Whale Sharks

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 20 2008 | By: admin

Brent and Volker yesterday, getting their gear ready on the boat. Volker tagged the 2 sharks yesterday. His first ever tagging, and a real success!

This is Mike the gyrocopter pilot and David the KWS spotter with Volker, just about to take off on day 2 of the expedition. I have just heard from the team and although they have spotted a shark, no tagging so far on day 2.

More updates for you later!

One response so far

Category: Research | Date: Feb 19 2008 | By: admin

Here we have our gyrocopter pilot Mike Cheffings and volunteer Simon Wanjonah taking off at the start of the day 1 of the expedition. It was Simon’s first time in a gyrocopter and he spotted a whale shark within 5 minutes.

Tomorrow I will have pictures of the tags and tagging for the blog.

No responses yet

Category: Research | Date: Feb 19 2008 | By: admin

Day 1.

Those of us involved in the expedition didn’t sleep last night - excitement, fear of not seeing any sharks or jet lag kept us all awake! We had 16 members of the public, all keen and eager to get out there and see sharks. The gyrocopter took off just after 1130 and within 10 minutes had spotted the first shark. The plane followed suit. And I got the call I was waiting for.

Within 30 minutes, 2 sharks were tagged

Am dashing back down to Aqualand to welcome back the team and toast the flying start. Will post more details later!

To all of you who crossed your fingers for us - THANK YOU, it worked!!

3 responses so far

Category: Research | Date: Feb 19 2008 | By: admin

I met today with the KWS Kisite Marine Park Warden, Yussuf. This was the first time we met and it was nice to put a face to a name. We resolved to push for an MOU between the EAWST and the KWS. Our ultimate goals are to illegalise the whale shark trade in Kenya, carry out an aerial survey and put in place a proper system for whale shark eco-tourism in our waters. Lots to do!

I also met our super star local pilot Peter Zanetti, who has so selflessly helped with us with our whale shark tagging. He flies up and down tireless, spotting sharks and guiding the boats to the hot spots, keeping everyone happy both researchers and tourists alike!

And BIG news! Our researcher, Brent Stewart, has just arrived all the way from San Diego, California. It was wonderful to see each other again after a year of planning, emailing and hoping. He endured a 30 hour plus flight to get here and arrive in one piece, amazingly. Our gyrocopter pilot, Mike Cheffings, also arrived in one piece, perhaps more amazingly (!!), all the way from Langata in Nairobi. It took him 5 hours to fly down to Diani and he landed on the beach in front of Aqualand with style. We were all agog at this little green helicopter circling for a bit and then landing right in front of us. Brent arrived with all manner of goodies - high tech radios, tags, chocolate! We toasted Expedition 2008 - Ronnie the manager of Pinewood Village, providing the accommodation to the team; Volker Bassen our founder and local expert; Simon Englefield, director of Southern Cross Scuba and Camp Kenya, providing the boat and other logistical support; Simon and Ruth our volunteers.

It is the beginning of something special - we could all feel that.

Ready, steady, TAG!!

No responses yet

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 18 2008 | By: admin

I met today with the KWS Kisite Marine Park Warden, Yussuf. This was the first time we met and it was nice to put a face to a name. We resolved to push for an MOU between the EAWST and the KWS. Our ultimate goals are to illegalise the whale shark trade in Kenya, carry out an aerial survey and put in place a proper system for whale shark eco-tourism in our waters. Lots to do!

I also met our super star local pilot Peter Zanetti, who has so selflessly helped with us with our whale shark tagging. He flies up and down tireless, spotting sharks and guiding the boats to the hot spots, keeping everyone happy both researchers and tourists alike!

And BIG news! Our researcher, Brent Stewart, has just arrived all the way from San Diego, California. It was wonderful to see each other again after a year of planning, emailing and hoping. He endured a 30 hour plus flight to get here and arrive in one piece, amazingly. Our gyrocopter pilot, Mike Cheffings, also arrived in one piece, perhaps more amazingly (!!), all the way from Langata in Nairobi. It took him 5 hours to fly down to Diani and he landed on the beach in front of Aqualand with style. We were all agog at this little green helicopter circling for a bit and then landing right in front of us. Brent arrived with all manner of goodies - high tech radios, tags, chocolate! We toasted Expedition 2008 - Ronnie the manager of Pinewoood Village, providing the accomodation to the team; Volker Bassen our founder and local expert; Simon Englefield, director of Southern Cross Scuba and Camp Kenya, providing the boat and other logistical support; Simon and Ruth our volunteers.

It is the beginning of something special - we could all feel that.

Ready, steady, TAG!!

No responses yet

Category: Research | Date: Feb 15 2008 | By: admin

Volker Bassen (our founder) has gone off to Mombasa today to modify a spear gun which will be used to deploy the satellite tags. He loves that kind of mechanical engineering stuff and likes to call himself Bassen Engineering. This modification will allow us more success we hope. The actual tagging is quite a tricky and involved process, made just that more stressful because as the tagger how can you put out of your mind that each tag costs USD5000!! You need to be sure that you get it in the right place and in deep enough to stay on so that there is maximum data retrieval. The tags are set to detach themselves are a specified period decided by the scientist. We can’t watch the tracking in real time (wouldn’t that be nice!) so we have to wait until they detach to transmit all the data to the satellite and then back down to us. We are still waiting for last years data. Christmas will come twice for us next week as we start our 2008 expedition and last years tags are set to detach. We will have lots of news for you soon.

