Tapping Local Knowledge
Category: African Fish Eagle, Birds, Cetacean research, Community Conservation, Dolphins, Mangroves, bottlenose dolphins | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: gvikenya
As part of GVI’s marine research programme here in Mkwiro, we conduct interviews with the local fishermen on the island. The people here have been fishing for generations, and spend more time out on the water than anyone. They can provide invaluable information about sightings (of dolphins, whales, turtles, dugongs etc), catches, pollution and illegal activities. A GVI volunteer Hooi Ling, tells us about her day conducting interviews.
The villagers on the island are Muslim so we made sure we had our head, shoulders and knees covered before we set off for our excursion. As usual, the children greeted us with loud, enthusiastic “Jambo! What is your name?” as we walked through Mkwiro village. Some of the faces were familiar because we were working with the community last week teaching them English and Creative Arts, and playing sports and singing songs with the children. A few of the children had learnt Mandarin phrases and it warmed my heart to hear them greet me with “Ni hao” (how are you) and “Huan yin” ( welcome).
A sacred ibis, seen from the mangroves
After about 15 minutes, we reached the mangroves. Felicity explained the importance of mangroves for preventing soil erosion and creating a breeding and feeding ground for fishes and birds. We learnt how mangrove trees survive in salt water by growing roots, which protrude above ground for oxygen and shed leaves to discard excess salt. The trees also grow long, green seed pods which float around at high tide before setting itself in the ground at low tide. She pointed out tiny gastropods (snails and sea slugs).
Fiddler crabs fascinated me!!! The male crabs have one very enlarged chela which they use to wave in a circle to establish territory and to attract females. When lots of fiddler crabs waved together, they looked like they were doing a Mexican wave; quite comical to watch. And the number of amazing birds you see from the mangroves is just incredible! We saw herons, african fish eagles, a sacred ibis and a knigfisher!
When we arrived in Wasini village, we looked for the local fishermen and found a few young men who could speak English and were willing to translate Kiswahili for us. I interviewed a 55 year old fisherman who had been fishing for over 20 years. GVI had a comprehensive interview to find out from local fishermen such things as the types of fish they had caught, fishing equipment, whether their catch had increased/decreased over the years and which fishing grounds they used. We also asked them about the dolphin and turtle population and the level of damage caused to their nets. After the interview, fishermen informed us that the local villagers had set up a committee since 2003 to protect the Wasini reef from fishing and coastal pollution.
Another beautiful sight - a western reef heron
Annica and I ate some local food (chapatis with a nice cup of hot ginger tea) while the others (Flick, Kirsty and Mila) visited the coral gardens. The coral gardens consisted of dead corals surrounded by mangrove trees and the local women’s group has built boardwalks around the corals. My highlight of the day was when I saw four bottlenose dolphins jumping and travelling with the tourist dhows.
Although I was not out on a boat today, it has been an enjoyable day learning about the mangroves and seeing the dolphins. Asante sana Flick!
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, Dugong, fisherman, humpback whale, interviews, Mangroves, marine research, sacred ibis, turtle, western reef heron
Marine Research Through the Eyes of a Naval Officer
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles | Date: Apr 27 2009 | By: gvikenya
Jon “JR” Olson is a U.S Naval Attache based in Helsinki. He has come to the south coast of kenya for two weeks to join GVI in its marine research project in the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area. He has kindly written this blog about his first day as part of the research team.
The 0530 alarm went off next to my head and, at first, I forgot where I was. Then, the heat and humidity of the early Kenyan coastal morning kicked in as I peeled off the sheet from my sweating body. While some would be put off by this rather uncomfortable fact, I, personally, felt exhilarated as this was to be my first official day working as a member of the dolphin research project in the Kisite Mpunguti Marine Protected Area.
By 0600 I was showered, had organized by personal snorkel gear, camera, sunscreen, some additional clothes, etc, and was in the kitchen eating a quick breakfast. I was the new guy and had to prove to the GVI veterans I could contribute to this project. Contribution started with me helping to fix breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen area afterwards, packing the equipment for the day, etc. By 0630 our group of nine people was hauling the gear down to the water and loading up SQUIRREL, our shuttle boat. A few minutes later we were motoring our way across the Wasini Channel bound for Shimoni Village and our moored research boat known as BARDAN. After transferring our gear to BARDAN, we got underway on our search for dolphins and other marine life.
