Journal entry 1

What is the background of the people in your peer group? (other volunteers?) What different strengths do they bring to the research project? What strengths do you bring?

All of the interns I am working with come from different countries: Scotland, England, Australia, and South Africa, and we will be getting one more intern mid September that comes from somewhere in the UK as well. The three girl interns all have their divemasters certification and were volunteers with Global Vision International (GVI) so not only are they very comfortable in the water but they also have experience doing coral surveys. They know a lot about underwater life. Two of the girls already have their undergraduate degrees somehow related to Marine Biology. The male intern has years of experience in air traffic control which is very useful when we communicate to our microlight during our whale shark encounters. I don't have a strong underwater background and I do not have my degree yet, so it's hard to know exactly what I contribute to the dynamic. But, I am very passionate about whale shark research and conservation and I have planned for months to be here in the Seychelles so I have had extra time to read up on whale sharks and ecotourism. I have a faculty advisor at UVU so I have resources I can pull from because I'm still in school.

Data collection is inherently "noisy" with many variables causing each data point to be imprecise. Now that you've been in the water.....list as many variables as you can think of that will make your data imprecise.

On the whale shark encounters a lot of the information has to be judged by humans such as our location from the shore, the visibility (unless we measure it with instruments), cloud cover, and even things like our actual beginning and ending time of the overall whale shark encounter. The biggest variable in our data would probably come from the I3S software that is used to identify each individual shark. Once we take pictures you pick three control points which are the top of the 5th gill slit, the edge of the pectoral fin, and the bottom of the 5th gill slit. Then you pick 12 spots in that control area. That data is run through the database and the software gives you the top 50 matches. Then the two people running the software have to visually match the found shark to the sharks in the database. There are many variables in this process including which spots you decide, where you mark the control points if the picture is murky, and which shark you match. They use the I3S data to learn about the Seychellois whale shark population so it is important those factors are reduced as much as possible. It's very useful and the best technology we have now, but since there is such a human element to matching the spots and stripes of each shark there is always a margin for error.

MCSS Internship: Week 1, training

Right now I am in the Seychelles Islands participating in a whale shark internship with the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS). The nature of the internship is focused on whale shark field research and ecotourism. Whatever knowledge and findings I acquire here I plan to apply to my Integrated Studies capstone project, which is scheduled to be completed in April 2012.

MONDAY 8/22:

We (the interns) were lectured on a broad overview of whale sharks in the Seychelles. The Seychellois whale shark aggregation population has a pretty specific "demographic" consisting of mostly juvenile males about 19 feet in length (5.8 m). Scientists are still trying to learn what "normal" whale shark behavior is. In the lecture Dr. David Rowat explained that in an effort to better understand whale shark behavior he will have a microlight aircraft fly overhead whale sharks and observe their behavior with no humans vs. humans at 15 m vs. humans at 10 m vs. humans at 5 m etcetera.

In addition, this year we will also have the assistance of a Helikite that will be able to take video (among other things) of the surround area from the sky to monitor behavior too. The overall impression I was left with about the lecture was that whale sharks are awesome (obviously) and there is so much more research that can and should be carried out in the future.

In the afternoon the staff and interns went for a snorkel where our water abilities were gauged. Most importantly I learned how to duck dive and worked on equalizing so I can start swimming deeper. Just to brag for a moment, on that snorkel I saw lionfish, parrot fish, trumpet fish, a spotted eagle ray, AND a little hawksbill sea turtle! So incredible.

TUESDAY 8/23:

We were again lectured in the morning by Dr. Rowat, but specifically on whale shark anatomy. It was very through and included explanations of whale shark muscles, reproduction, respiration, feeding, taste & smell, vision, mechano-sensing (hearing), electro-senses, and the brain. To spare you the details of everything I learned, the part of the lecture I found most interesting was talking about whale shark spiracles. Spiracles are a vestigial first gill slit that allows bottom dwelling sharks to pump water over their gills (aka breathe) even when they're not moving. The fact that whale sharks are able to breathe while not moving has interesting implicates as to why they would need this function unless they behave similarly to other bottom dwellers at some point in their lives. Are they possibly bottom dwellers while neonatal or as adults? Do they even use their spiracles in the same way other Orectolobiformes do? Who knows!

In the afternoon we had a lecture and demonstration on laser photogrammetry. It is another fairly new technology that allows people to accurately measure whale sharks for the first time. In essence, you attach 2 lasers a certain distance apart (50 cm for ours) and mount an underwater camera in the middle.

