Whale Sharks

Category: Fundraising | Date: Jan 29 2008 | By: admin

I am becoming sadder by the minute at the turn of events here in Kenya and am determined to pray harder and harder for peace. It is very strange to go on as normal on the one hand and on the other hand watch the news with all its dreadful graphics of horror. I am in Nairobi having some horribly major dentistry done and things are certainly more tense here than they are down at the coast.

 Apart from the dentist, I will meet various publishers about the collection of children’s stories I have written about a whale shark. If any of you have any experience in this field, please do share as the publishing world is the great unknown for me! I will also be trying to circulate information on our tagging expedition next month as we need lots people to come and watch the researchers work. It doesn’t cost too much (particularly when you think that it is a once in a life time opportunity to swim with whale sharks) and this is the main way we pay for the spotter plane which is so crucial in spotting sharks. So any of you at a loose end, come down to Diani beach from February 18. I will be putting a poster up on the blog in the next few days.

It is difficult to concentrate on all this exciting work when you get the feeling that things are on the verge of some sort of (dare I say it) breakdown in the country we all love so much.

“Ultimately we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our trouble world.”

Etty Hillsum 1914-1943

One response so far

Category: Whale Shark events | Date: Jan 25 2008 | By: admin

We are delighted to announce that the latest edition of the East African Wildlife Society’s magazine Swara included an article on our project entitled “A New Dawn For Whale Sharks In Kenya”. The article describes the work we do here at the project, the problems we face with the use of traditional fishing nets and how we are trying to overcome this.

Swara is a quarterly magazine owned by the East African Wildlife Society, a non-profit making organisation formed in 1961 following the amalgamation of the Wildlife Societies of Kenya and Tanzania themselves both founded in 1956. It is the Society’s policy to conserve wildlife and its habitat in all its forms as a regional and international resource.

The impala is the symbol for the East African Wildlife Society. “Swara” is the Swahili word for antelope.

Have a look at their website www.eawildlife.org

Thank you Swara!

3 responses so far

Category: Education | Date: Jan 23 2008 | By: admin

Cuba helps the Hawksbill

Cuba
has closed down its “fishery” of 500 hawksbills a year giving a lifeline to
Caribbean
turtles in the region.
© WWF-Canon / Cat Holloway

Nesting Magnitude -

Cuba

.
© WWF

22 Jan 2008

Cuba
has thrown a lifeline to the
Caribbean
’s endangered and critically endangered marine turtles with a ministerial resolution ending all harvesting of marine turtles.

Such a resolution, ending

Cuba

’s long standing harvest of 500 critically endangered hawksbill turtles a year, has been sought by conservationists for more than a decade. It will benefit turtles hatching on beaches throughout the
Caribbean
and coming regularly to feed in Cuban waters.

Like marine turtles worldwide, the
Caribbean
’s endangered green and loggerhead turtles are threatened by the loss of nesting and feeding habitats, egg collection, entanglement in fishing gear, climate change, and pollution. Hawksbill turtles are also threatened by hunting for tortoise shell and suffered global population declines of 80 per cent over the last century.

“This far-sighted decision represents an outstanding outcome for
Cuba
, for the wider
Caribbean
, and for conservation,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

“

Cuba

is to be commended for the example it has set in intelligent decision-making informed by science and the long term best interests of its people”.

The phase out of the marine turtle fishery in

Cuba

is the result of a joint effort by the Cuban Ministry of Fisheries and WWF, with financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

“This decision reflects the political will of the Cuban government to join the call of the international community to adopt measures that guarantee the conservation of marine turtles”, declared Dr. Elisa Garcia, Director of Fishing Regulations at the Ministry of Fisheries of Cuba.

The two remaining fishing communities used to harvest marine turtles in

Cuba

are being provided with funds and technical assistance to help them implement specifically developed sustainable economic alternatives, modernize their fishing fleets, re-train their inhabitants and engage them in hawksbill turtle protection activities.

The WWF/CIDA grant of over $400,000 also supports the Ministry’s Centre for Fisheries Research to become a regional hub for marine turtle conservation and research, capitalizing on decades of experience by leading Cuban scientists. It will also strengthen the Office for Fisheries Inspection (the Cuban Fisheries law enforcement group) to ensure compliance with the ban.

Recent research has shown that the Hawksbill’s preference for feeding on sponges means it plays a significant but until recently unappreciated role in the continued health of coral reefs, by opening up new feeding opportunities for some varieties of reef fish.

We at the EAWST think this is great news - only yesterday 3 large turtles washed up on Diani beach, having died in a fisherman’s net. We are continue to work hard to present realistic alternatives to the traditional nets but it is an uphill struggle. So we really are encouraged when we hear positive things like what is happening in Cuba. Good job Cuba!!

4 responses so far

Category: Education | Date: Jan 21 2008 | By: admin

We are getting ready for our annual whale shark research expeditions which will run from February 18. This year our scientist from HUBBS Seaworld Research Institute will arrive with 15 satellite tags. That is HUGE if you count that one tag is worth USD5000. Last year we deployed 3 satellite tags. This year we hope to deploy all 15. It will be history in the making!

