Whale Sharks

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

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Category: Research | Date: Mar 27 2008 | By: admin

Fantastic news from France!! Our 2 tags have arrived in San Diego and they are now safely in Brent’s hands. They will be sent off for analysis and then stand by for ground breaking data and history making news! I am so relieved that they are safely with Brent. You always worry that such a precious cargo might get lost somewhere along the way…but Brent has just emailed to say he has them and we are delighted!

Here is a close up of tag 66003, our famous year old tag.

 

Look how battered it is - almost like someone has tried to scrape off some bits…for now it is a mystery. We will learn a lot about this tag in the coming days but we will never know everything about its journey…

Volker and I are in France and we send you bisou a tous!!

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Category: Research | Date: Mar 25 2008 | By: admin

Here is the story in pictures of our tags trip to Europe. I carried these tags in my hand luggage like they were gold dust! Here they are in my hand luggage with my book and keys. Can you see how scratched and worn they are? The one that is really badly scratched is the one that has been on a whale shark for a year. It is well worn! You can clearly see the antenna, the high pressure foam bulb float which contains the pressure and temperature guages and then the main tube with all electrics including the battery and software then finally the light sensor which is the clear bit at the bottom which gives us info on ambient light levels. This allows us to determine dive depth, day, time etc.

This is a picture of the tags on my kikoy. A kikoy is a Kenyan type sarong. Check out www.kikoy.com for more info. I don’t go anywhere without mine.

 

Here is Volker holding the tags. I didn’t let them out of my sight and as soon as we landed I took them to the post office to send off to Brent. I won’t be able to relax until they reach San Diego safely!

I will keep you posted on their journey.

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

My name is Simon and I have been volunteering with the East African Whale Shark Trust for over a year now. This is the story about how we found the 2 tags.

A few weeks after the the great Expedition 2008, I recieved the call from Nimu that two tags hadfallen off! I rushed to see Nimu and she gave me details as how to locate the tags in two locations on the North coast of Mombasa. We looked at the Google maps Brent had sent us with the GPS locations and Volker showed us how to use the GPS.

I called David French who was then a volunteer with the Trust. The following day we took off  to North coast to go find the tags. According to the coordinates we were given one tag was somewhere at Nature trail (bamburi quarry transformed into animal santuary). It was the adventure and we were happy to look forward to it! On arriving at the spot we were shocked to find out the coordinates were pointing at the tree! Somehow we were confused.

We went on to look for the next on which was about 12 kms away. The funny thing was the GPS we were using directed us to the road which was access to the beach, but the same thing happened as with the first one. Frankly we were discouraged but we didn’t gave up.We put up posters everywhere in the villages where coordinates were close to. Then We headed back home.

Two days later we had some more coordinates which the tags had transmited.The first tag showed that someone was walking with it! On  arrival to the direction where the GPS was pointing it was at the beach but we didn’t have the access to it. So the only way was to  get permission from one of the homesteads next to the beach but it was not easy to explain to the  old man we met. David rushed with the GPSwhich was pointing that the tag was 30m away fro where were but the old man was furious with him for going through his compound. In fact he rushed and picked a machete to attack him! I cooled him down which was not easy. Finally he agreed to take us where the GPS was pointing at. On our way there we met two fishermen who agreed also to help us. On arrival at the spot we started to look for it and after 45min David found it Wow! We rewarded the two fishermen and the old man - they were happy especially the old man who apologised to David.

Then we headed back to the first one. I started talking to the beach boys where the tag had transmitted first. David had rushed to Mombasa briefly. Luckily one of the beach boys told me that they had collected it and one of them had gone with it home hoping it was a torch but it was not working. I went with them but they kept on asking me what was the reward! I told them once Iconfirmed it was the one I will give them each 1000/- or USD 10. A few minutes later they brought it to me I couldn’t believe it was the one! I called Nimu and David! Once we believed the coordinates they were right. It was the adventure I will never forget.    

Here is a picture of me with the tags we found!  

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

Remember I told you about the whale shark that was sighted off Mafia island in Tanzania on February 16? Matt Potenski, the researcher in Mafia, has sent me these pictures of our whale shark and its tag!! He told me that it was seen near the surface at 1125hrs. It was a male of about 5.5 metres

What you can see is one of our yellow fabric tags albeit with a lot of algae growth but you can just about make out K001 in the middle. Matt takes neoprene gloves with him to clean the tags and he told me he uses his XL Cressi freediving fins plus a lot of puff to clean the tag off so that he can read it! He had to get back on his boat 4 times and be taken to catch up with this shark 4 separate times in order to clean the tag!  He told me “I simply dive down and grab the tag - swimming fast enough to prevent any tension on the tag string and vigorously wipe the algae away”. What a star!

He also sent us a picture of the shark which will be sent off for photo ID.

Look at all the little fish around it. Isn’t it beautiful? We were so excited to hear from Matt and are so grateful to him for sending us the photos. I had to post this on the blog even though we are about to board a plane in a few hours. I wanted to share these photos with you. Please let me know what you think!

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Category: Education | Date: Mar 17 2008 | By: admin

I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the children’s book I have written about a whale shark. I would be so grateful for any information on how to go about publishing it. If any of you know anything about publishing or if you know anyone who would be able to help me I would really appreciate it. Having never done anything quite like this before I want to know as much about the publishing world as I can before committing to one publisher. I have already had 2 offers but want to go with the absolute best!! Really the initial goal was to have as many children read the book as possible thereby spreading awareness far and wide. Initially I thought just for Kenya  but now I want children all over the world to read it! So if you can help me achieve this it would be wonderful!! It will also be a good way of raising funds for the trust (I hope!).

Volker and I are going away for a few weeks so we might not blog as much as we have been. Will stay in touch though and let you know of course if we get any data from Brent or any news about any of the other tags.

Thanks again for all your support!

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