By Alex Sasso, interning with us for July from Eckerd College in Florida, USA - a few words about their trip to Sossusvlei:

The last five days have been very adventurous and exciting for us interns here at the Namibian Dolphin Project. Over the weekend the six of us traveled to Sossusvlei, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Namibia. Basically it is a valley surrounded by extremely large red dunes and when there are heavy rains the valley will fill with water, but rain is unusual so it’s very special when there is actually rain in the valley or “vlei”. It was an absolutely breath taking and amazing sight and I encourage anyone to make the trip.

We rented a car, well a 10 passenger van to be exact (we called it “The Beast”) and made the long 6 hour journey on washboard dirt roads. It was very cool to watch the Namibian landscape change as we left Walvis Bay. The scenery changed from desert to grassland and some mountains, to mountains, to grasslands with lots of mountains. We also saw some awesome African wildlife along the road such as Springboks, Oryx and Ostriches, seriously who needs to pay to go on a safari? About 5 hours into the trip we arrived in Solitaire, which is the only place to get gas and any type of food. There is a bakery next to the gas station owned by a man named “Moose” and he makes delicious pastries and bread! Definitely get the apple pie or blueberry crumble! When we arrived at Sossusvlei we got a campsite at Sesriem. That day we walked through this canyon that has some great rocks and small ledges to climb! That night we made a fire and cooked ourselves dinner and attempted to make s’mores (good marshmallows and graham crackers are not easily found in Africa). Sleeping in the tents was an experience as the wind was extremely strong all night and sand covered us in our sleep. Then in the morning on our way out of our campsite to go into the Sossusvlei park our van got stuck in the sand (hmm renting a 4x4 probably would have been a better idea). After about an hour and a half of waiting to get pulled out of the sand, we were free and on our way to finally see the Sossusvlei and it was definitely worth all the trouble.

When we returned back to Walvis Bay we were welcomed back to warm weather thanks to the east wind! Finally we could break out the shorts and t-shirts instead of the usual layers of sweaters, gloves and hats! 

George Cambanis is interning with our project for the month of July.  He's from Greece and currently studying in Chicago, USA.

1 week in Walvis Bay…

The life we have been experiencing during the past week is an academic but also a social life, its novel even though we are all gradually becoming habituated with our daily lives and most importantly entertaining while everyone is at the same time serious about the project.  Simon and Tess divided us-newcomers into two subgroups, composed of three interns each. Our daily schedule dictates that we execute our scientific research early in the morning and once we have gathered our facts, we then “digitalize” them, that is, upload them into the computers used by the Namibian Dolphin Project in our comfy office in the Flamingo Cottages. Usually, one of the teams will research offshore in its quest for dolphin species and other marine mammals while the other team will examine different coastal areas of Namibia.

Our research is centered on dolphins. We therefore, photograph all of our “encounters” and try to photographically identify them once back in the office. We also examine their habitat and record everything we deem valuable, ranging from an unusually high concentration of jellyfish which can be the outcome of a potentially underlying important cause to the number of tour-boats we come across. Spending time with bottlenoses and Heaviside’s dolphins we come to realize and appreciate the uniqueness of every animal.

To a further extent, every day adds to an emerging familiarity with the environment of Namibia itself. Looking for stranded animals, observing the magnificent kingdom of birds that fills the sky and using our hydrophone to listen to the “signature whistles” of dolphins we are gradually coming to terms with the harmony and magnificence of Namibian’s wildlife.

All in all, what has been offered to us is a fulfilling “life-activity”. Whether it is the observation of an anatomical operation of petrels or the knowledge that the project results in an accumulation of novel scientific data, we fill satiated, engaged and excited. More to come. Best, George Cambanis. 

July 2012

The project is back in Walvis Bay, where we will be running two months of intensive field work to match our previous 4 years of data.  It's going to be busy so blog updates will be unpredictable.  Keep checking!

Simon

By Hazel Tan - Oceans Intern June 2012.

We started out on a beautiful warm day with low wind and a glassy calm sea. It may be our last day out at sea in Luderitz and what a day it was! The sea was so clear we could see the sea floor which was 7m deep, perfect conditions for sighting animals from far away. We surveyed 30 or so Heaviside's dolphins feeding for a long time while enjoying their aerial acrobatics before moving on.

 Before long, while we were with 3 Heaviside dolphins for an encounter, off in the distance we saw a breaching humpback whale about 500m away! South of Guano bay. I only saw the splash but my heart was pounding with anticipation of my first humpback whale sighting. The dolphin encounter was immediately wrapped up, loose items put away, everyone prepared for the pursuit (humpback whales are still relatively rare in Namibian waters, so data is very precious to the project). We sped towards the whales and inched closer once they were within 50m away. They were cruising along at about 6kn and though they were no longer breaching, were a magnificent sight. There was no time to lose, photographs were taken for identification, trying our best to capture both their dorsal fins and flukes. I was busy preparing the biopsy arrows, fingers fumbling with cold and the wind snatching at plastic bags. It was adrenaline pumping and we had a limited time frame before the whales would be too harried and stressed. Luckily we managed to sample both the whales and have all the photographs.

