we proceeded to the village for a tour and to the mangrove forest for a planting session.  Since mangroves are among the fastest disappearing ecosystems in the world, each tree really counts!  The turtle club also runs a shop with some very unique gifts made by local community members, and we all spend some time and money there.

Following a fabulous meal cooked by the ladies of the turtle club (one of many such delicious meals) we began our training with the group.  Our goal was to help the club members learn to interact with tourists and to give them information that tourists would like to hear, in addition to giving them important information about habitat conservation.  We showed a number of PowerPoint presentations to the group and with the help of Douglas on the Swahili translation, gave them information about ocean conservation, sea turtle identification and morphology, and local whale and dolphin species.  Club members were extremely interested in learning and asked a number of thought provoking questions following each presentation.

 Mangroves

One of the most common questions asked by the community members was how to explain to the other islanders (100% of which are fishermen) topics regarding conservation of the ocean environment.  We were able to provide some examples, but in the end had to explain that changing people’s minds is a very slow process.  Since entanglement in discarded fishing nets is one of the biggest threats to marine animals, we suggested that this was a good issue to start with in the community.  We were very impressed with the concern of the club members about the welfare of the ocean habitats and animals, especially in an area of the country where ecosystem destruction and human disturbance is prevalent.

Overall, both sides seemed very pleased with the progress made during the first day of training.  The volunteers of GVI would like to thank KESCOM and the Funzi Bay Turtle Club for there generous hospitality and delicious traditional food.

Mangroves of Funzi Island

Howzit!!

My name is Nic. I am a conservation student from South Africa. I have joined Global Vision International (GVI) as a conservation intern to gain experience in the field of marine biology. I have been with GVI for 7 weeks with a further 13 weeks to go.

In accordance with my internship project on the socio-economic impact and tourism strategies of Funzi Island, this involves the establishment of a baseline review of the turtle conservation efforts on the Island. It calls for me to:

• Identify areas that will require further development with direct and indirect benefits for the Turtle Conservation Groups (TCG) and that of the local turtle populations;
• Identify breaches of local laws and legislations that protect the turtles;
• Research alternative conservation strategies;
• Ways in which the GVI can assist the TCG’s in their endeavours;
• Look at ways to increase eco-tourism sustainably and build local awareness of sea turtle conservation;
• Identify environmental impact associated with tourism of the local sea turtle population and hence find the best measures in which to mitigate each impact.

 Funzi Island

Sergi (marine science officer for GVI), and I made our way for the weekend to meet up with Douglas, who works for KESCOM and Ali Vuyaa the head of the local turtle conservation group on the Island, Funzi Turtle Club (FTC).

We arrived at Bodo and where transported via the FTC’s boat to the Island. The weekend was peppered with activities which included: a meeting on conservation strategies that are in place and ways to better future endeavours on Funzi, and the local communities involvement in turtle conservation on the island, a walk through the forest where exotic fruits were tasted and tantalised our palates while local monkeys swung freely through the canopy above, a turtle nesting site was visited on a excluded beach cove, a village tour that was undertaken, lunch at a local restaurant had, a visitation of the islands holy kaya’s, meeting with local community involved with the FTC and anti-poaching strategies as well as  being shown the local handicrafts made from sandals collected from beach clean ups and a mangrove tour.

 One of the sacred Kaya’s

A down side to this visit to this magical place was to see the amount of destruction created by land developers on the forest and mangroves, which the local community are trying to rectify through the TCG’s involvement and the assistance of GVI and KESCOM.

 Some of the recent destruction

The island of Funzi is a marvel and the sights and people create a magical ambiance which should be protected, explored and maintained. I look forward to more visits in the near future and working closely with the TCG’s and local communities, in which the partnership between them and GVI will develop their eco-tourism in a sustainable way.
Funzi Island must remain a majestic, tranquil, beautiful island and I will happily be apart of its positive change and development in the future.

Nick with members of KESCOM and Funzi Turtle Club