Then when you take a picture of the shark there is a laser "scale" on the actual shark so you can determine the length that way. It has something to do with the amount of pixels inbetween the lasers so no matter the distance the photo was taken, an accurate length measurement can be determined. I'm not quite sure of it entirely, but that's the gist anyways. Then we went out to snorkel and practice our laser photogrammetry and photo ID techniques on a fake 3.8 m "whale shark" tethered underwater. (The whale shark is actually a piece of triangle tarp with spots on it). I still need a lot of practice!

WEDNESDAY 8/23:

Our morning lecture by Dr. Rowat was on aerial surveys. MCSS uses a microlight flexwing aircraft to survey the island of Mahe every morning and again in the afternoon during our whale shark encounter tours (weather permitting). The area around Mahe is divided in 7 zones and the pilot uses a "synoptic survey" technique which means he flies in continuous transect to avoid any double counting of whale sharks (they simply can't swim fast enough). Reasons for survey bias were discussed as well as the optimal survey ratio developed by Marsh & Sinclair. Our microlight pilot flies at a conservative 1500 ft. Dr. Rowat also explained other studies that use aerial surveys and encouraged us to look into how throughly and accurately the aerial data was. "Aerial surveys are only as good as the frequency they're done and the amount of area they cover."

In the afternoon we worked in the MCSS office on the I3S software that uses algorithms to match pictures of the spot patterns on whale sharks with other sharks in the database. It is very tedious work but also very important. When we are on the whale shark encounters it is important we properly photo ID the shark so we can run it through the I3S database to see which whale sharks are returning to the Seychelles and which sharks are new. It is an important piece in understanding the Seychellois whale shark population because it creates a "capture history". However, I started seeing spots and strips by the end of it.

Thursday 8/24:

Dr. Rowat lectured us on the the practice of catch, mark, and recapture (CMR) that helps scientists get a population size. We discussed the Lincoln-Peterson Model for estimating population size and tried it ourselves using coins we "caught", "marked" with a sharpie, and "recaptured" in a bag. The POPAN and/or MARK open population modules are used here.

There was more practice of photo IDing in the afternoon using the I3S software.

Friday 8/25:

Our final discussion of week one training was on satellite tagging whale sharks. Dr. Rowat explained the pros and cons of different satellite tags used on whale sharks and his most current whale shark findings to date. More specifically Dr. Rowat talked about Archival 'Pop Offs' Satellite Tags or PAT tags and Daily Diaries that allow the reconstruction of every move the tagged shark makes within a 24 hour period.

In the afternoon we did office work on aerial surveys. We learned about the GPS program we will be using the analyze the data the microflight pilot collects and how to input other data into the proper spreadsheets.

For more updates and photos, you can visit the MCSS blog at http://seychelles-whale-sharks.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow I will be on a boat to hopefully have my 1st whale shark encounter!!!

MY BRILLIANT FALL INTERNSHIP/SENIOR THESIS IDEA

I had a very helpful conversation with Danny in the International Office when going over the logistics of my internship in the Seychelles Islands this fall that spurred a wonderful idea for my senior thesis! My advisor for my UVU Biology internship wanted me to focus on the whale shark field research and not the ecotourism aspect since I would be getting Biology credit for it, but for my senior thesis I still wanted to tie in an ecotourism bit of whale sharks. I think I've found a way to do both...

Among my research I came across a case study of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact in the Seychelles Islands co-written by the director of the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS, aka the man in charge of the NGO I'm doing my internship with), published in 2007. My brilliant idea would be to revisiting that case study and perhaps try to get it published and possibly even see if David Rowat would be willing to co-author the new case study with me? The purpose would be to see where things stand about 5 years after the initial case study. Instead of just reporting back the field research conducted I could take the whale shark monitoring data a step further and include it in a case study of how the whale shark ecotourism industry in the Seychelles has been progressing (or possibly failing) since 2007.

I'm very excited for this idea because it encompasses my 2 interests of whale shark field research and ecotourism and I'll have case study research guidelines to follow. By calling this a "case study" I can follow case study research methods, know the strengths and limitations of what that entails so I have realistic expectations for an end result, and I have the previous case study to use as a stepping off place AND I'll be in regular contact with one of the authors of that case study for input or insight. Is this a great idea or what!!!

I've taken a look at the original case study and found 12 things I could look into and/or revisit for my follow up case study:

1. Revisit stakeholder's list (Is it bigger, smaller, same? Still primarily consists of dive operators or are more boat charters, glass bottom boats, and taxi boats involved?)

2. Effectiveness of quarterly newsletter (Is the purpose still to involve more community members in WS monitoring activities? Has the audience grown in size of numbers and size of area the info is being sent to? Quality of data being distributed? Is it more or less effective than the national public workshops approach?)

