We were lucky to meet Matt Potenski who came from Mafia Island to visit us during the expedition. He has sent the following report and pictures showing the work he has done in Mafia. Rachel our scientist from the WCS gave him some receivers and tags to put out so that we can all work together. It is a very exciting start for Mafia as you will read below!! Many thanks for the info Matt - at least we now know where all the sharks are!!!

EAWST Blog – Cooperation with Tanzania

     To all the EAWST friends, greetings from Tanzania.  My name is Matthew D Potenski, and I run a research program on whale sharks in Mafia Island, Tanzania.  Over the last few years, some data has been collected to suggest that whale sharks may use areas of both Kenya and Tanzania.  This year I had the pleasure to come up to Kenya to meet with members of the EAWST and head out into the field with Dr. Rachel Graham.  Upon discussion with both Dr. Graham and the EAWST, we were able to look at some data and agree to collaborate on projects in the future.  In that vein, I have just completed my season of field research at Mafia, and have a number of interesting things to report.

Last year I made observations of a tagged shark off Mafia Island.  This is not remarkable as I tag the sharks there, but this shark had a tag that was not like the ones I put out.  After some effort, I was able to remove enough algae from the tag to decipher a number.  The tag read K001, and I rightly guessed that the tag’s origin was in Kenya.  I contacted members of the EAWST and they confirmed that it was a tag they put out.   In the past few months, I have re-sighted this shark numerous times.  At the last count, I have encountered this shark six times over a span of three weeks.  All the sightings have been made in the waters immediately to the west of Mafia Island.  Shark K001 was seen on January 27^th and 29^th, and February 1^st, 2^nd, 9^th, and 23^rd.  The identification of this shark was confirmed by spot-pattern analysis.  Please see below for a spot ID picture taken of shark K001 on January 27^th.

I am also happy to report that in cooperation with the EAWST and Dr. Graham, I have been able to deploy automated telemetry equipment at Mafia Island.

This means that Tanzania has joined with Madagascar, Mozambique, and Kenya in forming acoustic arrays for whale shark detection.  On March 20^th-22^nd I managed to deploy the eight transmitters I received from Dr. Graham.  Seven male sharks ranging from 3-6.5 meters and one 5m female were fitted with a Vemco V16 acoustic transmitter.

On the 23^rd, a small team helped me deploy two Vemco VR2W acoustic receivers.  This involved diving on scuba and pounding iron bars into the sand.  We then attached the units both to the bars and to 150 kg cement blocks as a preventative measure.  There is some net fishing in the area where these receivers are located and the cement block should be heavy enough to keep the units from being pulled up in a net.

The important point is that the deployment of this equipment is completely reciprocal with transmitters and receivers deployed by the EAWST.  This automated telemetry equipment may give further insights into the actual amount of migration by whale sharks between Kenya and Tanzania.  Sharks tagged with transmitters in one location can be detected by receivers in another location.  The actual residence time or amount of time a whale shark spends in a location with each receiver will be measured.  This means that data on both local movements and migrations between receiver arrays can be collected.  The receivers will spend several months in the water before they are retrieved and their data downloaded.  I know I am very excited to see what data we will be able to get with this technology, and I look forward to comparing data with the EAWST so that we can get a more accurate picture of the behavioral patterns of whale sharks in East Africa.

Special thanks to Volker, Nimu, and all the volunteers at the EAWST and to Dr. Rachel Graham of the Wildlife Conservation Society for their friendship and support.   I look forward to more whale sharks in both Kenya and Tanzania in 2010.

Please go to www.whalesharkpetition.com and sign the petition. Tell all your friends to do the same.

Resorts World at Sentosa wants to import whale sharks for the attraction and entertainment of visitors. Whale sharks are vulnerable to extinction and have never done well in captivity. They can grow as large as two city buses, migrate thousands of kilometers in the wild, and live up to a hundred years. It is just plain cruel to keep them in glass cages.

Whale sharks have never fared well in captivity. Two whale sharks died within five months of each other at the Georgia Aquarium.

Write to the Minister of National Development, the Singapore Tourism Board and
Resorts World at Sentosa before this tragedy happens on our shores.

Think of all the whale sharks swimming wild and free, think of how very little we know about these gentle giants and then think of them dying in aquariums. Please sign the petition.

Thank you.

You can see the tag clearly in the picture just below the dorsal fin.

Rachel has been with us for over a week now and this is the only shark we have seen. We are planning to go out again this weekend and Rachel has extended her stay so that she is here for the last 2 days of the expedition! Her enthusiasm abounds and she is firing up her satellite tags in anticipation of the Saturday expedition even as I write this blog so she is obviously hopeful

Thanks for reading our blog and we will keep you posted on how the expedition goes.

