What can we do for conservation?

Have I mentioned - I WORK HERE!

I consider myself a conservationist but I sometimes feel a little like a fraud. What have I really done for Conservation? My research programs have had management value but not sure how much my findings have really influenced management. 

I try to eat ethically and live ethically, of course I recycle and eat free range eggs, but these feel like trivial things when one is bombarded with news of coral bleaching, global climate change, rhino poaching and over fishing. Besides, living truly ethically is expensive and being a PhD student isn't exactly lucrative.

I decided at the beginning of 2014 not to eat pork (YES, BACON TOO!) This, by no means, has been easy but I have worked hard to stick to it. It was much more difficult than deciding not to eat seafood which was a decision I made when I was about 10 years old and had heard something about over fishing that decided things for me - it turns out forever.

Even when it is rainy it is still lovely

My latest experiment in reducing my impact on the world was to stop using shampoo and conditioner and therefore decrease the amount of evil chemicals I add to the world (I have heard that they are evil chemicals, but I haven't actually done much research into it). To be honest, I hate washing my hair anyway, so this wasn't a completely selfless act. (And very low risk because if my hair looks horrible I can just wash it with shampoo). 

I decided my month in Walvis Bay would be a good time to try (dolphins don't care what my hair looks like, right?). I had read (on all-knowing Internet) that you can use bicarbonate of soda mixed in water and then rinse with vinegar mixed in water as an alternative to shampoo. I couldn't find apple cider vinegar in Walvis so I just used normal white (wash windows with this stuff) vinegar. I did it once every two weeks and I promise no one said my hair looked gross. I had an independent sniff test to check for vinegar smells and that passed too. I was feeling pretty thrilled after the 6 ish weeks actually although my hair was feeling a little more knotted than usual and quite dry (JHB winter will do that to the best hair).

Check out the Green Point Park - it is lovely

No worries, I had also read on all-knowing Internet that you can use coconut oil as a conditioner. Big tub of expensive coconut oil later, and I am set to try my hair treatment. "Work melted coconut oil thoroughly into hair and leave for two hours then wash out"... wash out? Hardly. Bicarb and vinegar made no impact on my thoroughly greasy hair. It looked terrible - rats tails. I had to shampoo multiple times and my hair didn't even seem more moisturised afterwards (good thing you can use coconut oil for cooking).

I'm trying to get back into no shampoo now so all is not lost. I am at the stage where I am wondering how much damage does shampoo really do? (I am so tempted to just finish the shampoo that is already at home). But I'm hoping that will pass because I like to think even the little things can help.

This is where I park my car for WORK!

My next experiment might be a worm farm (composting is tricky in a second floor flat). I have always wanted one but they are so expensive and I worry the worms would die while I am away but I might have found a way to get some worms....

Let me know of you have any other eco tips (that actually work!!!)

Bright eyed and bushy tailed

The whole (this isn't the word I wanted but can't think of another) glamour of the PhD thing wore pretty thin after a couple of months of unemployment. It doesn't come up that much in casual conversation but the "what do you do?" question does.

So although this blog isn't about how to survive a PhD, it is about surviving the next step (and let's face it, I'm finished now so most of my blogs aren't going to be about surviving PhD anymore but rather about surviving WITH a PhD). I have spoken about my feelings for interviews before, so imagine my stress levels when I flew down to Cape Town for two interviews on a Monday afternoon a couple of weeks back. I was worried about my performance in the one interview because I was feeling a bit deaf in one ear and didn't feel like I was really sparkly enough. I also heard myself saying something along the lines of wanting to save the world and cringed (hopefully only in my head but my expressions sometimes do things without asking). 

The other interview was exactly the reason not to like interviews. I would hardly call myself arrogant so did not see any reason for someone to be almost antagonistic about the whole PhD thing. It is a difficult thing when you are applying for something that doesn't require a PhD to get the balance between confident/capable (so therefore you should hire me because really I am fantastic) and not drawing attention to how over qualified you are. Let's make this one thing clear though, PhD's are not just for people trying to avoid the real world... This is an example of how the questions went: 

Question: "How good is you knowledge about marine science."

Answer (feeling: "yay I can do this one"): I feel confident about my knowledge in marine science. 

Response: "People with real knowledge know they still have so much to learn"... ???????

Of course it wasn't all his being antagonistic that made that interview awful, I also completely choked when he asked me to explain, in Afrikaans, how to catch invasive crabs.

Being back in Cape Town helped me get over the stress because I was quickly distracted with catching up with my friends once the interviews were done. And what helped even more was when, 1.5 weeks later (after three rejection letters, that didn't get to interview stage, in the meantime) I finally got an email that said yes!!!!

The best thing is that it is an organisation that does just the sorts of things that make me excited to be working for them. I hadn't heard of it before (and neither had a lot of people I've spoken to) so I'll be telling you all about it soon. It is only a short term contract but I couldn't be happier. The NGO is called IOI-SA (the South African branch of international oceans institute) and I am really excited to get some experience with an NGO and governance issues. I hope it is a step in a great direction.

And I promise my excitement isn't just because I will be working at one of the most beautiful places in Cape Town (Kirstenbosch) and it's only 4.2 km from home.

P.S. Things would have been very different for me if I hadn't had such a supportive family looking after me while I job hunted. I don't mean just by feeding me, they also believed in me and didn't let me give up on pursuing a job I could feel passionate about. I loved my month in Ramsgate and my time in Johannesburg and in Walvis Bay. Even though I was frustrated that I wasn't out saving the world (in some small way), spending time with my family is a treasured luxury. Thanks universe.

