Author: admin

This week we surveyed the second island on our expedition; Koh Ankrong or ‘ant island’. The waters around the island are too shallow for our boat to get us to the shoreline, so instead we have been anchoring up about 30 metres out and then jumping from the side of the boat and wading to land with all our equipment held above our heads. The island was littered with half a dozen bunkers, and numerous entrenchments, a stark reminder of the fight against the Khmer Rouge – a dark time so recent in the history of Cambodia. It was a good week for surveying, with the Lepidoptera team photographing the Bicolour Cupid and Blue Tiger and the Avifauna team getting shots of the Yellow Vented Bulbul.

Whilst island life is every bit the tropical paradise it sounds, the days surveying are long and hard, and present slightly less glamorous problems to overcome. The most immediate of which is how we are constantly wet all day long – this begins every morning with the wade ashore, continues in the hot and humid climate of the jungle, and for good measure the daily downpour helps too (it is rainy season here, which means you can expect anywhere between 20 minutes and 2 hours of tropical downpour everyday).

Late on wednesday evening, around 10pm, Paul Ferber, who owns and runs Marine Conservation Cambodia, had a tip off about illegal Vietnamese trawlers within the protected areas of his watch. Paul is hosting us on Koh Seh, and he works tirelessly around the clock to run volunteering projects for marine biology research and protection. Following the tip off, our team were invited on patrol with MCC at night, to search for illegal trawlers. We were on the top deck of the large patrol boat; all lights out, radio silence and so on – so as not to give away our position. We didn’t return until gone midnight, so everyone was straight to bed after.

On this occasion we did not encounter any trawlers, which was disappointing in a sense, but also reassuring to see how good a job MCC are doing. To give an idea of the dangerous nature of the work being carried out, Niet – the fisheries police officer pictured in some of our Facebook posts – always escorts these patrols armed with a loaded AK-47. Illegal trawling is big business in South East Asia, and shows the profound economic disparities in the region, given the risks some are willing to take for an income of between $50 and $150 per month. In the coming weeks, it seems likely that MCC will being interviewing some of these trawler operatives to try and understand from their perspective the justifications for this work. Bel, one of our Marine and Natural History Photographers, is set to take a year out of her studies to come and document the troubles in this area.

Work has also been cut out for our first aiders Katya, Tom and Bel. Amongst the injuries this week includes Matt standing on a sea urchin. Whilst filming with the GoPro and jumping from the boat to swim ashore, he landed on a rock bedded by a sea urchin, and the barb snapped off inside his foot. Unconventionally, he dug the barb out with a small needle, before carrying on for the day.

On Friday we finished surveying the Lepidoptera and Avifauna of Koh Ankrong, and whilst we will need to return later on in the expedition for orchids and pitcher plants photographing, Nang – one of our guides – decided it was time to celebrate Khmer style. Thus we found ourselves sat on the earthy ground inside a local fisherman’s shack on the island, tucking into fresh boiled crab, sustainably caught a matter of hours ago, and getting suitably drunk on rice wine. We paid 5 dollars per kilo of crabs, and the rice wine was on the house – happy days. Needless to say, scrambling on rocks along the rocky coastline and attempting to wade back to the boat was… interesting.

Evenings on the island are occupied by playing volleyball and football with the Khmer volunteers and staff – something we’ve still got a lot of improvement to make! We’ve also got involved with a bit of a make shift gym on the island – pull up bars tied to trees, metal dumbbells, and bar bells consisting of long planks of wood with concrete moulded on the ends! Membership costs come by way of trying to beat Nang and Bok at arm wrestles and push up challenges. After that, it is dark and cool enough to enjoy relaxed music playing from the speakers (powered by the generator which provides electricity to the island for a few hours every day), ice cold Angkor beers on the beach and being shown some basic fire poi moves! What has struck me most about island life is the lack of radio and tv, and so everything is a lot more easy going, and entertainment a lot more simple. Whilst this sounds cliche, it means days are a lot less stressed than at home, and we can enjoy focusing on our research.