TWO HUMPBACK WHALES IN THE MIST

 BIOPSY ARROW CLOSING IN ON WHALE - GENETIC SAMPLES ALLOW US TO INVESTIGATE WHICH BREEDING POPULATION THESE ANIMALS BELONG TOO

THE PATTERN OF BLACK AND WHITE ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TABLE ALLOWS US TO IDENTIFY INDIVIDUALS AND LOOK AT MOVEMENTS BETWEEN STUDY SITES AND POPULATIONS. 

Despite the initial lovely weather, a fog bank rolled in and we left the humpback whales soon after. Books hardly prepare you for the live sighting of animals. Especially when they are of sizes so large it is difficult to visualise. I have come to the end of my internship with the Namibian Dolphin Project and my time here was so full of new experiences it often was a struggle to keep it together, do well and have fun at the same time. However I have learnt so much that it has been a lovely time. From acoustic analysis to proper photo identification and data management. Hands on working on the boat and good handling of equipment. These skills I hope to hone and work on in time to come and I'm so grateful for the NDP for the opportunity. With the many friendships forged with people from different nationalities, it is sad that the time has come where we are going to leave Luderitz on the 28th and the NDP will be moving on to Walvis Bay.

The NDP goes to Cape Town for the AMMC

By Sara Golaski:


At the end of May, we traveled to Kleinbaai, South Africa for the second African Marine Mammal Colloquium. This was my first ever trip to Africa and I only I had been an intern for just under a month at this point.  I was so excited to learn more about research beyond just what we were working on in Namibia.  On the way, we stopped at the Fish River Canyon and camped at Ai Ais National Park so the trip was an amazing opportunity to see more of the beautiful Namibian countryside. It was also my first chance to see many of the region’s animals that I had never seen before. Once in South Africa, the landscape was colder and lusher than the Namibian desert, but was just as gorgeous. As we got nearer to Kleinbaai, I could tell by the signs around town that we were entering an area known for its whales. Sure enough, we stopped along the coast to sightsee a few times upon spotting whale blows amid the stunning scenery. 

OUR COLLEAGUES, MEREDITH THORNTON & PETER BEST OF THE MRI WORKING ON THE BRYDE'S WHALE 

The conference was lovely and small, and I learned a lot. I was a little nervous about being at such a small conference and being just an intern, but everyone was friendly and welcoming, and I was certainly not the only one from far away. It was nice to chat with people about the work they were doing in other places, and about what we were working on with the Namibian Dolphin Project. During the conference, there were talks throughout the morning, but in the afternoons, there were other things to do as well. One afternoon, at the end of a strandings workshop, they announced that there was a recently stranded Bryde’s whale calf. We went to take measurements and then did a full necropsy the next day. 

A BOAT FULL OF AMMC 'MAMMAL PEOPLE' DELEGATES HEADING OUT TO SEE SOME WHITE SHARKS, THANKS TO MARINE DYNAMICS FOR THE DAY OUT

On the last day of the conference, we got to go out on a boat to see the white sharks that Kleinbaai is famous for and that evening, we had a drumming workshop. Everyone at the conference either learned to drum or showed off their skills, before enjoying a braai. On the way back from Kleinbaai, we stopped for a few days in Cape Town, and I had time to explore one of the coolest cities I’ve ever been to. In all, it was a wonderful trip and I’m very grateful that I had the chance to go.

NIMPA Surveys IV

by Tess Gridley:

The !Anichab had some gearbox problems a few weeks ago (before we left for Cape Town) and unfortunately it's still not fixed..

So while she's out of action, we’ve had a few weeks to process data and produce some preliminary results from the initial NIMPA surveys. It's great to see the data taking shape.  Over 13 days and 5 nights out on the seas, we’ve had almost 200 sightings, of which the majority are dusky and Heaviside’s dolphins, as well as plenty of African penguins! On the more unusual list, we’ve had several out of season humpback whales spotted, along with minke whale and sei whales.  The hydrophone has been doing us well, with 36% more dolphin detections made possible by surveying at night and 12% from surveying in poor weather. Considering that we try not to go out in poor weather, this is pretty good going.  


This is a long term project, so we’re hoping over time that the maps will build up and we will get a good idea of where animals are, how many there are and seasonal differences in distribution.  I’m also interested in using the recordings to look at dolphin communication so we are now carefully analysing the files in details finding dusky dolphin burst pulses and whistles (so far only a handful) which may be used in communication or feeding  contexts... As always, watch this space for updates on our findings!

Right whales!

We had a lovely warm east wind afternoon on Monday with almost no swell - perfect for surveying long distances on an exposed coastline.  So we headed up northwards, following the course taken by the bottlenose dolphin groups we've encountered twice already and hugging the coastline as far as Boat Bay, about 30km north of Luderitz town.  No bottlenose dolphins, but more Heaviside's dolphins than we were expecting, and a great sighting of a solitary southern right whale, right up against the dunes!

   The ID photos we took will go towards the Namibian catalogue managed by Jean-Paul Roux. This catalogue was recently matched to the South African one and showed a lot of matches (as one might expect), which means that animals seen here and in SA are all part of one big and growing population.  We ended at Boat Bay, which I've never visited before. A really beautiful spot where massive sand dunes come right down to the sea. Impossible to do it justice with a camera!