But Wait, There's More!

Just after I posted previous blog about Dawda's training, I received a few more photos that should really be included.

Dawda spent part of his time at Crystal River snorkeling with manatees, which he really enjoyed because this just isn't possible in Africa (primarily because African manatees are too scared to stay anywhere near people, but also due to lack of water clarity, and the fact that people mostly don't swim in Africa, because there are lots of dangerous things in the water!). It also gave him his first chance to see the behavior of wild manatees, which is an incredibly valuable experience for someone who is trying to study them. (Photos courtesy of Samantha Hook)

Also, near the end of Dawda's trip he got together with my mentor and boss Buddy Powell (who spent time studying manatees in the Gambia in the 1990's) to share experiences and discuss the current status of manatees there. Buddy supported part of Dawda's trip to Florida. Pictured here are Buddy, Dawda and Sea to Shore's executive assistant extraordinaire, Susan!

Congratulations again to Dawda, on the successful completion of his training!

Training for Dawda

Following upon the success of Aristide Kamla's training in Florida in November, Dawda Saine of the Gambia arrived in early February for three weeks of advanced manatee training. Dawda worked for two years to raise the funds for his trip and to get the appropriate visa to come to the USA. My project grants helped sponsor his training, and he also received a separate stipend from Sea to Shore Alliance and a funding award from the University of Florida. In Gambia Dawda is the Executive Secretary of the National Association of Artisanal Fisheries Operators (NAAFO), and his passion is to get community-based manatee research and conservation started in his country. His primary goal for his training was to gain more experience in manatee necropsy techniques so that he can collect samples from West African manatees, and teach the techniques to others in his country. Most of his work took place at the FWC Marine Mammal Pathobiology Lab (MMPL) in St. Petersburg, although he traveled to several other parts of Florida while he was here.

One of the first days he after he arrived, Dawda was able to attend and participate in a release of 3 rehabilitated Florida manatees at Crystal River. He was impressed at the number of people involved in caring for injured manatees in Florida. Dawda also helped MMPL staff at an educational outreach even in Crystal River the following day. He also spent several days working with captive manatees at Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park. (Photo courtesy of WTXL News)

Then it was time to get started on necropsy training. Here Trevor of MMPL briefs Dawda on how they will conduct the necropsy. (Photo courtesy of FWC)

There are standard measurements taken on every manatee. Here Dawda takes the umbilical girth measurement with Claire and Anna... (Photo courtesy of FWC)

MMPL also occasionally receives other marine mammals, so Dawda also got to assist with the necropsy of a Bottlenose dolphin. (Photo courtesy of FWC)

Near the end of his trip Dawda helped MMPL staff rescue an injured manatee in northern Florida, which he said was a great experience. He's right there in the middle of the boat, pulling the manatee onboard in a net! (Photo courtesy of FWC)

Work hard, play hard! Dawda joined lunchtime games at MMPL. (Photo courtesy of FWC)

Dawda also traveled to Gainesville where I gave him a tour of the USGS Sirenia Project facilities and he gave a lecture about manatees in the Gambia at the Veterinary College at UF. Click here to see and hear Dawda's lecture (scroll down to February 15): http://aquatic.vetmed.ufl.edu/education/events/seminars/

While he was in Gainesville I also took Dawda to the Florida Natural History Museum so he could see the amazing fossil display, including the dugongs and manatees that lived in the Caribbean millions of years ago.

My project grants also provided basic field equipment for Dawda that will help him collect accurate data during his field surveys in the Gambia River. It's hard to adequately express how much this basic equipment helps researchers like Dawda, who have so much dedication and enthusiasm, but just need basic tools to be able to get started.

I also want to extend a HUGE thanks to the staff of MMPL for all their enthusiasm and excitement to help train African researchers! I appreciate everything you do to make these guys feel welcome and to give them such valuable training experiences. Shown here: Anna, Brandon, Kane, Dawda, Donna, Amber, Martine, Trevor & Andy. (Photo courtesy of FWC)

Dawda has now returned home, and I look forward to reporting his progress in the field!

