GVI Kenya

Devon Tighe is a two-week volunteer, assisting with GVI’s marine conservation research. She hails from New York City where she does strategic research at the New York Times.

Back home in New York City I practice yoga. Now, let’s be honest: When most people think of yoga they think of a flaky, tree-hugging, hippy-types sitting around crossed-legged, chanting long, sonorous “om”s. Allow me to attest that this is not the case. For many of us, yoga is, very simply, about breathing.

Regardless of whether you come from New York, London, Nairobi or Mkwiro Village, I imagine you have heard the expression “just breathe”. In the literal sense, breathing is the natural, instinctual mechanism that keeps oxygen flowing throughout our bodies and keeps us alive. In the more prosaic sense, we associate breathing with the calming of our nerves, the steadying of our focus. Or, as we often say in the yoga studio, with the “letting go”.

When I participated in my first dolphin survey, we were fortunate to come upon an extraordinarily large pod of forty dolphins. While the mere sight of them was stunning, what I found myself most mesmerized by was the sound the animals were making.  When dolphins surface for a peduncle dive – which is the arc-shaped swimming movement most of us are familiar with – the animals exhale out of a blowhole that lies several centimetres in front of the dorsal fin. While we were out among the large pod, I was surrounded by the gracious, full-bodied sound of exhaling as the dolphins heaved gusts of air out of their graceful, dancing bodies.

“They are letting go” I kept thinking to myself. As we do in yoga, they are linking movement with the breathe. They are steadying themselves to stay on course. With that wonderful sound of spewing breathe, they are pushing out the dynamic force that connects us all – humans, dolphins, all the precious life in our world.

When I return to the hustle and bustle of New York City when I am finished with my time here on Wasini Island, I have no doubt that one of my favourite memories will be the sound of the dolphins. Exhaling.
Devon Tighe

The start of GVI’s marine research this October was certainly an incredible one. As part of the daily dolphin survey we were heading through Funzi Bay towards the Wasini Channel when Nick (our conservation intern/staff) excitedly drew our attention to a potential sighting. To our amazement it was a humpback whale and her calf.

There had been anticipation in the air that such a sighting may occur since the whales were migrating South from the warmer waters of the East African coast where humpback whales breed (during July and August), but no one could have expected it so early; we had been on board for a mere hour and a half.

While the sighting was spectacular, the events that followed demonstrated the challenges of marine conservation in popular tourist areas and the importance of GVI’s work. With minutes two tourist boats had also spotted the whales and, as one would expect, they wanted to get the best view possible. This attention clearly agitated the mother and her calf and they diverted their course away from Wasini Channel. Although it was incredible to have seen such an animal, it was sobering to have seen at first hand the direct impact of tourist traffic on marine mammals. Our humpback whale sighting was not the only sighting of the day to illustrate this…

Not long after having left the mother and calf, we encountered a group of bottlenose dolphins travelling through Kiste Mpunguti Marine Park. Again, we were exposed to the impact tourism is having in the area and the difficulty of balancing much-needed tourism with equally important conservation. We witnessed tourists jumping from their tour boat directing in amongst the group of dolphins. Of course, the possibility of swimming with dolphins is an excellent means of generating custom for the tour operators, but it is detrimental to the dolphins and indeed, it is prohibited by the KMMPA Code of Conduct.

These two sightings were an amazing start to the season’s marine research, but the experience was a stark reminder of the tensions that exist between the need for income gained through tourism and ecological conservation; both of which are vital to the local area and economy. In turn, these tensions demonstrate the necessity of GVI’s work and the value of the data it provides which is used by local organisations to develop solutions to such problems.