Words by Sean Young

Our third week started on our departure day to the island of Koh Seh. But first we needed to head to Kep market. Instead of hiring a tuk tuk we borrowed bicycles from the hostel. After sorting out some punctures we were off. Martin, AKA, the new Bradley Wiggins, stormed out into the lead closely followed by Belle, Tom and myself. About an hour later we arrived in Kep. Much to Tom’s delight there were mango smoothies for sale, which made the ride well worth it. On the way back the bells were discovered. Very soon after this the entirety of Kep knew Snoop Dog and Dr Dre’s “Still Dre” which rung out the whole way back. After hearing the excitement from the ride Katya and Ellen decided to make a trip as well (for the fact that we needed to withdraw money for the accommodation). I tagged along in hope of another entertaining ride, which in hindsight was a mistake as all three of us were caught in one of Cambodia’s notorious rainy season downpours. Nothing like I have ever experienced in England. As a result of not being able to see, Ellen made the decision to cycle as fast as possible. Why she did this, no one knows? The spray from the wheel just worsened and further blindness resulted. Nevertheless, we all made it back to hastily pack our bags ready for our departure. Paul Ferber, Founder of Marine Conservation Cambodia, kindly gave us a lift in his pickup truck or should I say on the back of his pickup truck to the pier where the boat was moored. After a quick game of street football we boarded the boat.

The journey was very choppy, with large waves crashing over the side of the boat and another downpour occurred. Naively only a few of us had a raincoat to hand, so for the second time that day I was wet, along with most of the team. However, non of us got nearly as wet as Nam, a Khmer local who fell in while showing off a little by climbing round the side of the boat, much to ever ones amusement. It was still a great introduction into island life and we were greeted with a spectacular sight when we arrived. We were to be staying on the island Koh Seh and the first thing you see as you arrive is the dense jungle. A dark green canopy dominates your view. As you near the island, a small pier comes into view, we didn’t know this at the time but it would be one of the best spots on the island for relaxing. As you moor up, in front of a small beach you can see one large building with a straw roof, but no sides, otherwise known as the main bungalow. This is the social hub for the island where all meals are consumed and many beers are purchased. As your eyes begin to adjust, dotted between trees and gardens, smaller versions of the main bungalow become apparent. These have walls constructed of bamboo, to provide some protection from the elements and were where we would be living.

We were greeted by a menagerie of children, dogs and chickens. After unloading the boat, Ellen, Katya and Belle were straight in the sea while Martin, Henry, Tom, Sean and Myself were introduced to Volleyball but the locals. Fair to say we were rubbish and after losing a soul crushing number of games we jumped off the pier to cool off. The water was amazingly clear and warm, even at dusk. And with the water just about deep enough to dive, we had a great time.

The next morning we took an initial tour of the island with our guides; Jasmine, aged eight, BooBoo, who was nine and Fern, six. We learnt of the layout of the island and although very small, had a variety of habitats as well as a number of remaining bunkers from the Kuhmer Rouge Regime. After lunch we started our first surveys. Initially we split the island into three groups with Tom and Martin on reptiles, Henry, Katya and Ellen on Avifauna and Sean, Belle and myself on Lepidoptera. Our methods were all very similar and involved setting up a transect line or establishing an area to wait and recording all the species we saw within a designated amount of time. We would then move the transect line to a different location within that section. All was well with Avifauna and Lepidoptera, however, after three days of searching, we decided it was not an efficient use of time or effort to continue this way with reptiles, having had no sightings. Therefore, Martin and Tom joined the other groups, but would still record any reptile sighting when they came across them.

Our surveys continued throughout the week on Koh Seh, with some 05:00 starts in order to observe a greater number and larger variety of birds and butterflies. One distinct early morning sighting was that of the Kingfisher, which made everyones day. Snorkelling, volleyball and cards were popular ways of enjoying our free time, while Sean “king of the snooze” got quite accustomed to his hammock. Slowly our volleyball game was improving and a game of Brits vs. Cambodians occurred, we lost again but was still great fun. At times, Martin did get a bit enthusiastic and started shouting chants rather loudly, which must have been heard by anyone within a five mile radius. After a relaxing weekend of films, cards and some of us returning to mainland, our first week on Koh Seh was concluded.

I think the best way to sum up this place is with a sign hanging up in the main bungalow that reads “Just another day in paradise”.

Words by Matt Holland

As anyone that has studied conservation knows; the creation of protected areas is extremely beneficial. They act to prevent habitat loss which is the leading cause of biodiversity loss, as well as directly protecting species from over-harvesting. However, the creation of protected areas is not enough for successful conservation, as the management of the area as a whole needs to be sufficient. There are too many examples around the world of places in which protected areas are made but no management occurs, to the detriment of the region. With a growing number of protected areas globally, the contact that local people are having with these regions is also growing. It is essential that we understand to what degree a region is being exploited to understand how to manage an area sustainably. Luckily, here at MCC we don’t just sit around on our little island and hide from the outside world. Each week we journey to the mainland to a number of local fishing communities. Here we conduct surveys with willing local fishermen about their personal practices and their concerns for the state of the regions environment. 

