A great post from Victor "Quisher" Mukena, a Namibian Polytech student who's currently interning with us in Luderitz.  We hope Victor can come back and join us for his 4th year project when he gets there!

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Being with the Namibian Dolphin project (NDP) for a month has been a great adventure and experience. I have had the chance to observe and see the amazing creatures found on our coastal water including dolphins, penguins, whales, many birds and most important some of our off-shore islands, which not all Namibian have had a chance to get close to and see. I have had a great learning experience, getting a chance to set my eyes on Mercury, Halifax and Possession Island. As a student, was taught about these important islands as important safe homes and breeding ground to hundreds of marine birds. It was a great feeling when we visited Mercury Island, a very small island with no vegetation, decorated with hundreds of penguins, gannets and cormorants breeding there, this I got first hand experience, which was joyful. During my internship, I have acquired knowledge on Dusky and Heaviside dolphins, right and minke whales which I all saw in Luderitz.  

Trusting me with operating and working with your delicate equipments like camera to take pictures for dolphin identification, and granting me with the opportunity to drive the boat, is a sign of you generosity and desire to get everybody to feel welcome as part of the team. I wish I could have known about NDP while still doing research projects, as I could have studied a lot as far as marine life is concerned. I never know what life holds for me, my greatest wish is to do a project with NDP at some point during my study period as I believe the two project leaders (Dr. Gridley and Dr. Elwen) have a lot to offer.