Now that I’m back and settled in Kratie I thought I would give a quick update on how the actual work is going! While we have a couple other projects we’re hoping to accomplish, the main one we are working on now is the one described on my blog about the infanticide behavior. Theoretically, it sounds easy enough to go out on the water, observe the animals, record some data, and analyze it. However, what I’m learning from this experience is how a clear-cut protocol on paper can become increasingly complicated in practice.
The first task we had was to organize a research team and train everyone on the methods and how to fill out the data sheets etc. etc. Ideally we need a team with one photographer (we use photos of the dolphins’ fins to identify them), two data recorders, and a boat driver. One of the data recorders, SeangAun, is actually a masters student at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and he will be living in Kratie while he collects data for his thesis. Even though I just finished my masters I was actually asked to be one of his supervisors – I find this rather hysterical, but hopefully I’ll do an OK job. The rest of the team will be WWF staff and include: Lor Kimsan, Hang Sereyvuth, and Tan Someth Bunwath.
I was nervous the team wouldn’t understand my explanations and we would struggle with the language barrier, but they asked excellent questions throughout the presentation and boosted my confidence that we could pull off the project. Over the last week though we’ve hit some roadblocks….for instance, we’ve discovered the tour boats are too slow to keep up with the animals making data collection really difficult. We are in the process of trying to repair WWF’s boats and determining if using a jet engine boat will or will not harass the dolphins/get stuck on the river bottom. Additionally, we definitely have the manpower to conduct the study, but the WWF staff is involved in many other projects and planning in advance is something I realize I need to be much more organized about. I also didn’t quite realize I would be in charge of the budget for the project, so that’s been a new challenge to figure out, but probably a useful skill for down the road. I’m thinking the next several weeks will continue to be challenging as we figure out the logistics and iron out the methods for the protocols, but I’m crossing my fingers things will get a bit easier.
On an unrelated note we had another dolphin die :( The dolphin was found about 100km north of Kratie in Stung Treng Province. I was annoyed the WWF truck was late picking us up that day, but when I saw the dead dolphin in the back of the truck I got over that pretty quickly. At the WWF office we unloaded the carcass and began taking various measurements of the animal according to the necropsy protocol.
Then came the real problem….fitting the animal into the freezer. As it turns out this animal was too large to fit and we cut its tail off in hopes that would help. It didn’t. The final solution was to wrap plastic around the opening to the freezer and tape it shut. The smell from the room with the freezer isn’t horrible yet, but I’m slightly dreading when we finally do the necropsy.
On an even more unrelated note, I was able to celebrate my co-worker, Makara’s birthday last week. She invited me and one other expat, Coline, to go out to dinner. A friend of hers dropped off a birthday cake for all of us to share. It was elaborately decorated and seeing as I hadn’t had cake in several months I was excited to try it. However, Coline informed me the cake may look like ones from home, but doesn’t taste like them at all. Because most people don’t have refrigerators these cakes are made with a type of resin that gives it a slightly strange taste. I’m slowly learning that many of the foods here including desserts, may look like one thing and taste like another. Makara was surprised that we paid for her dinner and explained birthdays aren’t really celebrated in Cambodia. This was confirmed for me when the next day, SeangAun (the masters student I’m working with) wrote the date on a data sheet and remembered it was his birthday. He then had to do the math to figure out how old he was. I was slightly shocked by this cultural difference because birthdays are obviously widely celebrated in the U.S. SeangAun explained to me if you’re a “normal” person in Cambodia you don’t celebrate birthdays, but if you are rich then your parents might get you some gifts.
I’ll try to make the next post slightly more coherent, but wanted to share thoughts about each of these experiences!