Fingers crossed

Several West African countries have submitted a proposal to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) to raise the West African manatee to Appendix I, which will hopefully provide more protection for the species, and would stop the trade in live manatees captured for aquaria in Asia. I've spent the last 2 weeks working with the great staff at Species Survival Network on edits and corrections to the proposal and am now very happy with the version that has been submitted. If you'd like to check it out, click here (warning: it's only in French so far, but hopefully there will be an English version soon). Next week the proposal will be introduced at the CITES Animal Committee meeting in Geneva, and if recommended it will go on to the full Conference of Parties meeting next year. So we will have to keep our fingers crossed for quite awhile, but here's hoping it works!

Southwest Florida

This past week I spent some time in Southwest Florida and gave a lecture on West African manatee research to the staff at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton. While there I also got a chance to visit with Snooty, the world's oldest known manatee (he's 64 years old!), who I last saw 9 years ago. He's much bigger than his West African cousins. Thanks to everyone at the museum for a great visit!

I also stopped by Mote Aquarium in Sarasota to pick up copies of a fantastic new reference book, Ecology and Conservation of the Sirenia, by Helene Marsh, Tom O'Shea and John Reynolds. Many sirenian researchers, including myself, worked with the authors for several years to provide the best available data on the manatee species we work with. The authors have very generously donated 14 copies for public libraries in Africa, where I'm sure they will be of great use to manatee researchers. I plan to begin distributing them to the libraries when I return to Africa later this spring.

Naked Oceans Podcast
Last week I was interviewed by Helen Scales for a series called "Naked Oceans" which is part of a larger program called "The Naked Scientist", a BBC weekly radio program that uses radio, live lectures, and the Internet to strip science down to its bare essentials, and promote it to the general public (I got that description from their webpage, which sums them up perfectly :-). I originally met Helen through the Save Our Seas Foundation, who funds my West African manatee work as well as the Naked Oceans podacasts. My interview is part of a podcast they've created about seagrasses and West African manatees. You can read a transcript of the manatee portion of interview here, or listen to the entire interview here. Thanks to Helen for puttingit all together is such a fun and informative way!

West African Manatee Network Activities

Over the past few months I've received several updates from my former trainees, who are now actively starting manatee research and conservation efforts in their home countries, despite many challenges. Here are some highlights of their efforts:

Mali:

In central Mali, manatee researcher Soumaïla Berthe is starting surveys to learn about manatees in the Bani River, a 775 km long tributary of the Niger River. Berthe attended the training workshop I led in Djenné, Mali in 2010, and he was one of the most dedicated and enthusiastic members of the group. He's been fascinated with manatees for years, and had educated himself about them online since there are few other resources in Mali. I was also able to visit his study area near San when I was in Mali (see posting from November 18, 2010). With no funding for his manatee work (his official job is a regional director for the Niger River Basin Authority), Berthe goes out in his spare time to start surveys, train others, and build a local manatee sightings network that is creating and maintaining a database of known manatee use areas and year round sightings. So far Berthe has documented a new dam on the Bani that has changed the pattern of seasonal waterflow and is likely effecting manatees ability to access important feeding habitat, plus he has recorded known seasonal use locations reported by fisherman, and collected samples of manatee bone and feces for genetics and stable isotope analyses. He has 5 volunteers working with him, and I am very impressed with his energy and determination.

Berthe (with binoculars) surveys the river with his colleague Lassina Diarra. Photo courtesy of Soumaïla Berthe.

Berthe and Lassina check out a piece of manatee skull found by villagers living on the Bani River. Photo courtesy of Soumaïla Berthe.
Côte d'Ivoire:

Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast in English) has faced years of civil war, and the past two years have been especially difficult because of fighting after President Gagbo lost the last election but refused to step down and allow Ouattara (the winner) to assume the presidency. Additionally, in 2009 Dr. Akoi Kouadio, who had been leading a manatee research program in Ivory Coast for almost 30 years, passed away after an illness. The non-profit organization Akoi worked for dropped his project after his death, leaving his staff and programs with no way to continue.

