Halftime

It’s unbelievable, but half of my internship is over already. Time really does fly. And there still are new things to learn, whether it’s new stations or survey types. Last week we collected some dolphin dive times in Tai O. It’s really a most favorable place for watching dolphins from land and conveniently close to my home away from home, too. I for sure will be back to just sit there and watch some dolphins on a free day.

While we saw many dolphins in Tai O, unfortunately the remaining week was marked with only few and mainly very brief sightings, no matter if it was from the boat or from land. But I’ve been told one of the other teams had a great sighting, so it’s good to know that the dolphins are still around and we were just unlucky. We also finally started our acoustic surveys, which is really exciting!

On a more personal note it also was my birthday last week. My team of that day surprised me with a cake. Isn’t this just awesome!

The moon and the rabbit

Hey everyone!

If one thing is for sure then that interning with the HKDCS certainly never gets dull and I am looking back at an interesting and eventful week.

It started off with no dolphin sightings from the Tai Ho Wan land-based station. To make up for the lack of dolphins, we had many sightings during boat surveys later that week, including some very active individuals spy-hopping and breaching and head-lunging all around the boat.

This week was also the week of the Mid-Autumn- or Moon-Festival, an important holiday of the Chinese culture. As the name implies, it’s to celebrate the Moon and everybody had a day off. There also are fairs with light shows, sweets, dancing dragons and lots of people – everybody wearing or carrying some sort of colourful light. And eating mooncakes.

The moon and the rabbit are closely tied together by Chinese legends. Thus it might not seem really surprising that the Moon-Festival was followed by typhoon Usagi (which means “rabbit” in Japanese). It even made it into the news as the biggest and strongest storm on Earth this year. And it does look a bit like a rabbit, doesn’t it? As it was aiming for a direct hit we of course had to cancel all our scheduled surveys. 

                                                                  (Source)

                                                                   (Source)

So I staid put in Tai O for two days and followed the track of the cyclone online. Having never been in a typhoon, as we don’t get such things in Germany, it was actually quite interesting to see the track changing with sometimes funny bends, track predictions, strength changes and so on. Of course there was a big tautness, especially because till the very last no one knew whether Usagi would eventually hit the city of Hong Kong, or not. After following the course of the coastline for a while and thus really aiming for us, it decided to turn north-west-wards a little earlier, taking most of its strength with it.  Though it wasn’t the first typhoon this season, it still was the most powerful and closest in a long time. While I never felt unsafe and it certainly was an interesting experience, I nevertheless do hope that it was the last one for this year.

There she goes again

Hey there. Another week has passed and it’s time for a little update from Hong Kong. Last week started of with a Welcome and Goodbye dinner (bye bye Danielle!). It was so much fun and all we foreigners were amazed about how much the others managed to eat: while we were full after halfway through, the team continued and kept ordering and ordering all different kinds of delicious looking foods. I wished I wasn’t full, because they really looked and smelled yummy!

Another highlight of this week certainly was the visit of an acoustic expert, who provided us with a brief introduction into acoustic work. It was so interesting and I certainly hope to get a little more insight into it during the next couple of weeks.

We also tried to find porpoises this week, but they still remain a mystery at the moment. To not be too disappointed though, and after teasing us with some waves, the weather god appeased us with a beautiful light show on our way home.

There is so much going on at the moment here at HKDCS and these are busy times. So I’m really looking forward what else is to come.

Anke

Farewell Hong Kong!

             I’m currently sitting here writing this last blog post at the airport, waiting for my flight home to Canada. My time here in Hong Kong with the Dolphin Conservation Society was incredible. I can’t even begin to describe how much I learned about cetacean research and even the Hong Kong culture. The staff at HKDCS was so welcoming and kind. Because of their hospitality I felt very comfortable and at home here in Hong Kong.

            My last few weeks of work were amazing. We had some really great sightings where the dolphins were very active, socializing and breaching right in front of us. We also conducted a couple porpoise surveys, and even though we didn’t get many sightings the scenery is always so beautiful in those regions of Hong Kong. Finally a few of our theodolite-tracking sessions from the airport were quite successful due to some rare dolphin sightings within the airport exclusion zone.

            All in all I learned so many different research techniques and protocols, which I never would have known had I not completed this internship. I got the opportunity to help conserve an amazing species within a rapidly developing city. I had the experience of learning a new culture and trying new things, which I never would have been exposed to otherwise! This experience taught me so much about cetaceans, about cultures, and about myself as well! I would recommend interning at the HKDCS to anyone who is interested in environmental issues. It will be the experience of a lifetime!

            Many thanks to everyone I met this summer. You all will be sorely missed!

Signing off,

Danielle