Greetings from Holbox island (pronounced “Holbosh”), venue of the 2nd International Whale Shark Conference. It is so exciting to be here and now the conference is well underway. We started on Tuesday with an opening address. Paco Remolina from CONANP (the National Protected Areas body) has been in charge of organising the conference and here he is welcoming us.
Note the very cool logo for the conference - can you see that it is the inside of a whale shark’s mouth with all the countries of the world in dots representing the whale sharks spots? Very clever! We have 3 interesting days full of presentations from all over the world. Rachel Graham from the WCS presented some new work from Madagascar where she has been putting our acoustic tags. This was particularly relevant to us because we will be putting out tags with Rachel in November. It will start giving us an idea on whether we are sharing sharks with countries close by. We have also had fascinating talks by the Mexican delegation. They just have so many sharks here in Holbox - it is incredible! Look at this picture. Can you count how many sharks there are in the frame? Can you imagine what it must feel like to be surrounded by that many sharks?
The Indian representative Vivek Talwar gave a very good presentation too. The Indian story is another amazing one. In the area of Gujarat they used to slaughter whale sharks to export the meat and fins to Taiwan, China etc. Now thanks to a very ingenous campaign using religious leaders they have completely stopped the slaughter. Whale sharks in India are completely safe
They have made a life size whale shark which they take from village to village on their campaign. We plan to do this in Kenya as it has worked so well in India! It costs around USD500 to make so if you want to help us start this ball rolling please donate!
They use children to send the message that whale sharks need to be protected and that they are more valuable to us alive. Note that India has done very little research and has no real whale shark tourism yet they have an incredible whale shark conservation campaign. Watch this space for when they start doing research and perhaps tourism. It will be very interesting to see what happens.
Brent presented the research we have done todate which of course had everyone on the edge of their seats because we have put out the most number of satellite tags in one place on whale sharks EVER!! Here he is blowing everyone away with his data so far
Perhaps the most interesting and controversial presentation so far has been by Bruce Carlson from the Atlanta Aquarium where they currently have 4 whale sharks in captivity. Bruce made a really cohesive presentation and I will post about that tomorrow. I have some amazing photos on what they have been doing for whale sharks in Atlanta and how they transported the animals. Some people feel that large, highly migratory animals like whale sharks should not be held in captivity so his talk really provoked some very heated debate. I am interested to hear your views on this. The Atlanta Aquarium has proposed that they host the next conference. Some delegates immediately said they would boycott it! What do you think? I am going to tell you my views tomorrow when I do a full post on Atlanta. A lot of the delegates have gone out whale shark watching but I wasn’t feeling well so have stayed in the village, grateful for a lie in and a chance to catch up with some work. We have had really long days during the conference because there is so much work to do. Here is a picture of the sunset here and on that note I will say goodbye until tomorrow!
Yesterday we went out tagging with Rachel Graham from WCS. We are going to put out accoustic tags in Kenya with Rachel in November. We met Rachel at the conference in Perth 3 years ago and it was great to meet up again after so long. Also on the boat was Rafael who is a representative from CONANP, Mexico’s national marine regulatory body. Rachel put out 2 accoustic tags, Rafael put out some streamer tags as well as taking biopsies and Volker took some amazing underwater footage of the sharks. I took pictures from the boat and had some fantastic swims with the sharks we saw. We also saw dolphins, 2 sets of mating turtles and hundreds of cow-nose rays which Volker managed to film which wasn’t easy because they were very shy and moving at an incredible speed. We will show you some of his video work when we get home next month. In the meantime here are some of my pictures. Here is Rachel about to take some photos of a tagged shark.
This is Rachel’s husband Dan swimming alongside the shark. It was incredible to see how the sharks feed mouths agape. The water was very clear on the surface but surprisingly murky (and cold!) once you got in. This is the jetty with all the whale shark tourism boats. There are a total of 140 licensed whale shark watching boats here on Holbox island and people come here almost exclusively to swim with whale sharks.
