By Deanna Massey
Well it has been about 2 weeks since I landed here in Walvis Bay and I can’t believe how fast it has gone by. I am loving everything so far and I have learned so much in just two weeks’ time (don’t touch the jellyfish).
My favorite part of the past 2 weeks was the humpback whale stranding we had early the first week. It was my first time seeing a whale up close and personal so it was an exciting experience for me. After we took some measurements and some blubber samples it was decided that the whale probably died of natural causes.
The other interns and I have also had quite a few encounters with live whales while out on the boat. I remember the first encounter with a humpback I had and turning to Bethan, another intern, and just smiling and saying “this is so cool!!”. It is surreal when you see these guys for the first time; they are so big yet so graceful in the water it is hard to believe that they weigh so much. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of the whale encounters while here in Walvis Bay. Another fun part about my trip so far is all the interesting birds that can be found in Namibia, especially near the coast. It is my goal by the end of the month the name all the birds of Walvis Bay CORRECTLY! :D
The Namibian Dolphin Project is a research, conservation and education initiative. We collect data on the abundance, distribution and habitat use whales, dolphins and turtles in Namibia. The project is being run by Simon Elwen Tess Gridley and Ruth Leeney. The NDP is working with Oceans Research and is funded by a series of small grants from the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, the British Ecological Society, the Nedbank Go Green Fund, The Mohamed Bin Zayed Fund and NACOMA.
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