Wildlife Research Unit kicks off

Oceans Research has evolved and crawled out on land, and so we have started with land based research with one intern and five projects. The studies were conducted on two private game reserves in close proximity to Mossel bay. The small mammal survey and bird surveys were done at Botlierskop for safety reasons, as the Lion on the reserve is kept in an enclosure and not free roaming as is the case on Gondwana Game Reserve.

 The month kicked off the first week of Training. Camping at a water hole overlooking the rolling hills covered in indigenous fynbos must have been an experience for anybody with a love for nature. The campers were reminded of the force of nature when a huge wind storm blew the tents down on late Sunday afternoon and were they forced to seek shelter from the elements. Replacing all damaged equipment on Monday morning, they returned to the field to resume their field work.

We started our research work at Botlierskop on Monday morning with our new set of 4x4 wheels called “THE AARDWOLF”. Two small mammal trapping grids were laid out with 25 traps each.  We focussed our efforts in two habitat types, fynbos and grassland.

After finishing our packed lunches, we set out to look for suitable places to deploy the two camera traps. Both were eventually deployed in two separate river beds where we expected game movement.

For the next three days we checked the traps every morning, for small mammals and after the first two escaped we had our skills honed and marked and weighed a total of 19 mice. We took 17 tail clippings for DNA analyses.

The afternoons were spent doing the behaviour study on the Giraffe and some interesting interactions were seen as one female is expected to be pregnant and the other female being in oestrus.

Week three was focussed the behaviour study and bird surveys and tracking at Botlierskop and Gondwana.  

The last week were put aside for tracking and the giraffe behaviour study. We tried to find the cheetah, but could not get to see them but got a good fix on their general position. We focussed on the behavioural study on Tuesday and Wednesday being our last day at Gondwana we tracked the Rhino and were hoping to see the elephant as both these pachyderms were not seen by us.  After finding them we spent the afternoon following their movements in the valley until they moved into the thicket and could not be seen anymore.

On Thursday morning we went out to Botlierskop to retrieve the camera traps and the afternoon was put aside for downloading and analysing the images. We were quite disappointed about the results, as we only recorded a waterbuck and eland on the one trap, and a giraffe on the other. I am planning to place the traps on existing game paths where there are good visibility for the next session. But that is what research is all about: not always a success. To be continued...

Shark Chronicles 094 - Is this a dream?

We were driving in the back of a truck bed, six of us stuffed under blankets and sweatshirts, bundled up with our beanies and gloves, wind whipping our hair as we drove the winding mountain side watching the African sun set behind the snow capped mountains. “Is this a dream?” was all I could think.

The past week that I’ve been living in South Africa has felt like just that: a dream. Whether we’re chumming the water to attract a great white shark to the side of the boat, or squeezing through 27 cm inside a dark cave on our bellies, or witnessing breaching whales from our survey sights, every moment has been a surreal experience that I don’t want to end. The internship days alone make the whole trip worthwhile; however the weekends make up some of the most memorable moments of my African adventure. In just one weekend, we’ve had a night on the town, a beautiful day on the beach, a hike to the lighthouse, a walk through the craft village, a morning of sliding and climbing through a cave, and an afternoon petting tiger cubs and grown cheetahs at a cat park. We are planning a trip to Cape Town and to Durban toward the end of the month, hoping to do some shark dives, a cage dive, and see some natural shark predations.

Never have I become such close friends with a group of individuals so quickly. The bonding experiences are never ending and our common interests in marine life, not to mention long hours together often in close quarters, make the interns become fast friends. We have all stepped out of our comfort zones together, making our connections to each other that much stronger.

Our field specialists have been extremely supportive on a daily basis, encouraging us to try new things and get our hands dirty. They have taught us some of the important details about field work through lectures, training, and hands-on experience. They have also offered an opportunity to those of us interested to get SCUBA certified so that we can participate in the dives during weekend trips at the end of the month.

With only three weeks left of the internship, I can’t help already hoping that this experience would never end. In Mossel Bay, you never know what might happen next, from a car breaking down and a four hour chum trip in a non-stop downpour, to spotting your first great white shark and being eye to eye with a playful tiger cub. You keep thinking to yourself, “am I really doing this?” It’s the pictures at the end of the day that help you realize it really isn’t a dream and these experiences will remain with you for the rest of your life. I could not recommend a better internship to someone who desired to pursue a career in marine field work.

Lesley Anderson - Mossel Bay Marine Lab intern

Shark Chronicles 027 – The “Cheetah” runs again

After being out of action due to engine problems, there was news that Cheetah (the other SAMPLA boat) was finally repaired and ready to hit the water again. This was the icing on the cake (following the return of Stephan), for the five newly arrived interns who had been eagerly awaiting their virgin trip on the more ‘luxurious’ of SAMPLA’s two boats. One-week old interns, Simone, Victoria and Beverly, together with Stef undertook the task of getting Cheetah clean and shiny for her re-launch. After some hard scrubbing and hose-spraying, Cheetah was good to go and the three lucky interns clambered aboard the vessel and experienced their first boat launch, as Cheetah was safely lowered into the harbour ready for duty.

The return of Cheetah was followed by “sharkiness” in abundance. It appeared the effects of last week’s storm had died down and the sharks were back in numbers to the bay. The morning’s chumming trip was a big success, with a tally of nine different sharks including a 4.5 metre mother of a shark, which was suspected to be a previously tagged shark known as “Big mama” (the star of Sharkville). In addition, the crew onboard were fortunate to witness a post-dawn predation event on a not so fortunate seal. Two breaches and some violent thrashing by the shark, followed by a pool of blood, just 50 metres off the stern of the boat, indicated that the predation had been a success.

Beverly and Alessandro (SAMPLA interns)