Rachel has made some temporary tatoos - here is a picture of Volker and me with our whale shark tatoos on
Tomorrow we will finish off working on our presentations for the conference which starts on Tuesday. We will continue to keep you all updated on our work here on Holbox island. Until then, all the best from Mexico!
Greetings after a long time! Volker and I are finally here on Holbox Island 4 hours north of Cancun, Mexico. It was a lot of work but we managed to raise the funds to get here and as you can imagine it was a monster trip all the way from Diani Beach, Kenya. The conference starts next week and we are looking forward to it hugely. We will get a chance to present our work and show how much we have done since the last conference 3 years ago. It is exciting because we really have done an enormous amount! We also get a chance to meet up with all our whale shark friends and learn about what they have been doing in their parts of the world. It will be a fascinating global showcase of whale sharks research and conservation efforts. I promise to upload some photos to keep you all posted on this the 2nd International Whale Shark Conference in history. Thanks and do keep reading our blog!
Hunters blamed for whale shark losses 29th May 2008, 7:00 WST Whale sharks are becoming more scarce and smaller in the Ningaloo Reef area, according to research by Australian scientists Scientists fear Indonesian fishermen hunting whale sharks are responsible for a 40 per cent drop in numbers along the Ningaloo Reef in the past 10 years. “They are after the fin for the shark fin soup trade, not because they contain a lot of the material used to make the soup, but so restaurants through southern China can advertise the fact that they’ve actually got shark fin,” researcher Mark Meekan said. “The flesh of the animal is also cooked up to the consistency of tofu, in a dish called ‘tofu fish’, which is quite popular.” Researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, who presented their findings at the second annual Ningaloo Research Symposium at Murdoch University, are also worried by a drop in the size of whale sharks along the reef. The average of 6m to 7m observed in the 1990s has dropped to about 3m to 4m. “That is important because the sharks don’t become sexually mature until about six to seven metres long. It’s a real worry. The population is becoming more and more composed of juveniles,” Dr Meekan said. Deaths from ship strike could also contribute to the population decline. “Twenty-five per cent of the whale sharks at Ningaloo bear scars from ships,” Dr Meekan said. “These animals spend a lot of time at the surface, they float around. A modern container vessel moves at 25 knots, so the ship would not even notice if it hit one.” Natural predation was not likely to account for the drop in the number of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef. At smaller sizes whale sharks might be pursued by killer whales, great white sharks or tiger sharks, but its thick skin makes it a difficult meal to catch. The AIMS team used satellite tagging to track whale sharks for up to eight months after leaving Ningaloo Reef. Dr Meekan said it was alarming to find that some whale sharks travelled well into the waters of Indonesia and South-East Asia, where hunting was a real threat.
I have spent all day at my computer applying for travel funding for the 2nd International Whale Shark conference to be held in Mexico this July. Here is an excerpt of my justification of attendance document in support of my application. Background:The story goes that when God created the whale shark he was so pleased with his handiwork that he gave his angels handfuls of gold and silver coins to throw down from heaven into the sea. These coins landed on the whale shark’s back as it swam peacefully near the surface and that is why the whale shark is called “papa shillingi” which translates as “shark covered in shillings”. So it is that whale sharks swim near the surface as a way of saying thank you to their maker. Whale sharks have called Kenyan waters home for many years. Recently, there has been a significant increase which is perhaps related to the post El Nino mantis shrimp invasion. Based on Diani Beach the East African Whale Shark Trust was founded by Volker Bassen in response to the dramatic increase in sightings as well as increased interest from the tourist sector. The increase in whale sharks along the Kenyan coast has meant that they have become more of a target. Under