A month in Walvis Bay

So, I didn't keep you updated at all but now it is time to catch up. I went off with hopes of sunshine and desert warmth... but, in the first couple of weeks there it was colder than I had hoped. I might be imagining it, but it definitely felt like there was only about a half hour of sun a day. Thankfully, in the second part of my month, there were many glorious weather days, and even when it was misty at the coast, the sun was shining in the desert. Besides, being really close to Humpback whales and dolphins and lots of rad wildlife and cheap wine can cheer me up even on a misty day! 

The lagoon and The PUB

I have mentioned that I have worked with the dolphin project before, but only in lovely Luderitz. (I was sure that Luderitz was warmer and sunnier but my colleagues told me that I was always cold in Luderitz too... oops, I  am clearly a whiner). It is difficult not to compare the two places, just like it was difficult not to compare the first trip to Luderitz with the second. A good and bad thing about Luderitz is that we were pretty isolated from the public while doing field work, meanwhile, in Walvis Bay, there are dozens of tour boat operators and we would launch at the waterfront to the ABBA soundtrack being played at the coffee shop next door. Thus, all the embarrassing, completely ungraceful jumps on and off the boat are in the public eye and I was less excited about wearing scruffy field work clothes but there were coffee shops that played ABBA and had with free WiFi so that made up for it (and my scruffiest field work clothes are in Cape Town). It still felt like there was only one pub (there were more I am sure but who knows where) and that didn't have the same great atmosphere as Barrels, in Luderitz, but it did have R11 wine!

The pretty Namibian Dolphin Project office
at the Walvis Bay Waterfront.
Note the cool baleen sample from a 
Sei whale that stranded in WVB.

The other fabulous thing about WVB is that sea conditions are amazing (in the mornings anyway) which is important for someone like me (how unfair to suffer from sea sickness when you are a marine biologist?). We also had a much nicer office set up where members of the public could come chat to us about whales and dolphins and tell us what an awesome job we are doing... Well... that happened sometimes at least. 

This poor shark was rescued in Henties Bay, Swakopmund
and Walvis Bay - but he kept up his friendly grin.
(There were no dolphins in stock)

Seriously though, the Namibian Dolphin Project is doing an awesome job. OK, I know that sounds like I am bragging, but I was only there for a month so I can't take any credit for the awesome stuff they are doing so it really is sincere praise. They are pretty much the only people doing work on cetaceans in Namibia and have done some great novel research. They are the point of call for the strandings network too, and during my month there now we held a number of workshops trying to get the public aware of what to do and who to call in the event of a dolphin/whale stranding. They are also the people that speak up for dolphins when Environmental Impact Assessments might otherwise ignore them. Check out their webpage for more information - but if you don't have time just trust me that they are awesome.

The two common dolphins species that are fairly resident in WVB are the Heaviside's and Bottlenose dolphins. The Heaviside's dolphin only occurs in the Benguela region (west coast of South Africa and in Namibia) and my highly scientific opinion, they are adorable! The ones in Luderitz were particularly playful and awesome to watch. In WVB they are less acrobatic but that's OK because the Bottlenose dolphins make up for it.

This is a Bottlenose dolphin fin. You can use them to ID
individuals and estimate population size.
This is just taken with my normal camera from a tour boat.

Bottlenose dolphins occur around the world, but the different populations are not necessarily mixing with each other. They are also highly social animals, and each population could have unique cultures. This makes the fact that there are fewer than 100 individuals in the Namibian population really scary. The great thing is, we saw at least 2 calves this trip and some dolphins mating. I had been hoping to do a post doc on their population genetics to see if there was any mixing with the other populations in southern Africa, but unfortunately haven't been able to secure funding yet (which is crazy because obviously I am awesome, but more importantly, these dolphins deserve some attention and protection!) 

Ruddy Turnstone

The best thing about Walvis Bay is definitely the wildlife. From the cottage we could look out on the lagoon which is home to thousands of flamingos as well as pelicans and dozens of wader species. I actually fell for a new bird species, the Ruddy Turnstone. I am not sure why in a sea of pink flamingos these LBJs caught my eye, but they are really just so cute and, AND, they actually turn stones (got to love the people that name birds).







You are pretty much guaranteed (I base this on my 2 out of 2 experiences) to see black-backed jackal near the salt works. Even the dolphins came right into the lagoon which is a much cheaper way of seeing them. Of course, if you want to have luxury encounters (i.e. they include Old Brown Sherry, delicious snacks and champagne), WVB offers a bunch of tour boat options for wild life encounters with informative guides that are a great experience but might be just a little too up close for some (fancy a seal on your lap?)

This trip was also the closest that I have even gotten (or hope to get) to a Humback whale. Unfortunately I almost never take me camera or phone on the research boat but you will have to trust me that it got VERY close. It feels a little bit unreal to think that that happened last week and now I am back in Johannesburg loving the fantastic autumnal weather and on the job hunt again.

Yip, many, many people -
it was so crowded
I didn't bother going to the top -
nothing to do with the
super soft sand and steep slope. 

PS For those of you that are thinking of going to Namibia as tourists, I highly recommend Swakopmund and a day trip or two down to Walvis Bay. Swakopmund is a beautiful little town whereas Walvis Bay is only beautiful near the lagoon and at sea. Obviously you would go to Dune 7 anyway, EVERYONE does... I suggest going during the week because then it might be a little quieter.

I have entirely failed to mention all the seals, which is
unfair because they are so much fun to watch as they
play in the waves. This is one of MANY at Cape Cross
(He had the coolest hair!).
Seriously, the tour guide comment is there is one seal for
every person in Namibia.