GVI Kenya

Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Humpback whales, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, bottlenose dolphins | Date: Oct 10 2009 | By: gvikenya

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.

Tags: , calf, data, dolphin survey, East African Coast, ecological conservation, economy, funzi bay, humpback whale, marine conservation, marine mammals, mother, tour boat, tourist, wasini channel

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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

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