international law, whale sharks are only given a secondary type of protection. They are listed under CITES Appendix II meaning that trade in whale sharks is allowed but must be monitored. Although relatively little is known about the biggest fish in the ocean, most specialists will agree that this level of protection is not enough. The overall aim of many whale shark projects is to raise awareness so that the level of protection afforded to whale shark is increased. The more we know about whale sharks the easier it will be to review the level of protection. The EAWST aims to provide a research centre for collecting and analyzing data on the local whale shark population, its habits and movements. The Trust will work closely with other regional organizations because whale sharks are migratory. About the whale shark:Seen as an indicator of a healthy marine eco-system, whale sharks are filter feeders. They eat plankton, sieving it from the water through their gills. They are often seen swimming slowly along with their mouths agape, feeding as they move through the water. They can grow up to 18m and weigh up to 20 tons. They give birth to live young. They are solitary creatures for the most part and live in temperate waters around the equator, both along coastlines and in the open seas. Recent studies have revealed that they can dive to depths of over 1000m and that they spend most of their time at great depths, coming to the surface mostly at night to feed when the plankton rises with the diminishing ambient light. Threats:The major threat the whale sharks in our waters face is being caught in the local fishermen’s large mesh nylon drift nets. Unfortunately this is getting increasingly common. Joint initiatives are underway between the EAWST and local fishermen to encourage more environmentally friendly fishing methods. EAWST:The EAWST has various projects underway, perhaps the most exciting being our tagging programmes. 2007 marked the first ever successful tagging expedition to be run off the coast of Africa. Over 50 whale sharks were spotted and 11 tagged in an 8 day period. Various tags were deployed including satellite tags and streamer tags; DNA samples were also taken. In 2008 we made history by tagging 17 whale sharks with satellite tags – the most ever to be tagged in one place at the same time with satellite tags. We spotted over 40 whale sharks in a 10 day period. April 2008 will see our first acoustic tagging expedition in conjunction with WCS. About the tags:The satellite tags can store data for up to one year after which the tag is released by a timer and the data is transmitted via satellite. These tags give data such as dive profile, ambient light, and salinity levels. From that it is possible to work out migration patterns. These tags cost around USD 5000 each. The archival tags are considerably cheaper at USD 600 a piece and whilst they store similar data they have to be removed from the whale shark in order to retrieve the data. Acoustic tags at USD 250 each very quickly give us an idea of our local population. Whenever a shark swims within a certain radius of the underwater receiver the data is stored and retrieved weekly. Finally the streamer tags are small numbered flags that are attached to the whale shark to allow visual identification. Mexico Conference: The potential for conservation, education and tourism in Kenya is enormous as people travel all over the world to see whale sharks in remote places such as Mexico and Australia. Kenya is easily accessible to the European market in particular, as well as having other attractions such as our beautiful game parks. Attending the Mexico conference will promote our country by raising the profile of whale sharks in Kenya. Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea and whilst they belong to the shark family they are completely harmless and eat plankton. As a flagship species of our ocean they deserve the ultimate level of protection and respect. We still have so much to learn about the whale shark and international conferences are a crucial way of collaborating the work that is being done world-wide. It is important for Kenya to be represented at the conference so that we are given the opportunity of presenting our work in this field todate particularly the tagging research that we have started. Wish me luck with my applications! You can help by telling all your friends about our blog so that they can follow our work and donate to help save whale sharks in Kenya!
