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We left Dakar last Saturday, in a car loaded full of supplies for manatee sample collection and camping,  thrilled to be getting out of the crowded city for a couple weeks of fieldwork in northern and eastern Senegal. Tomas had found a private businessman willing to rent us a car for a reasonable rate, which was lucky, because none of the car rental companies will rent […]

Back in business in Dakar Time is flying! I’ve already been in Senegal a week and a half, but it seems much shorter. I hit the ground running and have had several very productive meetings while in Dakar. Last week I met with Alain Seck, the curator of the mammals collection at IFAN (which stands for Institute Francaise d’Afrique Noir (the French Institute of Black

Time To Go! Sunday morning I head out the door and back to Africa! My doctoral qualifying exams are finished and I’m now an official PhD candidate! So now I’m really excited to get back out to the field. I’ll spend the next 3 months in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and hopefully the Gambia, where I’ll be collecting data and samples, doing surveys, and training African colleagues. I’m

Save Our Seas Foundation has published a lovely new book highlighting the work they support, including my West African manatee research. Click here to access a web version, and scroll to page 51 to see the West African manatee section.

I am so impressed and proud! Aristide Kamla, who came to Florida for training last November, has already held his own training workshop in Cameroon! Last weekend Kamla provided training in data collection and use of field equipment (including collecting environmental data, looking for signs of manatee feeding, identification of manatee food plants, and of course how to search for the manatees themselves) at Lake Ossa, where

Bittersweet Some of you may recall my joyous posting on January 25, when I received the export permits for the samples from Mali after waiting 13 months. Well, as I predicted, shipping the samples would turn out to be another challenge. I spent several weeks setting up a DHL corporate account so that my African colleagues wouldn’t need to pay for shipping and wait for

But Wait, There’s More! Just after I posted previous blog about Dawda’s training, I received a few more photos that should really be included. Dawda spent part of his time at Crystal River snorkeling with manatees, which he really enjoyed because this just isn’t possible in Africa (primarily because African manatees are too scared to stay anywhere near people, but also due to lack of

Training for Dawda Following upon the success of Aristide Kamla’s training in Florida in November, Dawda Saine of the Gambia arrived in early February for three weeks of advanced manatee training. Dawda worked for two years to raise the funds for his trip and to get the appropriate visa to come to the USA. My project grants helped sponsor his training, and he also received

Fingers crossed Several West African countries have submitted a proposal to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) to raise the West African manatee to Appendix I, which will hopefully provide more protection for the species, and would stop the trade in live manatees captured for aquaria in Asia. I’ve spent the last 2 weeks working with the great staff at Species Survival Network