Landlocked and Risso's

We've been stuck on land this week due to further boat delays and no access to the municipality boat that we have been using sometimes as a replacement.  The good news:  our boat is FINALLY ready and should be here by next week.  The other good news is that we are going to do a survey around Pamilacan tomorrow, which is an incredibly beautiful area.  

We've done about 7 days of surveying around Pamilacan since I arrived and each time we see something new.    A few weeks ago we spent three days there with hopes of collecting whale shark genetic samples, but the sharks remained elusive.  We did however see Risso's dolphins!  Risso's are another new species to add to my cetacean life list.  You can actually find Risso's in BC too, though they are rare there.  Risso's are super easy to identify as they are very scratched up.  It's the older males that are the most marked- some looking almost white due to their scarring.  Here is a look at the animals we saw, maybe we will see more tomorrow!

  

Mini-vacation to Bais

On our way back to Bohol from Cebu earlier this week, Valeria and I decided to take a small side trip to the town of Bais on the island of Negros.  What were we doing there?  Going on a dolphin watching trip.  Now before you roll your eyes and ponder why we would spend a fair bit of money to watch dolphins when we do it for free all the time, let me tell you there was a purpose to our dolphin watching.  Valeria's research interest is animal behaviour, more specifically, the impact of dolphin/whale watching on the behaviour of local populations.  She is contemplating doing her PhD  field work in the Philippines and wanted to check out the industry in Bais compared to the industry here in Bohol.  (Just as an aside 'it's-a-small-world' moment, Valeria just completed here Masters using data from Rob Williams' collected at Eagle Eye in Johnstone Strait.  Another reminder that the marine mammal world is creepy small.)

Getting to Bais was half the fun- a jeepney, a trike, a ferry, and then a rollercoaster-esque  bus ride complete with very bumpy road and break-neck speed.  During the bus ride, Valeria and I held on tight to our seats and glanced at each other periodically with looks of mixed glee and terror.  The scenery on Negros was quite different from Bohol, as instead of rice, the fields were filled with sugar cane.  Upon arriving in Bais, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice hotel (with a nice, comfy bed).  The luxury!!!!!!!!!!

So excited about a real bed

The next morning we woke at our typical 5:30 (it is weird that this is starting to feel like a normal wake up time), and grabbed a trike to the wharf to catch our arranged dolphin boat.  It was somewhat hilarious as the two of us had an enormous, 40-person capacity banca to ourselves.  Unfortunately, the actual dolphin watching was less than thrilling, but then again, I am incredibly spoiled when it comes to whale watching, as it's hard to beat the multi-species days off Northern Vancouver Island or even here in the Bohol Sea.  We did find a small-ish group of spinner dolphins, but they were evasive most of the time and the aggressive tactics of the captain were a bit hard to take.  There also wasn't much in the way of interpretation, most of my questions were answered shortly and incompletely. None the less, it was fantastic to be on the water just enjoying the scenery.  The weather was overcast, lending to dramatic light for much of the morning.

Part two of the boat trip was a stop at a nearby sand bar.  Due to the tides, the bar remained submerged, but only under approximately 60 cm of water.  The dolphin watching boats stop there, letting you swim in the lovely warm water while the boat staff grill up any food you brought.  Four cabins on stilts are located on the sand bar, which apparently you can rent.  How cool would it be to stay in a house that is marooned in the middle of a bay?

Our mini-vacation was short lived though as later that day we needed to head back to Bohol.  Another roller-coaster bus ride and then a ferry and we were back.  It was great to have a little break and feel like I was 'travelling', though as our van pulled into Jagna after a long day,  it was also really sweet to feel 'home'.

Mundane routines for my mother...(and some whale shark pics!)

I wrote this post two days ago, but haven't had reliable internet connection for a few days.  Here it is, slightly delayed:

Left Oslob today with a bit of a heavy heart, but an excited back and stomach.  I had a great time there over the last 10 days, working with two fun women, swimming with the sharks, and collecting data that I think will be really useful to the community and hopefully better protect these amazing creatures (I am rather attached now!).  However, after 10 days of sleeping on a camp cot and eating nothing but plain fish and sticky rice every night, I was positively dreaming of a veggie burger and a real mattress.  I won’t get the veggie burger, but the real mattress is already confirmed for tonight and I am STOKED. 

My week and half in Oslob had a set routine, something that has been missing from much of time here.  My mother commented the other day that I wasn’t telling her much about the ‘mundane’, so here is a very long winded explanation of this routine (you asked for it, IC!).  We’d wake up at 5:30 (which apparently is not an ungodly hour, as church services are held here at this time and all business are open by about 6am), grab our fins, masks, underwater slates and cameras, and head to the jeepney stand at the market.  Before hopping aboard our ride, we’d pick up some bananas and bread for the day’s snacks.  Bakeries are EVERYWHERE here, but unfortunately, while their cases are chock full of delicious looking breads and pasteries, they are all sadly disappointing, tasting like over processed flour, sweetener, preservatives and usually slightly stale.  

Don't be fooled, none of these are delicious.

We’d then hop on a jeepney, which is a curious vehicle (see pic below) that packs a lot of people on two parallel benches in the back.  Translink operators would lose their mind in a jeepney as NOBODY moves back.  In fact, everyone sits as close to the door as possible and piles all their stuff (including enormous sacks of rice and boxes of fruit) right in front of the only entrance/exit, so when you get on you have to crawl and claw your way over people and stuff to get a seat.  The jeepney ride was about 20 minutes to Tan-Awan and we’d all zone out, watching the scenery go by.  To get off the jeepney, you either make kissy noises or bang a coin against the metal post as loudly as you can. 

