Groundbreaking Research Dolphins and Whales in Tanzanian Waters

From the archives: February 2015 

Above: Spinner Dolphin on the Tanzania Indian Ocean. Copyright Gill Braulik

Published in The East African Nation Media 27 Feb 2015

It’s exciting talking to Dr Gill Braulik who for the last 18 years has been following dolphins and whales around the Indian Ocean. In a few days time, she will set sail for six weeks in a catamaran with her team of seven scientists – all females in the top echelon – to survey the Tanzanian coastline for dolphins and whales – 3000 kilometers with a few more added in for the islands of Pemba and  Mafia. It’s the first time that such a survey is being carried out in Tanzanian waters.

Dr Gill Braulik on Misali island in the Pemba Channel Tanzania. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Watamu After the Whales

Published: The East African Nation 17 November 2018

With the Humpback whales now on their way back to the Antarctica with their babies in tow, my bucket list still has room for the gentle giants of the ocean because l missed seeing them. For decades nobody saw the whales on our side of the Kenyan coast since they had been hunted close to extinction.

Then one fine day in 2011 people out sailing beyond the reef in Watamu thought they were seeing things when they saw gigantic whales leaping out of the water and reported the sightings to Watamu Marine Association.  It was the start of whale-watching safaris organized by the Hemingways Hotel, a staunch supporter of the whale conservation. The whales only began to recover after the international ban on whaling in 1979.

Humpback whale in Watamu, Kenya coast, Indian Ocean, doing its back flip Copyright Jane Spilsbury/Watamu Marine Association

The Story of Gedi

Published: Saturday Magazine, Nation newspaper 17 March 2018

Above: The Palace in Gedi  Copyright Rupi Mangat

In the eventide, a skein of white wings glide over the blue of Watamu Bay to settle on the huge jagged Hemingway rock. Curious, l zoom in on the birds that appear as dots with the naked eye, l get my shots and send them to the birders.

Grey Plovers (Pluvialis squatarola) that breed in the Arctic Circle at Watamu bay February 2018 – flying in to breed here after a flight of 7000 km Copyright Rupi Mangat