“How Inappropriate To Call This Planet Earth, When It Is Quite Clearly Ocean” - Arthur C. Clarke28/11/2016 Humans have done a pretty good job exploring the earth thus far, climbing mountains, crossing continents and planting flags in the name of science. One part of the world that has remained mysterious to us, though, is the very place that accounts for 99% of the Earths’ living space and 71% of it’s surface: the ocean. We may have sailed across it, drilled for oil in it, employed Robson Green to create extreme fishing reality shows in it, we’ve let James Cameron show us the deepest part of the ocean, 7 miles down, in the enticingly-named Challenger Deep, but despite all our exploitations of the big blue, it is estimated that 95% of the ocean is unexplored. It is curiosity that drives our exploration and discoveries. The more we learn, the more we realise we do not know. It’s like the more light we cast, the more shadows we create. It’s the need to see what’s beyond the edge of your lights, to see the unknown for yourself, that’s the force that drives all exploration. As Jacques Cousteau said: “If we knew what was there, we wouldn’t have to go”. From glowing oceans, massive deep sea creatures, underwater ecosystems with basically thousands of undiscovered alien species, we still have a lot to learn. Probably more than any other place on earth, there is still so much that we just don’t know about it. Or at least, not yet. Of all marine species, I bet you’d assume the world of whale and dolphin research would be pretty covered by now. Did you know, for example, that pilot whales go through menopause? Or that dolphins give themselves a fin-pedicure? Well these curious behaviours have only just been discovered, thanks to the work of the humble, charismatic and instantly likeable dolphin researcher, Sina Kreicker. Dolphins are marine mammals, or ‘cetaceans', belonging to the family ‘cetacea'. There are 89 known species of cetaceans, from the harbour porpoise to the blue whale. Cetacean-like creatures appeared around 50 million years ago, diverging from their closest living relatives the ‘artiodactyls’, who are hoofed mammals, such as hippopotamuses, camels and pigs.
I had the pleasure of getting to know Sina well during her 3-week stay in Tofo, Mozambique. She is a research associate wuth the University of Zurich and lives mostly in Egypt, working with the Dolphin Watch Alliance. The purpose of her visit was to establish the current state of dolphin research in this area, but also to explore the potential for further research. She teamed up with resident conservationists at Marine Megafauna Foundation and Underwater Africa and has now set in motion the use of a cetacean identification website, flukebook.org. Anyone around the world can now use their picture of a breaching dorsal fin, of any dolphin species, and upload it to this website to be identified and tracked. Sina also made a great point about how to maximise the encounter with wild dolphins, even swim with them, just by adapting boat driving behaviour. She pointed out that dolphins are, as we know, very sensitive to sound volume and pitch, given that their primary mode of communication is by echolocation. It turns out that changing boat speed, causing the rev and lull of a boat engine, can completely alter the behaviour of cruising, foraging or even sleeping dolphins, causing them to swim away. So next time you’re at sea and come across a pod of dolphins, cruise your boat at a patient, steady speed for maximum time with the pod. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, they might even be curious enough to come over to you if you slip into the water with them. Dolphin tourism obviously comes with it’s benefits for local business, but unfortunately it seems there is little benefit for the dolphins themselves. It was whilst talking with Sina that it was made clear scientists are only beginning to understand the extent of dolphin intelligence, and the effects of captivity on these brainy beauties. When in captivity, dolphins are often given valium to sedate them. It’s a sad and inconvenient truth that when any migratory, long-ranging animal, humans included, are enclosed into a comparatively un-stimulating undersized space, they can react extremely negatively. Behavioural ‘loops’ like pacing, aggression, appetite suppression and appetite growth are some side effects some of us may relate to if we’re stuck in the house for any length of time. I know I am often found, bored, traipsing back and forth to the fridge in an irritable rage after just one day stuck in the house. There is hope, though, for our extremely smart squeaky friends. Scientists like Sina all over the world are trying to establish, in completely natural conditions, exactly how clever our dolphin compatriots are. For example, in 2014 Sina published a study describing how bottlenose dolphins taught each other how to utilise tools, in this case marine sponges, to exploit a feeding niche and increase their fatty blubber reserves. Not only does this make these dolphins pretty nifty at attaining nutrient-dense food previously unavailable to them, but it makes them different to their bottlenose friends down the ‘road', inferring culture, and cultural differences between the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin communities.
