To those of you for whom it is not clear (probably because I have not completed the personal profile section yet) I am a PhD student from London carrying out research on the Ganges River Dolphin in the Bangladesh part of its range. My interests are three-fold: 1) after 3 years of working on the IUCN Red List it highlighted how little we know about southern Asia ecosystems, particularly river systems, and how large megafauna are continuing to disappear with little attempt to address the causes (evidenced recently by the loss of the Baiji and the Vietnamese Javan Rhino); 2) the Ganges River Dolphin is the most evolutionary distinct of all freshwater cetaceans so its loss would would result in the loss of a significant part of river dolphin evolutionary history; 3) my mothers family are Bangladeshi and so I was curious to meet the family I had never met and see where my mother grew up. As a child I was told incredible stories about Bangladesh, "The people are some of the friendliest you will ever meet" my mother used to tell me. Well she isn't wrong.
When I left Gatwick airport 5 weeks ago I was not relishing the idea of 5 months in the field without my dear husband and stupid dog. My first two weeks in the country involved a lot of throwing up, lots of queuing to sort visa problems, and dealing with the streets of Dhaka (a city that proves that total, manic chaos somehow works). Probably not the best way to your first few weeks in somewhere you don't really want to be. So I was pleased when the time came to up and leave Dhaka and head south to Chittagong where I would spend the next 5 months. I immediately moved in to my new apartment which had been arranged for me by a collaborator here in the city. The apartment is in the centre in an area called Lalkahn Bazar. It has a great community spirit where people are beginning to get over the shock of a white person living on the street. I am regularly inundated with questions (in the following order); my name, where I come from, am I married, how many children I have, and where is my husband. I satisfy them with my first 3 responses but my last 2 get a few disapproving looks. My street is a lively bubble of amazing fruit and veg stalls, women in vibrant coloured saris, children showering under drinking water taps, and a constant smell of poo. Annoyances about my road include the local mosque. Please don't get me wrong I have nothing against mosques, except when they are right outside your bedroom window and the call to prayer megaphone is level with your bedroom window and first call to prayer is at 4:40AM!!!!!! On a plus side I am getting up really early to head into the field :)
So after getting settled down in Chittagong I headed of for the Sundarbans to carry out a Western Sundarbans dolphin survey. There are 4 cetacean species in the area; Irrawaddy dolphins, Ganges River dolphin, Indo-pacific Humpback dolphins and the Finless porpoise. I was assisting a local NGO, the Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project, with their survey. The BCDP has probably done more for Ganges River dolphin conservation than any other NGO I have heard of. It is run by an incredibly passionate trio. Liz who hails from Switzerland but came to visit Bangladesh about 8 years ago, fell in love with the country and never left. She is an incredible ambassador for the local people and is working to educate local communities on the river dolphin. She married Rubaiyat, a wonderful warm man who lives and breaths the river and sea. Rubaiyat shows his passion for the country through his incredible photography, clever local initiatives, and his beaming smile. Then there is Dylan: Dylan is in charge of trying to call the dolphins to the boat. He has this unique gift where he emits a whole series of very high pitched clicks and squeals similar to those of a dolphin. Dylan by the way is one years old and is the beautiful child of Liz and Rubaiyat. We had a thoroughly successful week in the Sundarbans covering some 700 km of river, counting a few hundred dolphins and documenting every ounce of fishing gear we came across. The week was made more interesting by nights spent sleeping on the open deck under the stars, swimming in crocodile/shark filled rivers, parking next to a boat full or pirates (not the Johnny Depp type), however nothing completed it quite like the people. What beautiful, beautiful people. Have you ever come across a country where people smile for 24 hours of the day, call you brother or sister to make you feel loved and like one of them, hug you within 5 minutes of meeting you, will bend over backwards to help you just to make your life easier (like doing a whole load of GIS work for you for free that takes 2 weeks to complete), won't accept a thank you because it is their duty to make you happy, feeds you the second you step foot in their house (even if they are the poorest of the poor and don't have enough to feed themselves). Thank you to all of you whom I met on the boat, your incredible kindness has helped me fall in love with this country and remember what I am doing here.