3. Revisit how the original need of a "nationwide network for reporting sightings" and a "cross-network feedback" of WS monitoring has been met (Are newsletters and national public workshops the only way to meet those needs? Or the most effect way? What about an email list, blog, or website to report to and reference WS sightings?)

4. Revisit original outreach questionnaire to stake holders (Gauge before and now: what they knew about WS and their occurrence, any direct interactions with WS, what characterized their interaction, and were WS sightings by chance?)

5. Revisit analysis of the potential WS ecotourism has in Seychelles (Originally based on questionnaire to visiting tourists. Asked how much tourists would be willing to pay for WS activities. Data analyzed using Contingent Valuation Method)

6. How many tourists scuba dive and snorkel?

7. Revisit projected value and direct earning to WS program (Originally done by realistically looking at Seychelles infrastructure to support WS tours, the timeframe of WS occurrences during peak season, fluctuations in weather, and the limitations of 1 spotter aircraft. 1 ecotourism operation running 4 trips/week could have 560 clients total in 1 season. Use 560 clients + actual revenue figures of average length of tourism reports + average daily expenditure from current tourism reports...... estimate using Travel Cost method = projected value and direct earnings to WS program)

8. Collect new data of tourists during WS encounter boat tours (Originally MCSS researchers on board collected info like: number of people in water, encounter duration, and causes of encounter termination. New info could include WS behavior changes when people and boats are around. Is there a need to revisit the Seychelles WS encounter policy or other management or policy changes? How many tourists actually follow the WS encounter policy?)

9. Is the most limiting and costly factor of WS ecotourism in Seychelles still finding WS? (Done only by 1 microlight spotter plane. This limits the number of operations it can support. How much would revenue increase if another spotter plane was utilized? Does doubling the number of spotter planes and therefore increasing the number of boat operators in a given day significantly increase environmental degradation and put a stress of the WS themselves?)

10. Effectiveness of daily emails to stakeholders with flight's WS aerial sightings (This provides immediate feedback to boat operators within range so they can go out. Do other operators go out even when they are "out of range". What does "within range" mean?)

11. Benefits (in terms of revenue and quality of scientific research) of having MCSS researchers on board WS tours (Boat operators can have microlight aircraft and knowledgable WS researchers on board. Is there a measurable difference in the amount of money earned when researchers are on board compared to when not on board? Is there a measurable different in the amount or quality of "citizen science" research collected by the tourists themselves when scientists are on board [such as photo ID pictures taken of WS]?)

12. Are WS sightings increasing or decreasing since 2007?

Something this study did not touch on is the toll WS ecotourism takes on the animals themselves and the Seychellois environmental. I would not know where to begin or how to study that, but it might be worth speculating about at the end of the case study. I also realize that things like "benefits" and "effectiveness" can not always be defined quantifiably which makes certain aspects of my case study difficult to prove. Those 12 items are the things I could look into to do a follow up case study on whale shark ecotourism in the Seychelles Islands. I wanted to get everyone's feedback and approval before I approached the director of the MCSS with this follow up case study idea. And of course I would get his feedback on what projects he was already working on for this type of topic or what he would like to see studied.

Final Proposal

TO: Scott Abbott, Mark Jeffries, Catherine Stephen (Biology), Dan Stephen (Envt. Studies and Earth Science)

FROM: Leah Myer

DATE: April 26, 2011

SUBJECT:

I aim to complete a senior thesis using my Biology and Environmental Studies emphases to study whale sharks in the Seychelles Islands.

THESIS and PROJECT SUMMARY:

Originally I wanted my capstone project to focus primarily on the effectiveness of whale shark ecotourism. Being accepted as an intern this fall with the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) is going to allow me access to accurate and current whale shark data. I am getting internship credit through the UVU Biology department and they want my focus to be on the field research of whale sharks, not the ecotourism. Then they want me to tie in whale shark conservation efforts with the “bigger picture” of conservation and global sustainability.

At the request of one of my advisors I’ve exchanged emails with the director of the MCSS to see if there was an aspect of the whale shark project I could take over or call my own. He said that within the first week or two of the program people show an aptitude for certain intern responsibilities, so once we determine where my strengths lie, that is the aspect of whale shark research I will specialize in.