After almost 2 weeks with zero sightings, yesterday at almost the end of the expedition Rob our pilot spotted a whale shark opposite the Barclays shopping centre. He said he had to look twice and nearly fell out of his seat he was so surprised! We have searched solidly now for 2 weeks with no joy and Rob was coming in to land when we spotted this shark. Quick as  a flash Rachel tagged it with our 3rd acoustic tag and the boat full of kind expedition members danced with joy!

With sightings so low we have had to keep our researcher and film crew busy. One of the things we did was to put down an acoustic receiver in Nyuli which is a deep site further south with the kind assistance of Harm and Selina from Pili Pippa. Harm and Selina run a fantastic snorkelling and diving dhow trip. They will be in charge of the receiver station and work together with us and with Rachel at the WCS to gather and analyse data. We all got some great footage of the Nyuli receiver being put down and I will put some pictures up soon. I had the opportunity to film it with my new video camera. Filming underwater is not as easy as Volker makes it look that’s for sure!! I really enjoyed it but have a lot to learn!

Another thing we did with the Australian filmcrew is take them up to the Shimba hills - Kenya is one of the only places in the world where you can swim with whale sharks in the morning and have sundowners with elephants in the afternoon! Quite a claim to fame and one that will feature in the documentary being made.

We have also been kept busy with local film crews doing stories on the whale sharks. We have had no less than 3 different crews from Nairobi alone. As always the huge interest in our work is so encouraging even when we don’t see any sharks! The boats have been full every day and people are so supportive of what we are trying to do. When they don’t see sharks they all look on the bright side and we haven’t had a single complaint if they don’t see sharks! People understand that whale sharks are wild and free (thank God) and if they don’t show up there’s nothing much we can do about it. But we have seen hundreds of dolphins each day which is always very special. We are learning more each time we take the boat out and put the plane up. This expedition is one of the longest aerial surveys of Kenya’s south coast ever to be carried out. It’s amazing what you can do with community support and interest from the public - we are acutely conscious of that and very grateful to everyone who has supported us.

This shark we tagged yesterday has been adopted and sponsored by London Vision Clinic and is to be called Eagle Eye. Thank you so much to Professor Dan Reinstein and the London Vision Clinic for their kind and constant support to our project. It is through Professor Dan that we met world renowned concert pianist Katya Grineva who you might remember visited the project last year to do some fund raising concerts. It is also thanks to Professor Dan that Katya, my dad and I all have eagle eye vision!

Pictures of Eagle Eyes to follow

Despite the disappointing number of sharks, we remain positive. We will keep trying and the huge numbers of people interested in our work keeps us motivated. We have had full boats every day. The media interest has been immense and we have 4 different film crews in the past few days. Reuters, AP, KTN and The Standard have all covered the expedition.

Last night the film crew from Australia and our lead scientist Dr Rachel Graham arrived. We are set for a good weeks worth of work here in Diani. If we don’t see sharks here, we will move the expedition further north where there have been sightings.

We are carrying out the longest and most coherent aeriel survey ever to be done for whale sharks in Kenya. Whatever happens we will learn something and continue to work hard for whale shark conservation in Kenya.

This week the boat is booked exclusively for the Australian film crew to film for their documentary. We are so excited that they are here! Volker gets the opportunity to work alongside one of the top underwater videographers in the world. From Friday the boat is fully booked over the weekend and the last weekend of the expedition is almost fully booked as well. We continue to be amazed and encouraged by the number of people who come and support our work. We are determined and 110% committed to see it through.

I will keep you posted as the week progresses.

This is the flight crew. Alexis is the pilot and he is in the middle, his girlfriend Emma and Chris the cameraman on either side of him. The team fly for 3 - 4 hours per day and do an amazing job helping us!

This is the boat we used called Melia (daughter of Neptune). It belongs to Southern Cross Scuba. SXS has several dive bases, one of which is at Aqualand Watersports Centre next to Pinewood Village Hotel on Galu Kinondo beach where we meet each morning at 10am.

And here are the lucky people swimming with the biggest fish on the planet! An experience you will never forget

We have circled the shark for you. They are not as easy to spot as you think! Best is when they are swimming over a sandy patch like in the picture here.

Meet Bumble, adopted by Peter and Philipa Gibbon, Kenya’s first acoustically tagged shark. May he bumble on peacefully for many years to come and enjoy a long and happy life.

I have wonderful sponsors lined up for our 3rd tag and 4th tag, after which it’s anybodys game so please help us by sponsoring a shark! Professor Dan Reinstein and the London Vision Clinic have sponsored the next tag. Thank you so much Professor Dan! And Camp Kenya and Camps International have sponsored the 4th acoustic tag we put out. Thank you so much Camps!