Within minutes of starting out, we spotted our first pod of bottlenose dolphins, right in the middle of the Wasini Channel. We spent 45 minutes following a pod of seven dolphins as they transited west down the channel. We took dozens of photographs, logged the entire event, and ended the sighting around 0745. BARDAN then turned east and we headed out into deeper water destined for Kisite Island by way of Funzi Bay. We motored slowly under cloudy skies, which, on this particular morning, considering my still pasty white flesh, was OK with me. The conditions were absolutely perfect for searching the seas for pods of dolphin and other marine species. And, as luck would have it, while transiting south from Funzi Bay, we spooked a large surfacing turtle which promptly inhaled deeply and rapidly dove back into the deep.
Photograph showing a bottlenose dolphin feeding on a turtle
Some two hours after we departed Shimoni, we arrived in the channel area of the Kisite Mpunguti islands. It was not long before we spotted a small group of tourist dive boats and we set course for those boats as it was likely they would be accompanied by some type of marine life. Once again, we were lucky and as we arrived in the vicinity of the tourist boats, we spotted a number of pairs of bottlenose dolphins, all of them engaged in socializing behaviors, and possibly some feeding. We tracked these pairs of dolphins using cameras, the event and sighting logs, and maintained contact for approximately 30 minutes. The dolphins then disappeared and we began making our way toward our snorkeling destination near Kisite Island where we would snorkel a defined path, known as a transect, in search of more turtles.
Once in the water, which, to me, feels like bath water because it is so warm, we started our transect and were not disappointed after sighting three turtles, two of which we were able to specifically classify as Green Turtles.
A bottlenose dolphin with scars that are believed to be the result of a shark attack
Once back in the boat at the end of our snorkel phase, we logged the information on the turtles in the Mega Fauna log and then proceeded back to the northeast, heading back to base for lunch and afternoon of data entry into the computers and some time spent correlating dolphin photos with individual dolphins. It was amazing to me to see the truly distinctive dorsal fin marks on each of the local, or resident, bottlenose dolphins listed in the photographic data base. After expert tutelage by GVI intern Karen, I was able to quickly identify a number of dolphins in the data base with photos taken by other research teams, providing much needed data for GVI to inform the Kenya Wildlife Service about key aspects of dolphin behavior. This information will allow KWS to develop better policies for protecting the Marine Protected Area, which will, in turn, protect the bottlenose dolphins habitat.
As I finish this blog, I realize it is almost 10PM and I have to get up again shortly after 0500 tomorrow morning. I get to do it all over again! I can’t wait!
Tags: bottlenose dolphin, Cetacean research, funzi, green turtle, kisite mpunguti marine protected area, marine protected areas, mkwiro, shimoni, turtle
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
Olga Rides the Waves at Wasini
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Turtles, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 23 2009 | By: gvikenya
Here at GVI we are fortunate to have volunteers from around the world join us to support our research and community work and of course learn about the incredible habitats, wildlife and culture of Kenya. Olga Bloemen has joined us on the expedition for 7 weeks, coming from the Netherlands, and shares the news of our marine research programme with you…
My first week on Wasini Island in Kenya is over already. Monday was filled with training activities such as dolphin and turtle identification, data recording procedures, dolphin behaviour and how to use the radio; “Base, base, base, this is squirrel, squirrel, squirrel. Do you copy? Over?” I learned a lot but I couldn’t wait for Tuesday as it would be our first trip out on the boat searching for dolphins!!!
My alarm rang at 5am and I took a bucket shower under the stars which was amazing, although at that early hour, a bowl of Weetabix is all my stomach could stand! At 7am we were on the boat crossing the water between Shimoni and Wasini Island, heading for the open water. We soon spotted a group of Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins swimming just a few metres away from the boat, including a mother with her calf. The team of watchers scan the sea for hours and then someone spots a fin and the whole boat bursts into energy! How many are there? What is their behaviour? All information is recorded on the forms, but as important is to take photographs of the fins. These are used to identify the dolphins using the photo-identification catalogue and the mark re-capture programme.
A sighting is cool, but being on the watch and on the boat with the wind in my hair is what I enjoy the most. It feels a bit like riding the waves! The snorkeling, searching for turtles and all the tropical fish is also quite incredible… I can’t wait for my next marine research week!
Bye for now, Olga
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