We have also had donated from the WCS an accoustic array and will work together to set up the first accoustic array in Kenya. The array of tags and gear is currently somewhere between Diani beach and Belize, so we will let you know when the equipment arrives. We are very excited about starting a new type of research. The accoustic tags are a lot cheaper at about USD200 each and the beacons are around USD500. We will put the beacons at various whale shark hot spots along our coast line, starting in Diani. When a tagged shark comes within a certain radius of the beacon it is recorded and we can gather data on how faithful the whale sharks of Diani are to this area. Eventually we will have beacons all along our coast and that way we can see how faithful our Kenyan whale sharks are to these waters.

We still do not have an official sponsor and desperately need help to make the research expeditions work. Specifically we need funds for the spotter plane as the fuel is very expensive and the plane is crucial in helping us spot the sharks. So if you can help us even in just a small (or BIG) way, please do! You can ADOPT a shark if you want by helping us buy more tags or contributing towards a tag. You will then be able to name the shark when we tag it and we will send you updates whenever it is tracked.

Then when your friends ask if anything exciting happened to you today you can say that you adopted a whale shark

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jan 16 2008 | By: admin

The political situation in Kenya (much as we all try to keep positive and put our best foot forward) has affected the country from top to bottom. I can’t speak for everyone but I can tell you that although things have more or less returned to normal in Diani and there is food on the shelves and petrol in the petrol stations (I can’t believe that things ever got to the stage where I can write that last line) there are effectively no tourists. The hotels should be packed, the boats should be full, this quiet beach should be heaving. I would be the first to admit that mid-December I couldn’t wait for the low season, couldn’t wait for the beach to return to normal but no-one ever thought for a second things would turn out the way they have. The hotels are empty; hundreds of people have lost their jobs; the boats lie idle; dive schools are completely still; many people are moving their operation to Tanzania. There is no-one here.

I think I speak for most people when I say that we are all trying to be positive and go on as normal but when you rely on the tourist trade (an so many of us do, directly or indirectly) it is a real slap in the face. Our scientist team coming in February is considering postponing and although we are trying to persuade them that everything is ok, I couldn’t blame them if they did postpone. Who would actively choose to go to a country suffering political unrest? I remember landing in Yemen (yes, Yemen!) on September 11. Enough said.

You read about Zimbabwe and other torn apart places but until it happens to you I think you have no idea. I was talking to someone who told me that their neighbour’s house was completely looted - everything was taken. Purely on the basis of tribe. She witnessed the whole thing. There are no words.

So I say that there is no rest for whale sharks because our work is severely hampered by the political situation. There is so much we want to do for whale shark conservation in Kenya but while things are the way they are our hands are somewhat tied, no doubt about that. Don’t forget we wanted this to be the year that the whale shark trade was banned completely in Kenya. We wanted Kenya to set a shinning example. (Ha ha - such irony.)

No rest for whale sharks because we will keep on doing the little we can on the ground here in Diani. We will deploy satellite tags. We will set up our first ever accoustic array. We will continue our work in the community.

And no rest for whale sharks because no matter what goes on here on Kenyan soil, the whale sharks will keep swimming along our shores. And there must be some comfort in that.

One response so far

Category: Whale Shark events | Date: Jan 05 2008 | By: admin

It has been quite a week here on Diani beach. First we had a huge fire on 27th December which destroyed the 2 largest shopping centres and brought the beach to a standstill. We were really lucky not to lose our house as the fire was raging just across the road. So many houses here have makuti (dried palm leaves and similar to hay) so they all went up in smoke in double quick time. The devastation was total and so many little kibandas (road side kiosks) were flattened as well. It was terrible to see. Needless to say there was then no internet connection for a few days.

Then we have had such upheaval and turmoil after the presidential elections. There have been riots and skirmishes, looting and even shootings. Consequent food and fuel shortages followed suit because most things have to come across the ferry to the south coast. Ukunda village is the worst hit with no unga (flour) and other food stuffs at all. We have all tried to pull together and get on with life. We haven’t really felt like travelling to far afield and New Year’s eve was a very low key affair. Today there were eggs in the shop for the first time in a week!

So we continue to soldier on. Things are not as bad as reported by the international press. And we have Katya Grineva, the concert pianist, here with us. She played for the whale sharks at Diani Reef Hotel on New Year’s day and we were going to go to Nairobi to do a big charity concert next weekend. Unfortunately this is most likely going to be cancelled so we are staying in Diani and will do a series of Peace Concerts at Leisure Lodge Hotel. Katya will play for whale sharks and for peace in Kenya.

Two positive things amidst all the madness: My children’s book about a whale shark is also going to be published which is great news and we have been given an accoustic array to start accoustic tagging. We still need an official sponsor so that the project can run all year round. But we are optimistic that 2008 will be a good year for whale sharks in Kenya.

So we at the East African Whale Shark Trust wish you a happy and peaceful 2008. We hope it marks a new beginning for all of us.

One response so far