This week began with being in the office, learning many of the statistical methods used to analyze and set up the survey data gathered in the field. It was very interesting to see how it was done, and the methods used to create large figures displaying lots of the quantitative characteristics of the data.
In addition, we got to see the food matching division where researchers have the task of classifying foods that have not been identified before, and matching them to the existing indexes of other countries. If the foods do not show up in other countries’ food catalogs, these researchers have the task of identifying the food’s genus and species. This is a particularly difficult job in the Philippines where the cuisine is so diverse and it is difficult to match dishes and certain niche delicacies to more common foods. There are also so many fruits and vegetables that are not found anywhere else.
After the office, we left early for Palawan to explore the island before getting to work. We took off Thursday and Friday so we could have 4 days. We first flew to Puerto Princesa on Thursday, then stayed the night and woke up at 6 am the next morning to go dive with whale sharks off the Puerto Princesa bay!
Those of you who have looked into whale shark diving before have for sure heard of the popular site in Cebu, Oslob, where you can swim with whale sharks where they feed them just a few hundred meters off the coast. Hundreds of tourists come every day to experience these gentle giants. However, the feeding practices that they partake in to get them to stay in the spot to be observed are not great for them or their ecosystem. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) explains that whale sharks are highly migratory species, and do not often stay resident to one area for very long. Having feeding sites where they dump large amounts of small shrimp into the water for the whale sharks to eat interrupts feeding reproduction patterns. Moreover, these creatures are already endangered, and anything that could decrease their reproductive success is a major issue. However, it must be stated that the tourism Oslob specifically and Cebu generally recieves due to these whale shark trips is huge for the community and generates an immense amount of economic oppertunity for those who reside in these areas. Overall, the availability of the experience should remain, with more sustainable practices.
We headed down to the port early in the morning and went around in a boat with an awesome crew from 7am until about 3pm. In total we saw 4 whale sharks! We were so excited since we were seeing them in the wild, without the practices stated above, people are lucky if they see just one! We also saw giant manta rays, dophins, sea snakes and large tuna.
That afternoon we made the trip up to El Nido, “The Nest”. It is known to be one of the most wonderous natural areas not just in the Philippines, but the world. After the 6 hour trip we up from PP we slept and left for our island tour the next day. I could not help but be absolutely floored by the natural beauty of the islands. The water was crystal clear and there were so many beaches and lagoons nestled between the gorgeous rock formations. The crew for the tour was so fun, laughing and messing around the whole time. One found an octupus and wore it like a backpack, then took it off and bit it, killed it, and then cooked it to have as part of our meal.
I will say that out of all the activities and sights in the Philippines, the one thing that sticks out no matter where you are is how incredibley kind, sweet and smiley the people are no matter what is going on. It is really what makes the experience what it is.