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Have you ever, just the first time you hear of a place, immediately known that you’re going to fall in love with it? You’re surprised that you’ve never heard of it before, but now that you have, every cell in your body is pushing and shoving, gravitating towards the airport screaming “You MUST go!”. I can safely say this happens to me, on average, every couple of days. Some call it ‘wanderlust'. I call it ‘evasion of responsibility’. Either way I cannot help myself. If there is a place to be explored, experiences to have, people to meet, a new sport to be tried, I consider it a challenge to be accepted. This is why I find myself, at this current moment, on a bunk of a ten-person dorm room, having four bananas for breakfast, melting in the African morning heat, my first full day off in 21 days, although still dreaming that I were at work… Although, nowadays ‘work’ doesn’t quite carry the same meaning. ‘Work’ just a few weeks ago was standing before the preying eyes of twenty 13-year-olds, each of them experts in procrastination, until the bell sounded the end of the lesson. But now, work chimes a totally different bell. I am training to become a divemaster in order to continue my pursuit of a career in marine research. This is what brings me to Tofo, Mozambique, Africa. Mozambique, which gained its independence from Portugal in 1975, is still emerging from a 17-year civil war, which officially ended in 1992. Tensions remain high between the ruling Frelimo party and the rebel group Renamo, where great conflict between these parties are still rife in the northern region of the country. Despite being one of Africa’s fastest growing economies being that it has billions of dollars worth of natural resources, earlier in 2016 Business Insider UK ranked Mozambique the 7th poorest country in the world, with a GDP per capita of only £841. In southern Mozambique, in the Inhambane province, is a small but incredibly lively town called Tofo. Tofo is a very special place, combining a stunning sand-dune coastline, vibrant local markets and a charismatic expat community of surfers, divers and conservationists. Tofo is exceptional in so many ways, the most exciting of which being that it hosts one of the world's most diverse megafauna migration routes along its coastline. A sunrise off the Mozambican coast, in July to October, can provide you breaching Humpback whales on the horizon. With daily ocean safari tours you can snorkel with whale sharks and dolphins. Don your SCUBA gear and head underwater to enjoy a magnificent encounter with sharks, both species of manta ray, stingray species and so, so much more. Some of these weird and wonderful species travel all around the world, like the mola mola (or Sunfish), also found in Guernsey. But from global migratory species, Tofo also hosts some of the rarest species. The small-eyed stingray, for example, is the rarest and largest stingray of all 70 species of ray in the world. It was believed to be extinct until a photograph was taken in Tofo of the 2.2 metre beauty, now only ever seen alive here in Tofo or in other places, dead, as fishery by-catch. The BBC took the first ever film of this elusive ray in 2009 here in Tofo, in collaboration with Dr Andrea Marshall and the Marine Megafauna Foundation. With such diverse aquatic wildlife on offer, Tofo does not only attract diving tourism, but us also serves as mecca for front-line conservation research. I have had the pleasure of meeting several world-leading marine species experts, visiting Tofo to either explore the research potential of the area or just enjoy the natural beauty of the place. One of these conservationists, a German shark conservationist and environmental politician, arrived in Tofo after delivering a speech during the CITES (Convention of the International Trade of Endangered Species) in Johannesburg in early October. His speech outlined the species of sharks most at risk, and those species which require every countries’ care and attention to ensure the trade of these species is limited or abolished. He described the primary cause of many sharks’ demise, as we are all too aware, is the continued ‘finning’ of sharks for the small filaments, called ceratotrichia (see image) for the production of shark fin soup. Alone, these filaments provide no flavour and no proven medicinal value. Hammerhead sharks, also found along the coast of Tofo and in serious need of further research into population stability, have the largest price on their head for their fins. Porbeagles and Thresher shark species, found in places including both Mozambique and Guernsey, are increasingly being fished and globally are on a steep decline. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red list of threatened species classifies Porbeagle and all three of the Thresher shark species as ‘vulnerable’, however, much more research is desperately needed to properly assess the impact that overfishing is having on these globe-trotting species, especially around the west indo-pacific region. I first heard of Tofo three years ago from a friend whom lived here. At the time I was still in the midst of my ecology and conservation degree, however, since diving and the underwater world flooded all my senses (in both a literal and metaphorical sense) during a university trip, the field of marine research was the place for me. There is a plethora of research, adventure and development opportunities in Mozambique, from the local schools to eco-tourism, of which I see as a challenge accepted. I now see why I have been gravitating towards Mozambique for so long. |
AuthorJenny was born in Dorset, and now is living in Mozambique. She participates in long-distance triathlon and rowing challenges. She has a conservation degree, and is currently working toward her masters degree studying the Stingrays of Mozambique. Archives
June 2017
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