Internship progress:
The TURSIOPS association created in 1993 studies the behavior of
dolphins and especially the so-called ambassador dolphins
who choose the contact and sometimes the communication with the man.
By Eric DEMAY, Internship Director:
«We are accommodated on boats adapted to swimming in snorkeling and apnea (fins, mask
and tuba). We sleep in protected lagoons. We strive to work with the best local providers who are truly committed to nature conservation. My choices are the result of many trials to avoid collaborating with people who do not respect our ethics. Regarding whales in Polynesia, the choice is crucial as to the approach of cetaceans. Patience is our watchword and we are always rewarded for our attitude. In Polynesia or the Red Sea the question of sleep is paramount. I was the first to define this behavior with wild dolphins when I worked for the GECEM on the follow-up of the female dolphy in France between 1992 and 1995. However, I understand that this behavior is difficult to detect because the cetaceans have point a rest system very different from ours. However, it is up to us to be attentive and of course respect this vital need.
IMPORTANT:
For the greatest respect of cetaceans THE TRAINEES ARE IN THE NUMBER OF
10 MAXIMUM on a single eco-volunteer camp especially with dolphins of the Aduncus species. With Stenellas longirostris, the situation is slightly less delicate. We sometimes leave with only 5 people. For whales in Polynesia, I take 7 trainees on a catamaran with 4 cabins.
We do not want swimming with wild animals where only profit counts, the quality of our meetings is the most important. I would say it is paramount.
According to our records, during a trip we have 100% chance to meet cetaceans, but be careful we remain in a configuration of wildlife.
Often, dolphins really come to meet us and seek the game, the young of course but sometimes even Aduncus adults, a behavior specific to this species. It is much rarer with the Red Sea Longirostris and almost none with those of Moorea in Polynesia. My idea is to also meet cetaceans in the water by accepting their way of life but nevertheless respecting their vital needs, ie sleep and hunting but sometimes also their social interactions. My experience closest to them since 1992 allows me to better guess their desires and their needs. To know an individual is also better to love him and to respect him better. Sometimes cetaceans do not want interaction so following the cases, either we watch them pass, or we wait for an invitation to be proposed. Here again my experience since 1992 with dolphins called "ambassadors" helps me in my reflection.
I do not conceive the meetings of animals without putting themselves at their height, we must accept to share their daily life in their environment, we must consider ourselves privileged guests, nothing more. We must adapt. Thus, animals feel better considered and real interactions can be created. I have been doing this since my first encounters in Australia and the results are often great. My special relationship with them also helps us a lot in our approach, the experience plays an important role of course, and the feeling with them completes the quality of our meetings. It is of course in the region of Hurghada that I have the richest interactions. Some dolphins became true friends like Dandy (my favorite) and his son Daniel (I had the honor to give him that name because being the first person to recognize his sex when he was still small), Sefa (a male that I knew juveniles and who became a dominant, a sacred caratère!), Ferdinand, Laura, Lino, Vroni etc ... It is the scientific study in progress which keeps up to date the names and the identifications of delphinids.
So go to the water !!! Eventuellemt, we have on the boat lifejackets for people who are not comfortable in the water. I highly recommend Decathlon masks that encompass the entire face for those who are not great swimmers.
I shoot underwater HD photos and videos, especially about interactions. The other images are shared with the local scientists, you can also with your material participate in this research. We do a lot of photo-identification of dorsal fin dolphins in France and Egypt. More than 200 dolphins have been recorded and identified off Hurghada and El Gouna but there may be new dolphins or new births, furthermore these photo-identifications need to be regularly updated as the fins change regularly
with time.
In the Red Sea, we will first try to find the animals and then count them by staying on the boat and fill in the tracking sheets (location, time, weather, numbers of dolphins ...), then we go in the water to see more closely their
behaviors and to better define them. And of course, we will adapt our behaviors to their situation the next moment if they sleep, move, hunt, interact with each other or any other situation.
Adaptation is the key to our ethics. In Polynesia, we often find females during their rest because their young can not stay long without breathing. We must reassure the mother about our intentions. For example, never approach from behind because its viewing angle is limited. She could believe in a predator. This also applies to Red Sea mogul dolphins or Moorea Stenos: the approach should be gentle and avoid apnea. For some species of fearful dolphins, the only large living creatures that navigate below the surface are sharks. Our adaptation, our humility and our experience will be the fruits of interactions rich in emotions, our immersion will bring us closer to the essential and we can perhaps say that we have been in harmony with the wild life. "
Eric DEMAY