Sorry for the silence - we have been away (celebrating my mum’s 70th birthday). Very very nice but good to be home. And what a treat to come back to the news that an anonymous donor has made a kind donation of USD25. Thank you SO much whoever you are When we receive a donation it means we can carry on with our work, be it community based or research based. When the money runs out, it means quite simply that we cannot do our work unless we pay for it ourselves (which we have all done for years too!). So a donation, nomatter how small, makes a very REAL difference to us. We can buy education materials to make our workshops in schools more fun, we can help Simon with his food bills, we can pay for boat fuel when we go out on research expeditions, we can give fishermen viable alternatives to using their deadly nets that catch whale sharks and hundreds of turtles each month. With your help we really do make a significant difference straightaway. So a big thank YOU!! Our current focus is on getting funding to attend the 2nd International Whale Shark Conference in Mexico this July. We are applying for travel grants. We feel that it is really important that we attend this conference. We both attended the first ever international whale shark conference in Perth, Australia in 2005. We made invaluable contacts there and can honestly say that we are where we are today on the back of that amazing opportunity to network and see how Australia manages its whale shark eco-tourism. Since then we have done an enormous amount of work - we have done 4 tagging expeditions, numerous fundraising campaigns, consistent community work and publicity. This year we put out the highest amount of satellite tags in one place in history and we want to be able to present all our work in Mexico. We have effectively put Kenya on the global whale shark map. Last year we almost made it to Mexico but Hurricane Dean caused the conference to be cancelled which was really sad. We are determined to get there this year to fly the flag for Kenyan whale sharks! I am also busy trying to organise a big fundraising concert to raise money for the project. Katya Grineva who came to do a charity benefit for us wants to come back - her big concert in January had to be cancelled because of the post-election violence. We are delighted that she wants to come back but need at least one big sponsor to help us make that happen. So as it pours with rain outside and the seas heave and the wind screams and the boats are all brought up for the next 3 months, we continue with what community work we can and as much paper work and admin as we can stomach! Please help us get to Mexico so that we can continue with our work here in Diani come October when the whale shark season starts. Greetings! News from our scientist Brent in San Diego - another of this year’s tags has popped up. Tag 80172 appeared a few days ago just south of the Kenya-Somalia border and has drifted steadily NE along the coastline. It is now near Ras Komboni, Somalia (a reported Al Quaida training area so Brent advises not to go chasing this particular tag just now). The tag appeared offshore jus a little north of Lamu and near Pate island. This tag was scheduled to come off in November (9 months after tagging on 22 February off Diani beach. We don’t know yet why it has popped off. It could have been taken off or the dart tip came off or the line was bitten through - the shark was at relatively the same depth for a while and sometimes this can trigger the early default release as well. We might get some clues when the data is all in and can be analysed properly. In any event, we will have 2 months worth of data on where this shark has been which is great news! Very positive Will keep you posted with any other developments. Have a nice day
Sad news re the acoustic tagging expedition - we went out yesterday from 10am to just before 3pm and did not see a single shark! We had 6 hardy expedition members with us including staunch supporters from Nairobi and a journalist all the way from Kigali in Rwanda. Peter Zanetti was our pilot teamed up with David Kimtai our KWS spotter and Volker was all set to tag. It was very windy and overcast so the sea was quite rough and it was hard to see anything with the sun. It had poured with rain during the night as well and even though I had dreamt about seeing lots of sharks it was not meant to be. We sat out there on the churning sea for hours watching the plane go up and down but we only saw dolphins and turtles (not bad but not great when you are looking for whale sharks). Here is Volker giving a briefing and behind him you can see Gwili from the Colobus Trust who also joined us. Gwili’s mum has actually adopted and named the first 2 sharks that we tag with acoustic tags so although it was completely by chance it was very fitting that Gwili was on the boat with us for the start of the expedition.
This is a picture of the actual tags with some visual references for you thrown in for you to judge size easily.
They are amazingly small - the silver dart goes into the whale shark’s skin. You can also see that they are numbered and coded.
And here is a mournful sight - Volker’s spear gun with tag attached and fins close by - all set for him to jump in when the radio call comes in.
Sadly the fins did not touch water yesterday and the tags won’t be put out now until November at the earliest. I am really disappointed as I wanted to report on this when we presented our work to date at the 2nd International Whale Shark Conference to be held in Mexico in July. We have never tried tagging at this time of year but were of the opinion that unless we try we will never know more about our whale shark population. I was totally convinced that we would see whale sharks! Thank you to all the people who came down to support us, and hopefully we will have more success next time. We are glad that we tried because otherwise we wouldn’t have learnt what we did. Every little bit of research that we do really counts and helps us build a clearer picture of whale sharks in Kenya. It will now be a double celebration when we finally do put these tags out because we were so disappointed this time. Every donation we receive will also help us carry on with our work so please help us continue what we have started.