Jeeney travels

Upon arriving in Tan-Awan (and clambouring over the people and stuff to get out again, usually accidentally clocking someone with fins), we’d sign in with the whale shark registration desk ladies, who were always very happy to see us.  Everyone always calls you ma’am here, which is pronounced more like ‘Mom’. Then it was off to set up at Marilyn’s, one of about 5 ‘resorts’ that the tour boats run out of. We’d grab a table, spread out our stuff, and feel inadequate because every other table was occupied by a large Philippino family that had brought enough food to feed an entire army.  Seriously, entire pigs and 3 gallon buckets of rice for a day at the seaside! 

Data collection usually went from about 7-12:00, with all of us rotating through the different tasks during our three ‘shifts’: in-water behaviour/compliance data, photo-id, on-land boat surveys.  We’d get suited up on land and then make our way into the water, swimming out to the interaction zone. In the water, the boatmen would usually greet us with a smile and wave, sometimes excited if a new shark was in, sometimes annoyed if we were in their way (oops!).  Between shifts we would eat brekkie, catch our breath, and growl about our frustration with those that refused to follow the rules or those who flagrantly broke them to annoy us. 

When work was done around 1, we’d head down to the barangay office (local government) to get the number of registered tourists for the day.  During holy week, nearly 2000 people came through to see the sharks, but this week it was only about 400 a day.  

On-land data collection

In the water data collection (and my butt!):

Whale shark photo ID

Can you spot the whale shark behind the feeding boat?

We’d then catch a bus or jeepney back to Oslob, grab some fruit or veggies at the market, and then head back to our place to shower off the saltwater, enter our data, eat some lunch and (for me) crash for an hour in the hammock.

Pineapple for lunch

Outside of the market

The fact that a group of foreigners were staying in a house in Oslob was a bit of a local curiousity (most people only come to see the sharks and then leave the same day, so there isn’t a lot of overnight tourism), so I woke up a few times from my nap with a bit of an audience.  Sometimes I’d do my data entry outside on the porch, which would also draw an audience who would very quietly watch me type numbers into an excel document.  Not exactly what I would consider riveting, but the local kids (and some adults) seemed rather enthralled. 

Our house in Oslob.

By 6 it’s dark and we’d usually head out slightly thereafter for dinner.  There isn't a lot of choice in Oslob and we’d been warned that the ;eateries' were less than stellar, so we ate most nights at the BBQ stands outside the market.  For meat eaters, there is a plethora of choice- including chicken feet, intestines on a stick and very odd coloured hot dogs, should you desire. For the non-meat eaters, it’s a bit lacking.  I’d head into the market with one of my co-workers usually and buy some fish (a type of mackerel) and the BBQ stand would grill it for you.  Of course, there was the mandatory sticky rice, which at the stands comes neatly packaged in woven palm leaf packets.  You dip it in a concoction of soy sauce, vinegar (?), and chile.  Watch the chiles, they are small but potent and I nearly burned my lips off one night! At the BBQ stands, we had a reputation among local stray dogs of giving out scraps, so we always had motley company. After dinner, we got in the habit of perking up our bland meals with a little ice cream bar, which was my saving grace as I was going insane with the repetition of plain food.  By 9pm, we were usually all tuckered out on our uncomfortable camp cots, fan blowing at max speed to try and keep us cool. 

Scenes from the market at night:

The one exception to this routine was the night we were invited to a party of one of the local boatmen.  It had all the hallmarks of an awesome Philippino party: karaoke, home-brewed coconut liquor, and a whole roast pig.  To all the meat-eaters in my life, you will be happy to know that I ate the pig.  It’s sort of the BIG dish of the Philippines, so I figured for a cultural experience I should try it (that and the fact that there was nothing else to eat and I didn’t want to be rude by refusing).  It’s called lechon and is essentially a whole young pig, roasted on a spit.  My next confession: it was freakin’ delicious.  Now don’t get too excited (especially you, carnivorous father), I am not becoming a pork eater- especially since this was so good according to my meat-eating coworkers that I am sure I would be disappointed by anything else. But yes, I enjoyed it.  The skin gets all crispy and salty, which was particularly tasty and likely heart-attack inducing.  Here is proof (please note the picture was staged, I don’t normally make this face when eating…at least I hope not). 

So there you have it: a mundane post about routine and some pics of everyday life (and a few of sharks, how can you resist?).  

Pictuesque Oslob....

I am rather sleepy from our routine wake-up hour of 5:30am and the fact that I am sleeping on the most uncomfortable bed in the world right now.  As a result, I have no great seeds of insight or humerous stories tonight.  I just wanted to share some pics of Oslob, the town I am staying while studying the whale shark interactions described in my last post.  Oslob is about a two and a half hour bus ride from Cebu City, which next to Manila, is the other major metropolitan city in the Philippines.  It is on the island of Cebu to the west of Bohol.  Oslob really wasn't on the tourist map until the last few months (due to the boom in whale shark interaction tours).  You won't find it in the guidebooks yet, but it's still really picturesque. There are ruins of a watchtower and barracks that the spanish built in the late 1700s out of coral bricks, a pretty promenade, a great big church, lots of turquoise water, bright flowers and sunrises in the front yard. Apparently there are lovely waterfalls too, which may be tomorrow afternoon's adventure...for now, here is a look at where I am.