Whale Sharks

Category: Research | Date: Apr 24 2008 | By: admin

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
Last known coordinates are 1Deg 37.87′S, 41Deg 39.43′E so for those of you who can help us retrieve this tag, do feel free!

Will keep you posted with any other developments.

Have a nice day

3 responses so far

Category: Research | Date: Apr 20 2008 | By: admin

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.

4 responses so far

Category: News | Date: Apr 16 2008 | By: admin

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.

2 responses so far

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

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!

5 responses so far

Category: News | Date: Apr 14 2008 | By: admin

Quezon task force seizes cargo of alleged young whale sharks in Phillipines

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 16:57:00 04/07/2008

LUCENA CITY — A cargo of baby sharks, four of them allegedly from the “butanding” (whale sharks) species were intercepted in nearby Pagbilao town early Monday by a task force of provincial fishery officials and environmentalists, an official said.

Glenn Forbes, Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog program officer, said that on Sunday evening a concerned citizen and a local government official from the coastal town of Calauag, Quezon province tipped them off through a mobile phone that several baby “butandings” would be transported to Manila.

“We were alarmed when we were told that several newly born ‘butandings’ from Lamon Bay would be smuggled out. We could not let that happen,” said Forbes.

He said he immediately alerted the Quezon Task Force Karagatan/Sagip Kalikasan headed by Allan Castillo of the provincial agriculture office and, along with several policemen, set up a checkpoint in front of the Pagbilao town hall.

At around 1 a.m. on Monday, the group flagged down a cargo jeepney being driven by one Alberto Abat.

When searched, the vehicle yielded live “lapu-lapu” (groupers) and assorted ornamental fish in several plastic bags with oxygen tubes attached to the containers.

Hidden among the piles was a plastic bag with oxygen, which contained nine newly born sharks measuring half a foot to one foot in length.

Forbes said the owner of the fish cargo, a certain Analie Abat from Barangay (village) Sto. Angel, Calauag, admitted that she owned the fish cargo, including the sharks which she also called “butanding.”

The shark has random white stripes and dots, markings similar to the “butanding.”

Abat, according to Forbes, claimed that she bought the sharks from local fishermen for P20 each and that she intended to deliver them to an undisclosed place in Metro Manila.

“Four of the baby sharks looked like ‘butanding’ but they also looked like ‘coral catfish’ shark species. We’re still awaiting the official confirmation from BFAR [Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources] if it’s really butanding,” he said.

Forbes said four were confirmed to be “long tail carpet” while the species of the remaining one was still unknown.

He expressed alarmed that if the newborn shark species were confirmed to be “butanding,” most probably they would be smuggled out of the country.

Forbes said they allowed the fish traders to be released after several hours of investigation pending official confirmation of the shark species.

However, Castillo said there was no need for the official confirmation from BFAR. “The sharks were definitely not butanding,” he said.

The “butanding” is considered the biggest shark and the biggest fish in the sea, with some measuring up to 20 meters long and weighing up to 34,000 kilograms.

Two years ago, Lamon Bay fishermen celebrated the reappearance of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), indicating renewed vibrancy of marine life in the bay.

Whale sharks in Lamon Bay were common during the 1980s. They slowly disappeared because of irresponsible fishermen who feasted on their meat.

The group brought the shark species to TK office and placed them in an aquarium.

Unfortunately, three of the “long tail carpet” sharks died.

“We suspected that the sharks, including the groupers, were caught through cyanide fishing methods. And since they were newly born, their tender bodies were not able to withstand the toxic poison,” Zeny Bernal, TK marine office, said.

It is encouraging that this cargo was seized but really this is such sad news - obviously we hope that they weren’t whale shark pups but whatever they were, they died in horribly shocking and distressing circumstances and the threat to whale sharks all over the world remains high. Reading this article makes me feel really bleak. Please pass it on to all your friends and contacts in order to raise awareness on this issue.

This news comes hot on the heels of a request for pictures of whale shark pups - I am trying to locate the only one I have ever seen which is rows and rows of dead pups found after the mother was slaughtered. I will post it up when I find it.

5 responses so far

Category: Research | Date: Apr 13 2008 | By: admin

Here is a picture of the tag from this year that came off after only a few weeks. This was the 3rd shark we tagged this year. We tagged it on 21 February and it came off on 3 March. As you can see if you look really carefully, you can see that about half the dart tip is sticking out.

I think we were having trouble with the pressure charge on the speargun about then which might explain why it didn’t penetrate deeply.   Brent had made notes in his log stating that he wasn’t sure that it was a good penetration, just from seeing how much of the tether was exposed when looking at it underwater.    In any event, it did stay on for about 2 weeks so we will get some data on movements and diving and of course a real plus on the recovery as we can use it again. 

Here are the GPS positions that helped us find it.

2 responses so far

Category: Community work | Date: Apr 09 2008 | By: admin

Sorry for the silence everyone, we have been away! It’s good to be home although we are still en route and will get back to the coast on Friday
We have been working with SIFO Fish Organisation in Somalia for some time now because one of the 3 tags from last year came off up there. Mohamed, our kind contact, has been working tirelessly in an attempt to find that tag for us and he recently sent me these photos of his work. He is using this poster as a way of raising awareness about the plight of whale sharks in Somalia and we are really grateful for his help. We are hoping he will come to watch the acoustic tagging programme, set to start next week.

It’s a gruesome picture but it sends a strong message which is important.

It shows how if we work together, we can make a difference.

A big thank you to Mohamed and his team in Somalia

4 responses so far