I will still be exploring the pros and cons of whale shark ecotourism in the Seychelles Islands but the main focus of my internship will be on the practical science of field research. It is hard for me to plan for much more so I will put my efforts in researching all I can on whale sharks until I leave in August.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE/WORKS CITED/BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Rowat, David and Engelhardt, Udo. “Seychelles: A case study of community

involvement in the development of whale shark ecotourism and its socio-economic impact.” Fisheries Research, 84 (1) 109-113. Retrieved March 7, 2011, from http://www.sciencedirect.com

This article directly relates to whale shark ecotourism in the Seychelles. Even though I will be focusing on the scientific data of the whale sharks themselves, this article is valuable in the sense that it takes whale shark data from years previous and already outlines where whale shark ecotourism was in 2007 and the potential positive and negative effects tourism may have on Seychellois whale sharks in the future. During a 14 week whale shark season, the ecotourism could bring in anywhere from $3.9-$4.99 million per year. It also says the most limiting and costly factor is actually finding the whale sharks. Right now this is only done by flying 1 microlight spotter plane in the morning.

Martin, R. Aidan (2007). A review of behavioural ecology of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). Fisheries Research, 84 (1) 10-16. Retrieved March 7, 2011, from http://www.sciencedirect.com

This article explores the behavioral ecology of whale sharks already known to scientists as well as possible negative impacts ecotourism may bring. It looks at actual whale shark anatomy and behavior. How the noise and vibration of motors and noise pollution caused by increased tourist boat traffic may have negative effects on whale sharks. It also comments on whale shark behavior around humans. Whale sharks vary in their reactions to human interaction; some are curious while others are skittish. Also the noise the boats make that are used by humans to access whale sharks may disrupt migrating, feeding, or breeding behavior.

Norman, Brad (October 2002). CITES Identification Manual Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus Smith 1829). Environmental Australia Marine Species Section 1-18. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from http://www.environment.gov.au

This gives concise explanations and pictures of specific whale shark phenotypic characteristics (especially each fin). It explains the fins also in terms of trade and market value. It explains what countries trade whale shark products and why. Again, when focusing on ecotourism, it is important to understand how much a dead whale shark is worth versus an alive one in the wild.

Graham, Rachel T. (2006). Diving behavior of whale sharks in relation to a predictable food pulse. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 3 109-116. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://rsif.roalsocietypublishing.org

It is important for me to understand the diving behavior of what sharks when they aggregate because that is the setting I will be interacting with the whale sharks in the Seychelles Islands. This article explains whale shark feeding and diving behavior during food pulses. It gives specific depths, lunar patterns, and certain times of the day whale sharks are more likely to feed.

OUTLINE:

Again, I’m not quite sure what my specific project will be the MCSS so it is hard to know what I will be writing about. But I do know that I will be talking about the whale shark field research I do while in the Seychelles Islands. If I can tie it into whale shark ecotourism as well I will, but that will not be the main focus. At the end of the paper I will use whale shark conservation as a way to illustrate the “bigger picture” of why conservation is important in a universal perspective. I plan on using a lot of the data collected during the internship because it will be extremely accurate and pertinent to my thesis. I will, however, tie in other whale shark articles as needed, especially when explaining the importance of conservation as a whole.

PROPOSED TIMELINE:

August 22-October 31: MCSS Internship

November & December: report back to Catherine Stephen and complete requirements for my Biology internship

Spring 2012: Enroll in capstone II and finish my whale shark senior thesis

I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!

Great news: I got the internship I wanted! Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I need to back up and explain what I've been up to the past 2 weeks.

I persistently harassed the Georgia Aquarium and Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) until the Georgia Aquarium finally called me to set up an interview. I had my phone interview last Thursday during Spring Break and they called me on Sunday to tell me I was accepted. (Actually they only had 2 positions available and I was 1 of them!) They gave me until Tuesday to decide. Well then I immediately emailed the MCSS and told them I was offered another internship and they had until Tuesday at noon to tell me if I was accepted or not. I got an email from the MCSS the next day saying I was accepted to THEIR program too! So I went from the Honduras Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center as my back up plan to having 2 legit internships in a matter of a few days. Long story short, I picked the MCSS as my internship choice for a few reasons:

1. I'll be doing specifically whale shark ecotourism! (I'll help spot them overhead, I'll be on the boat recording observations of the whale sharks found, I'll be leading snorkel groups of tourists who will swim with the whale sharks, I'll be helping with photo identification, and I'll be doing office work of putting the info in databases... among other things)

2. It starts in August so I have more time to prepare (thesis, saving money, etc)

3. I won't be bothered by the ethics behind aquariums (P.S. The Georgia Aquarium has already had 2 whale sharks die in their exhibit)

4. At the Georgia Aquarium, the only animals I wouldn't handle as much would be the whale sharks and rays (which in some ways defeats the purpose of a whale shark internship)