Since then his former protégé, Dr. Kouame Djaha, has been trying to find a way to continue the manatee sightings network and educational outreach started by Akoi. Kouame attended the training workshop in Djenné, Mali and I was able to donate a full set of field equipment to his research efforts. Kouame reports that now that the government has settled down a bit, he and several colleagues have made contact with members of the former sightings network, and people tell them they still want to protect the manatee. Under Akoi, the project had ended all hunting in a lagoon system where 100,000 people live, which is a huge achievement! Kouame needs funds to restart their work, and for now he is working as a botanist at a university.

This is a photo I took of Kouame during the training workshop in Mali. His shirt says "Don't kill the manatees" and was one of the educational tools Akoi's group used to end hunting in Fresco Lagoon.Niger:

Manatee researcher Boureima Boubacar, who also attended training in Djenné, Mali in 2010, has now started manatee surveys in the Niger River in Niger. He's working to reactivate a manatee sighting network that was set up years ago near W National Park (so named because the Niger River literally forms a "W" in this area. Test your geographical knowledge and see if you can find it on Google Earth! Hint: it's south of the capital of Niamey and north of the border with Benin). During his surveys Boureima took environmental data and talked to people about how often they see manatees. He hopes to raise funds to continue his work.

Boureima (in orange) and a colleague discuss their data during a field survey. Photo courtesy of Boureima Boubacar.
Boureima using a depth sounder with digital thermometer donated to him by my grants that provide field equipment to African researchers. This device collects accurate water depth, as well as water and air temperature data... it's extremely useful in Africa's muddy rivers. Photo courtesy of Boureima Boubacar.
Senegal:

At Lac de Guiers, a huge lake in northern Senegal, Tomas Diagne (who is also my husband) has been working with the community and the government for many years to establish a wildlife reserve to protect manatees, an endemic species of freshwater turtle (Adanson's Mud Turtle, Pelusios adansoni) and many species of water birds. This past Fall the first signs designating the Tocc Tocc Refuge were erected, including a map of the refuge.

The local crew assembled for a group photo after putting up two signs. Bouys will soon also mark refuge boundaries from the lake side. Photo courtesy of Tomas Diagne.
A fisherman pulls up abandoned net full of aquatic plants within Tocc Tocc Reserve during a cleanup organized by Tomas and the local community. Photo courtesy of Tomas Diagne.
Tomas raised funds and has purchased a fiberglass boat for surveys and reserve monitoring, which they plan to start this year with a team of staff from local villages. He has also received equipment donations from Save the Manatee Club including a trolling motor, life jackets, a digital camera, a tent, and a desktop computer. Training, equipment and uniforms will be provided to refuge staff so that they can both enforce protection of the reserve, as well as collect scientific data on the manatees and turtles. A committee made up of chiefs and elders from each of the surrounding villages will oversee management of the reserve, ensuring that they can protect the wildlife and reap the benefits as it grows into an ecotourism site.

As I get more reports from other network members I will continue to post them to show more of the terrific efforts that are underway for West African manatees!

Persistence pays off!!

Happy news! After 13 months of working with colleagues in Mali to get an export permit for manatee samples I collected there in November 2010 (which have since been added to by my colleagues) we finally got it! It's amazing how long it can take to push simple paperwork through government bureaucracy, and I have learned that patience is definitely required. The permits are required so that I can legally ship the samples (which include bone, tissue, and even manatee feces, which will be used for genetics, age determination, and stable isotope analyses) to the lab in Florida. Once the analyses are complete, I'll share the results back to my colleagues in Mali in the hope that the results will help them make informed management and conservation decisions for manatees. Now the next step is shipping... which has it's own set of challenges from Mali!