I have now left the capital, Dhaka, and am in the southern city Chittagong. This is where I shall be living for the next 5 months while collecting my data on the not so elusive Ganges River Dolphin. Sarah, Simon and I left Dhaka on the 7.40am Mohanagar Provati train due to arrive at 2.40pm but actually arrived at 4.40pm. Apparently this 2 hour delay is the norm, which begs the question why not change the published train arrival time to 4.40pm? Bangladeshi trains are a nightmare for a number of reasons: 1) people try to sit on your lap even while you are sleeping, 2) they smell like goat, 3) they commonly de-rail, 4) they move at 2mph which means you are quicker walking, and 5) it is near impossible to buy tickets in any of the reasonable standard coaches because the government buys all those tickets for officials who MAY want to travel. This country is not ready for tourists.
Chittagong, while still a city is a welcome relief from Dhaka. Drivers acknowledge some degree of order on the roads, and there is an abundance of greenery that masks the run down appearance of virtually all the buildings. But most importantly it is nice to now know I am getting ever closer to actually getting some data for my PhD. It feels like it has been a frustrating 9 days up until now with visiting government offices, sorting visas, and of course being ill. Next week Sarah, Simon and I then head to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove system in the world. We shall be there for 9 days assisting on a boat survey of the Ganges River Dolphin, but hopefully with the opportunity to also spot the Bengal Tiger and Irrawaddy dolphins. For 9 days we shall be living on a boat and navigating these incredible mangrove-lined river systems counting river dolphins and noting habitat characteristics and the presence of fishers. Following this we shall then return to Chittagong to begin our own survey work of these southern rivers. I have chosen to focus my work here as the population of river dolphins down here is cut off from the rest of the global population and there are an estimated 125 dolphins that remain here today. This is a dangerously low number given that fishers still continue to kill the dolphin for its meat which they use as catfish bait. The objective of my work is to determine with these current levels of human-induced mortality are sustainable, and if not then by how much they need to be reduced. To collect these data I shall need to conduct approx 600 interviews with fishers from villages all over the range of this species which I hope to have done by Christmas leaving me only a boat survey to do in January and February.
So as yet, no photos or interesting data collection stories to speak of but these shall come in the next week or so. For those of you who have asked, yes I am still looking for research assistants to come and join me in January and February so do let me know if you are still interested :)
Chittagong, while still a city is a welcome relief from Dhaka. Drivers acknowledge some degree of order on the roads, and there is an abundance of greenery that masks the run down appearance of virtually all the buildings. But most importantly it is nice to now know I am getting ever closer to actually getting some data for my PhD. It feels like it has been a frustrating 9 days up until now with visiting government offices, sorting visas, and of course being ill. Next week Sarah, Simon and I then head to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove system in the world. We shall be there for 9 days assisting on a boat survey of the Ganges River Dolphin, but hopefully with the opportunity to also spot the Bengal Tiger and Irrawaddy dolphins. For 9 days we shall be living on a boat and navigating these incredible mangrove-lined river systems counting river dolphins and noting habitat characteristics and the presence of fishers. Following this we shall then return to Chittagong to begin our own survey work of these southern rivers. I have chosen to focus my work here as the population of river dolphins down here is cut off from the rest of the global population and there are an estimated 125 dolphins that remain here today. This is a dangerously low number given that fishers still continue to kill the dolphin for its meat which they use as catfish bait. The objective of my work is to determine with these current levels of human-induced mortality are sustainable, and if not then by how much they need to be reduced. To collect these data I shall need to conduct approx 600 interviews with fishers from villages all over the range of this species which I hope to have done by Christmas leaving me only a boat survey to do in January and February.
So as yet, no photos or interesting data collection stories to speak of but these shall come in the next week or so. For those of you who have asked, yes I am still looking for research assistants to come and join me in January and February so do let me know if you are still interested :)
Hope you're having an epic adventure in the mangroves! I'm in my office in an industrial estate in Leeds :(
ReplyDeleteLots of love Becs xxx