Pictures to follow when the expedition team returns later and I get a chance to download them Wanted to share the good news with you immediately!

Yesterday we didn’t see any sharks and I am just leaving now to see off the expedition of 20 Swedish students. We have to take 60 litres of petrol to the pilot and then organise and brief the expedition members down at Aqualand. It’s going to be a busy day.

Will keep you posted.

I watched them set off wondering how the day would turn out. Whale sharks were spotted yesterday by divers and we have a microlight as air support (I can hear it droning overhead as I write this) so all the signs were good. But you never know! And I can never relax until I get the call from Volker -

 ”WHALE SHARK TAGGED!!!”

Volker has just called me Less than an hour into the first expedition they found a whale shark, everyone swam with it and it was tagged with Kenya’s first acoustic tag. This tag was sponsored by Philippa Gibbon (Gwili from the Colobus Trust’s mum). Philippa sponsored our first 2 acoustic tags as presents for Gwili’s dad and uncle.

So a BIG thank you to Philippa - her acoustic tag is finally deployed and well done to Volker and everyone on the expedition team today

Do you remember this mournful picture of Volker’s fins from the acoustic expedition we did in April last year? No sharks were spotted and Volker didn’t get a chance to even get in the water!

We are already a far cry from that and we’ve only just started!!!!!

Please donate and help us keep the expedition going.

The news filtered through the village, in disbelieving whispers that a dugong”nguva” had been caught in one of fishermen gillnets. There was a palpable but restrained sense of excitement in Kiunga village. Then fishermen confirmed and identified whose nets had caught the dugong there was a pandemonium in the otherwise sleepy village.   Everyone who could walk (mostly women and children) made a beeline to the fish landing site to wait for the mysterious and extremely rare dugong.  

The last time a dugong was sighted in Lamu archipelago was in 2003 and it was already dead. The exciting part is that the fisherman in whose gillnet the baby dugong was caught said that the mother was in the vicinity. This indicates that there is a breeding dugong population north of Kiunga Marine National Reserve   presenting and opportunity as well as a challenge to the conservation of these rare sea cow.   It interesting to note that although there have been anecdotal sightings of dugongs along the coast especially in Shimoni and Kisite areas at the southern coast of Kenya dugong foraging grounds have not been exactly identified unlike in Kiunga where the dugong was entangled in a gillnet set  across sea grass beds.

The dugong is a subject to many lores and stories in the Bajuni culture such as the mermaids (dugongs are part of the mermaid lore and its believed and practiced that any fishermen who brought a female dugong to shore must be taken to the mosque to swear that he did not have carnal knowledge with it - this was mainly due to similarity of a female dugong with a woman body)

Conservation implications

The baby dugong entangled in the gill net indicates that there is a breeding population in Kiunga Marine National Reserve.  This brings to fore the need to develop conservation strategy for this esoteric sea mammal using a wealth of indigenous knowledge that could disappear forever if not integrated into mainstream policy and research.First and foremost the population needs to be verified, set up code of conduct for identified dugong foraging sites and regular monitoring and research to glean more information and knowledge about these mammals at this part of the world – Western Indian Ocean

Threats

The greatest threat to dugongs is the loss of their habitats (sea grass) due siltation and increase in nutrients from human activitiesFishing nets also pose a threat to dugongs as clearly shown by the entangled baby dugong in Kiunga. 

Dugong facts  

Along with the manatee and the now-extinct Steller’s Sea Cow, the dugong makes up the order Sirenia.

Dugongs are usually found in shallow waters protected from large waves and storms. Dugongs live for approximately 70 years. Female dugongs first breed between the ages of six and 17 years old. They produce calves every 2.5-5 years with a gestation period of one year. Dugongs reach adult size between 9 and 17 years of age.

Dugongs have an average size of 2.4 to 3 meters and weigh between 231 to 500 kilograms; they can stay underwater for approximately 6 minutes. Dugongs graze on underwater grasses day and night. Dugongs spend much of their time alone or in pairs, though they are sometimes seen gathered in large herds of a hundred animals.Dugongs are sought after for their meat, oil, skin, bones, and teeth. Dugongs are now legally protected throughout most of their range, but their populations are still in a tenuous state. Dugong can be found in warm coastal waters from East Africa to Australia, including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific. Dugongs are also highly migratory.

 Internationally, dugong are listed on Appendix I of the Conservation of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and on Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (the CMS).

This report was sent to me by Mike Olendo, WWF Kiunga which is in Northern Kenya. We are all very excited because dugongs are so rare these days! We are hoping to put a programme together to see if we can tag some. It is encouraging to see that they are still around our coast. Thanks to Mike and his team for the write up and great photos!