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.

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