Thank you for reading our blogs. I am still glued to my computer answering mails and taking booking for next week. Brent Stewart our head scientist arrives on Monday along with our first volunteer (we lost so many due to the political situation) so three cheers for David for coming!!

We still need donations in order for the expedition and of course all our projects to work. This week in particular we need a phone to Brent to use whilst he is here (his American one doesn’t work here). The project doesn’t own a phone. A phone would cost about USD60. You would be directly assisting us with the expedition if you helped us with this as it will be used by Brent will on the boat so that he can communicate with the air support if necessary. We will have radios too of course but we like to play it safe and have mobiles too.

Have a nice day! With best wishes from Diani.

No responses yet

Category: Whale Shark events | Date: Feb 13 2008 | By: admin

We are so excited! Expedition 2008 is on the Kenya Tourism Board website www.magicalkenya.com This is HUGE for us and we really grateful for the support we have received from the KTB in publicising our project. We think that Expedition 2008 couldn’t have come at a better time for tourism in Kenya. We have had so much support from so many people as we have prepared for Expedition 2008. The local business community have really stood behind us and helped out with various services. My inbox is flooded with mails from people wanting to come and participate and phone doesn’t stop ringing. Our little office (such as it is in a corner of my living room) is swamped. And we are loving it! It shows that people care about whale sharks, that they are interested and excited about our work, that they feel it is worth supporting. All we are hoping to do, in inviting the public to participate (at a fee), is to cover our costs which are extremely high because of boat and plane fuel costs. We feel that it is important for the public to get a chance to see the researchers working. It is a once in a life time opportunity! Our banner is up along Diani beach road and our posters are everywhere (thanks to the Colobus Trust www.colobustrust.org for helping us put them up). Everyone in Kenya is talking about whale sharks!

One response so far

Category: Research | Date: Feb 11 2008 | By: admin

We have less than one week until Expedition 2008 kicks off. Somehow, with a lot of help from various parties, we are going to pull it off, despite the political problems in Kenya which have made the planning very difficult. For example, there is a shortage of Avgas (fuel used by small planes) which has meant major headaches all round. We have persevered though, and now we will have a plane (if funds and fuel allow), a gyrocopter and an ultralight too! It is the first time that we will use either a gyrocopter or an ultralight and we are hugely grateful to the owners and pilots who are donating their precious equipment and time. These 2 aircrafts are much, much cheaper to run than a plane so we are pleased about that! Our stalwart scientist will arrive from San Diego next Monday and I will update you daily on how many whale sharks are spotted and tagged. Generous sponsors have donated 15 satellite tags - the most ever to be deployed in one expedition. Fingers crossed for Expedition 2008 which has taken on new meaning for all of us as our country recovers from the recent political unrest.

We at the project feel that we are fortunate to be able to play a part in the conservation of our planet and its many species. It is both an honour and a privilege to be able to carry on with our work, even when times are tough. We feel very strongly that we owe this work to our planet and all the bright and beautiful creatures in it.

If you read the front page of the SF Chronicle recently, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off that they only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her - a very dangerous proposition.

One slap of the tail could potentially kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and other diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around - she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you and all those you love be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And my you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

I pass this story on to you in the same spirit.

3 responses so far

Category: Research | Date: Feb 07 2008 | By: admin

No responses yet

Category: Whale Shark events | Date: Feb 02 2008 | By: admin

WHALE SHARK SATELLITE TAGGING EXPEDITION 18 FEBRUARY - 2 MARCH 2008 DIANI BEACH KENYA

Come and take part in our annual whale shark satellite tagging expedition on Kenya’s beautiful south coast. Meet world renowned scientists and underwater videographers. Join us on our daily whale shark safaris. Watch the research team tag the world’s biggest fish. Swim with whale sharks! Support our ground-breaking research and be part of our team.

You can expect to see whale sharks everyday and your boat will be guided to the sharks by a spotter plane. Your whale shark safari will last around 4 hours leaving at 11am. Divers leave at 8am and will do one dive before joining the expedition. Please bring your own refreshments!

Snorkelers 6000/- per trip (@ USD90)

Divers 8000/- per trip (@ USD125)

Accomodation 1500/- per person per night at Watano House self-catering (@ USD 25)

3950/- per person per night at Pinewood Village Hotel on half board basis (@ USD 60)

For bookings please contact Nimu on +254720293156 or nimu@giantsharks.org

We are grateful for our kind sponsors for helping us make this expedition a reality and a success.

Southern Cross Scuba www.southerncrossscuba.com

Diani Fishing Club www.dianifishingclub.com

Pinewood Hotel www.pinewood-village.com

Leisure Lodge Resort www.leisurelodgeresort.com

Kinondo Kwetu Hotel www.kinondo-kwetu.com

No responses yet