I should probably stop there for now. I have lots more to say but I fear I have lost some of you by now. I am back in Chittagong and have now started my interviews with the local people. Keep an eye on the blog for my next installment about the illegal dumping of caustic acid into the beautiful Karnaphuli and resulting declines in fish and dolphins, the ancient hill tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and how to use a local toilet in a fishing village without catching cholera, dysentry, or a host of other diseases.
When I left Gatwick airport 5 weeks ago I was not relishing the idea of 5 months in the field without my dear husband and stupid dog. My first two weeks in the country involved a lot of throwing up, lots of queuing to sort visa problems, and dealing with the streets of Dhaka (a city that proves that total, manic chaos somehow works). Probably not the best way to your first few weeks in somewhere you don't really want to be. So I was pleased when the time came to up and leave Dhaka and head south to Chittagong where I would spend the next 5 months. I immediately moved in to my new apartment which had been arranged for me by a collaborator here in the city. The apartment is in the centre in an area called Lalkahn Bazar. It has a great community spirit where people are beginning to get over the shock of a white person living on the street. I am regularly inundated with questions (in the following order); my name, where I come from, am I married, how many children I have, and where is my husband. I satisfy them with my first 3 responses but my last 2 get a few disapproving looks. My street is a lively bubble of amazing fruit and veg stalls, women in vibrant coloured saris, children showering under drinking water taps, and a constant smell of poo. Annoyances about my road include the local mosque. Please don't get me wrong I have nothing against mosques, except when they are right outside your bedroom window and the call to prayer megaphone is level with your bedroom window and first call to prayer is at 4:40AM!!!!!! On a plus side I am getting up really early to head into the field :)
So after getting settled down in Chittagong I headed of for the Sundarbans to carry out a Western Sundarbans dolphin survey. There are 4 cetacean species in the area; Irrawaddy dolphins, Ganges River dolphin, Indo-pacific Humpback dolphins and the Finless porpoise. I was assisting a local NGO, the Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project, with their survey. The BCDP has probably done more for Ganges River dolphin conservation than any other NGO I have heard of. It is run by an incredibly passionate trio. Liz who hails from Switzerland but came to visit Bangladesh about 8 years ago, fell in love with the country and never left. She is an incredible ambassador for the local people and is working to educate local communities on the river dolphin. She married Rubaiyat, a wonderful warm man who lives and breaths the river and sea. Rubaiyat shows his passion for the country through his incredible photography, clever local initiatives, and his beaming smile. Then there is Dylan: Dylan is in charge of trying to call the dolphins to the boat. He has this unique gift where he emits a whole series of very high pitched clicks and squeals similar to those of a dolphin. Dylan by the way is one years old and is the beautiful child of Liz and Rubaiyat. We had a thoroughly successful week in the Sundarbans covering some 700 km of river, counting a few hundred dolphins and documenting every ounce of fishing gear we came across. The week was made more interesting by nights spent sleeping on the open deck under the stars, swimming in crocodile/shark filled rivers, parking next to a boat full or pirates (not the Johnny Depp type), however nothing completed it quite like the people. What beautiful, beautiful people. Have you ever come across a country where people smile for 24 hours of the day, call you brother or sister to make you feel loved and like one of them, hug you within 5 minutes of meeting you, will bend over backwards to help you just to make your life easier (like doing a whole load of GIS work for you for free that takes 2 weeks to complete), won't accept a thank you because it is their duty to make you happy, feeds you the second you step foot in their house (even if they are the poorest of the poor and don't have enough to feed themselves). Thank you to all of you whom I met on the boat, your incredible kindness has helped me fall in love with this country and remember what I am doing here.
I should probably stop there for now. I have lots more to say but I fear I have lost some of you by now. I am back in Chittagong and have now started my interviews with the local people. Keep an eye on the blog for my next installment about the illegal dumping of caustic acid into the beautiful Karnaphuli and resulting declines in fish and dolphins, the ancient hill tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and how to use a local toilet in a fishing village without catching cholera, dysentry, or a host of other diseases.
Love this post!!! (apart from the bit about Jonny Depp) xxxx
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