The point is.... I'm PUMPED for doing my 10 week internship with the MCSS. So now that I know where I'm going my planning can really begin. I spoke with the director of the International Center to tell him my plans to do an international internship. He told me he was onboard, he could be my advocate, there was money to be given (but not a lot), he told me of a few extra fees I wasn't aware of, like insurance the schools will make me buy. He wanted me to make a budget to show him and find out how many credits my internship would be and then come talk to him again. I've been bouncing around from advisor to advisor deciding on if I want it to count in Biology or Envt Studies (aka Envt Management/Technology? because ENST doesn't offer an internship class). So, I'll need to continue on that. The good news is that I've already done my budget, so I just need to add in the few extra fees I know of and add the tuition cost after I find out which internship class I should/can register for.

Now I can finally start fleshing out my thesis idea. I definitely want to incorporate how studying whale shark aggregations can help in understanding the other species the whale sharks feed off of who group together at those areas at the same time. I need to focus my research specifically on the whale sharks around the Seychelles and draw some broader conclusions for whale sharks in other parts of the world. For my ZOOL 4000 (Animal Behavior) class we have to write a paper on any animals behavior so I'm writing on whale shark aggregations. This has been so much easier because I have lots of good articles to draw from because of my research for this class.

Also this week I finally watched the only whale shark documentary I know of (if there are others please let me know) called "Shores of Silence". It's not very long and can be watched free online. I recommend it! Ok that's what I've been up to for the past 2 weeks. As always, any feedback for my actual thesis idea would be appreciated!

Still Moving Forward in 3 Different Directions

I found out why the MCSS (Marine Conservation Society Seychelles) has extended their intern application deadline until the end of the month: they short-listed 12 people--myself included--but when they asked if everyone was still interested only 3 people were--myself included! Does this mean I have the internship? Haha, I don't know, maybe because they don't have anyone else at the moment, then yes? They told me I'd find out if I got it at the end of the week, but I haven't heard anything yet. Also, the Georgia Aquarium called this week and set up a phone interview with me for next Thursday! That's progress.

But still the dilemma is that I don't know WHERE I'm going yet, so I still feel like I'm moving forward in 3 different directions (MSCC, Georgia Aquarium, or WSORC). So I'm just focusing on researching whale sharks and ecotourism more. I found 9 more articles but I still need to finish going through them and finding which ones are most useful. I've started focusing more on whale shark articles in the Seychelles Islands just in case I get that internship. The MSCC is my #1 internship choice so far.

The last class we had still haunts me about finding 3 faculty to be on my "committee", so until I know where I'm going I won't worry about it... Also, what the heck should my thesis be. I tentatively said in the last blog if I went to the MSCC I would want to possibly study the successful components of their whale shark ecotourism efforts and how the MCSS works in conjunction with the Shark Institute and other more global organization. Good idea or bad idea?

Still Waiting

I'm still waiting to hear back from the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) as to whether or not I was accepted to be an intern in the fall. I looked on their website and it said they're now accepting applications until March 31st when originally applications were due in December. Their intern's training and duties include:

1. The Seychelles whale shark programme: findings, achievements, why it exists 2. Basic whale shark information and biology 3. Whale shark data collection: filling out forms, writing up data, the systems and spreadsheets 4. Photo identification: sorting and filing images, pre-process preparation, matching software 5. Snorkel training and water skills development for whale shark activities (subject to qualifications) 6. Communication training: between micro-light and boat and between boats 7. Boat operations: logistics, protocols, and safety 8. Micro-light aerial survey support and data handling, software use 9. Environmental monitoring equipment use, data capturing and handling 10. Study area orientation and geography The progress I wanted to make this week was to outline my capstone thesis if I were to go to the A) Georgia Aquarium, B) Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, or C) Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center. Right now as it stands, if I were to go with A: Georgia Aquarium, my tentative thesis would be going along with the comments I have been given "How can we most accurately study the behavior of the whale shark-- through aquarium research or in the wild?" I want my MCSS thesis to somehow study the successful components of their whale shark ecotourism efforts and how the MCSS works in conjunction with the Shark Institute Seychelles and other more global organizations. If I went to Honduras with the WSORC I would want to see how effective educational efforts are in promoting conservation and protecting whale sharks, and again look at the successful (or unsuccessful) components of their ecotourism operation. So now I'm still stuck waiting to hear back from the Georgia Aquarium and the MSCC so I can make some definite progress in the right direction instead of moving forward in 3 different directions. I need the most input helping me round out my thesis ideas for the MCSS and WSORC.