From this a wealth of information is gained about the intensity of the fishing in the region as well as the amount of illegal fishing that is spotted by local people. This sort of information, along with research, can enable management decisions and emphasise areas of concern. Along with this it can only be beneficial to involve the very people who are using the marine resources. On the trips to the communities we have seen many different people, with differing beliefs, and ideas about the surrounding environment. The people seem happy to engage with us and often appear to be happy to be able to voice their own personal concerns about the state of the coastal waters. Many highlight concerns about the illegal fishing activities that are occurring in the region and are happy to explain what they see to MCC, who directly deal with such issues.
From a personal perspective, going to the communities and being able to speak directly (via a translator) to the fishermen is a great experience that opens my eyes wider to how decisions and issues are impacting these people on an individual level. It provides a level of perspective one doesn’t derive from studying such issues from afar and has been an all round positive experience that I will take with me throughout my career.

• Alexander Wyatt BSc (Zoology) & MSc (Animal Behaviour/Conservation) student at Anglia Ruskin University (UK) 

My second week at MCC started exciting. Not only arrived new volunteers surveying the jungle of the island but Lindsay Aylesworth, researcher at Project Seahorse, joined us as well. For a few days she stayed at Koh Seh, training us some more for seahorse survey dives, giving us some insight into her work, as well as introducing the initiative ISeahorse she is working with. 

Lindsay showed us dry specimen of seahorse, pictures of them, introduced us to the species most commonly found in Cambodia and also trained us in which data to report for our own purposes but also for the life after being at MCC, if we decide to become an active part in ISeahorse. Iseahorse is a website where it is possible to report seahorse sightings on dives one did, helping researchers. Everybody can join so check it out :-).

Some interesting stuff I learned about seahorses this week:

• the males can get pregnant the very day after giving birth
• some seahorses mate for life
• a couple gets to know each other through dancing
• colour does not help identifying the species as they change colour
• the smallest seahorses are less than 2 cm long

At first it was really hard for me to identify species but with practice it became easier. When we went diving after a lot of practicing I finally spotted my first seahorse: At 3.8m and about 15 min into the dive a beautiful Hippcampus Kuda chilled out, holding on to a mussel. I was very proud to have seen it and being able to add something to the extensive data base MCC is developing concerning the seagrass and reefs around the island. 

Since Kudas are the most common species around Koh Seh I decided to write a small poem about them :-).

Ode to Hippocampus Kuda

Kuda, that is your name

still you don’t look all the same.

Spotting you is really hard,

because in hiding you are very smart.

Holding on to stuff with your tail

is something you do really well.

With your snout you look like a horse

but you can’t chew with it with force.

When you start do dance

it might lead to romance;

but your gender roles are slightly strange

’cause males are going through pregnancy change.

With your coronets you look like kings and queens

hiding underwater in your kingdom of greens.

Being relatively new to the illegal fishing scene, it was surprising to see the extent at which it happens. Through MCC patrols, illegal gear such as trawling nets, electric boxes and rat-tailed traps, are often confiscated at quite a high rates with their location on the ‘front line’.

I have been interested in nature conservation, and marine conservation in particular, for a while. After finishing my bachelor, I decided it was time to join a marine conservation project to figure out if this is something I would like to do more often.
After arriving, it became clear to me that if requested every volunteer is allowed to design their own projects, so that everyone can make the most out of their stay. Since I have been working with corals and in projects on corals, MCC gave me the opportunity to build an artificial reef.

On Friday we travelled to the village of Ankol near the Vietnamese border to interview members of the fishing community using our community survey. The survey is used to collect information such as family details, fishing history and views and knowledge of marine conservation in the local region.

For the last two weeks I’ve been working with Both (head of community work) trying to make sense of all the data we’ve collected in our interviews with fishermen. With about 4 months worth of interviews carried out so far, it’s not been as easy as we thought!

First we had to create a spreadsheet to put all our findings in. The survey we use is quite long and has a mixture of multiple choice and open-ended questions, so it took us a while to produce a good spreadsheet that will be easy to analyse the data from later on. We then started entering the results from our interviews. We’ve had a number of helpers and I think so far we’ve entered about 50 surveys, with a lot still to do! We’re still carrying out 4 surveys a week in local fishing communities, so it’s definitely an ongoing process. We’re getting pretty quick at entering the data now that we both know the survey inside out, although trying to figure out peoples handwriting is still proving to be a problem!