I was on my morning run this morning and as I ran past Baobab Hotel going south I looked up at their colobridge (bridge for colobus monkeys suspended above the road) and thought of the mass destruction the hotel has recently wreaked on our ecosystem. Once upon a time they cared enough about the environment to sponsor a colobridge - what went wrong? I was thinking about setting up some sort of protest/picket line because of the massive deforestation they have caused. I was thinking of calling the KTN/Standard group. I made a mental note to talk to Gwili about it later that day. On my back going north as I passed the hotel I noticed a small crowd and saw one of them holding a suni (a type of miniature antelope) with very badly broken hind legs. I could hardly bear to look at it because it was in such extreme pain. I went to the guards’ booth and asked what was going on. They said that everything was under control so I asked if they had called the vet but nobody replied. I suggested that one of the looky loos with bikes rode quickly down to the vet’s surgery which is about 300metres away but nobody wanted to help. I asked to speak to the manager of the hotel using the phone from the guards’ booth but when I spoke to him and calmly explained the situation I was dismissed. I said that I didn’t have a car and that the animal was in real distress. He said he didn’t have a car either despite the fact that Baobab Hotel is a large, well-established resort. I asked him to call the vet or the Colobus Trust because it was before opening hours but he said he didn’t have their numbers. I was horrified by the way I was treated and by the complete lack of interest displayed by the management. Nobody came to the gate to find out what was happening. Nobody came to see if they could help the poor creature. So I refused to leave until the vet or the Colobus Trust was called. I tried being nice then I tried explaining how the hotel didn’t need any more bad publicity - please see the Colobus Trust blog for details on the devastation caused by the development of the hotel. I even threatened to go the police and the media which got the guards a bit twitchy. I kept praying for someone I knew to drive past. Eventually after a lot of begging I convinced one of the taxi drivers to take me and the animal to the Colobus Trust. If he hadn’t agreed I would have had to walk with the poor creature in absolute agony. We put it in the back and I held onto it’s neck, trying to reassure it. It had the most beautiful dark eyes. They were bright and alert. It must have been terrified. I kept thinking that it was probably going to be put down and felt utterly heartbroken. We got to the Colobus Trust and woke Gwili up. The creature was immediately in good hands and Gwili and his team were so kind. It was such a relief to be able to go to the Colobus Trust premises where they take such good care of animals. I learnt later that they had to put the suni down. I feel so sad about the whole incident. The hotel staff at the gate were not equipped to deal with the emergency although they arguably did their best. The management’s response was shocking. They should a have list of emergency numbers on hand. As a so-called eco-friendly hotel, they should jump at the chance to help animals in distress PARTICULARLY in light of the negative publicity they have had over the past few weeks (which believe it or not they have the nerve to dispute). Instead the manager I spoke to on the phone was rude and unhelpful. The worst part is that the death of the suni this morning is a direct result of the deforestation caused by their illegal development. Those little creatures have nowhere to go and so they wander onto the road or get snared in traps because they are more visible. Without the protection of dense indigenous forests, they are easy targets. It is beyond description. I urge you all, please read the Colobus Trust’s blog which details the illegal development this hotel is carrying out. Please contact NEMA (National Environment Management Authority) email dgnema@swiftkenya.com or dgnema@nema.gov.ke and voice your concerns. I have emailed the manager of the hotel, NEMA, KWS, the police, the Diani Residents Association and everyone else I can think of. This one little suni is just the start if we don’t stop them.
Check out these pictures of the last tagging expedition taken by Agnes on a disposable (!!) camera - I think they are great!!
Look at the beautiful patterns on this shark. What a marvellous creation!
That is a remora (sucker fish) next to the shark below.
A big thank you to Agnes for sending me her pictures. And, nice surprise, here is Brent tagging elephant seals - check out the East African Whale Shark Trust T shirt!!
I still have some spaces left for the acoustic tagging expedition coming up this weekend so contact me if you are interested! Have a nice day folks!
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and this is so important as we suspect Gujarat may be a breeding area because they see many large females there. The Indian campaign focused on re-education, and it really worked!
Nimu Njonjo and Volker Bassen report daily on efforts to save the worlds largest fish. Join our marine research, tagging and following whalesharks in Diani Beach, Kenya.
