LOBOS FIELD REPORTS

During our time here on San Cristobal, we have become friends with many of the Naturalist Guides who work here, both those who do week-long embarkations and others who only guide on day trips. Because of this, we have gotten two opportunities to speak with other people about our work with the students at Humboldt. On one occasion, Karen and I spoke to newly-boarded passengers on the National Geographic Islander, describing our purpose and showing them pictures of our students taking data. The people were very receptive to our endeavors, asking questions about our experiences on the island and with the students. Another time, I spoke to a group of Guides during an optional Guide Training our group held, briefly presenting them with a similarly-themed presentation as was given on the Islander. This version, however, had a special video feature from the students themselves, describing their thoughts on the project. This short clip was able to communicate the power of our involvement in the children’s lives to the guides in a genuine way, superior to any other method of communication.

Just like the students, Maddie, Carla, and I are always excited to talk to people about the work that we’ve been doing here in San Cristóbal. We all find the sea lions to be both interesting and adorable subjects, and we believe that our scientific questions are deserving of investigative efforts above our own (preferably, efforts including those people who live on the island). Perhaps most importantly, though, we are excited to talk about our wonderful students. The 11 IB students who have worked side-by-side with us have been able to take this project and run with it, learning quickly and remaining interested throughout. They came to us with mixed opinions on the sea lions of the island, but have already developed an intense appreciation and respect for the animals, demonstrated not only through their words but by their actions during our meetings twice a week. Now, they are protectors of the sea lions, obliged to use what they know about the animals to better protect them on a daily basis. They have refined their views on the endemic sea lions, forming an opinion based in subjective feelings and in objective scientific observations. Their voices, familiar yet highly regarded, given their IB status and experience with the sea lions, will be integral in communicating the results of our study with the local people when our investigation comes to a close in a year and a half.

Hasta pronto,

Kelly

Jeimy Ochoa

16 years old

How would you describe the attitude towards sea lions that people in your community have?

San Cristóbal Island receives the second-largest number of tourists in Galápagos. Our people live on tourism. It has led to the construction of restaurants, hotels, and handicrafts that improve the economy.

The island has beautiful beaches, unique flora and fauna, and one of its greatest attractions are the sea lions. Unfortunately some citizens in front of the boardwalk do not know the importance of the sea lions, as they frighten the animals by making loud noises with their hands. They do not want the sea lions near the docks, because they feel they are an inconvenience. The same thing happens on the beaches, where people fear the sea lions might attack them. What these people do not understand, though, is that the sea lions will do nothing as long as they do not feel threatened by something or someone. Thus, I think the attitude that the majority of citizens of my locality take is very bad. I feel that continuing to disrespect the sea lions in this way will eventually make them find a more secure place and perhaps with time, they may disappear from San Cristóbal. People will only then realize the great importance sea lions had in tourism, since tourists came to see the great diversity of species, including sea lions. If there are no sea lions, there will be no tourists. If there are no tourists, there will be no money for the island. Nobody would want that, so I am hoping to take care of this problem!

Grace Pesantes

16 years old

I am a student from San Cristóbal High School in the 1^st IB program. I like reading, swimming, playing football, basketball, and going out with my friends. I like to meet my friends to watch scary, comedic, or romantic movies, to talk or do homework. I also really like nature and the tranquility it conveys. The part of nature that I like best are animals, especially dogs and cats.

In the LAVA project I have learned many things about where I live that I did not know about before. This project has helped us approach the natural environment in a special, practical, and scientific way. It has taught us to be more observant and investigative, and helped us to understand the species that inhabit San Cristóbal Island. One such species is the Galápagos Sea Lion. They are animals that coexist with us in a special way, but personally I had never researched them. Now thanks to the practices and observations we have made with the University of Pennsylvania, I have learned a lot about sea lions. For example, I now understand that their behavior changes depending on where they are, whereas before I thought that their reactions were the same no matter where they are.

Genesis Lalaleo

• 16 years old
• I enjoy reading good books, writing poems and singing for God.

Before this project, we had not been particularly interested in learning about the lives, development, and physical and social environments of sea lions, even though they are the iconic animal of San Cristóbal.

This project began, as all projects do, with a set of concerns and questions. To answer these questions, we use a particular protocol: first we approach individual sea lions face-to-face up to a distance of two meters. Then we rate their reaction to our approach on a scale of 0 to 5. After that, we determine their sex and age; we note how many “neighbors; each sea lion has; and we note if they have scars. After that, we have a period of 15 minutes of observation where we note specific behaviors such as nursing or whether the sea lions call to one another. 

We also take photos of each sea lion that we hope to use to study them more deeply. To accomplish this, two people have the job of photographing sea lions during each observation period.

The project is born around four important questions. As we proceed with the collection of data, we hope to find the answers to each one.

Name: Fernanda Escobar

Age: 16 years old; I like conservation, listening to music, and playing sports.

What is interesting about working on the LAVA project? The LAVA project is teaching us a lot. Every day we learn interesting things and get the opportunity to work on the beaches and make observations next to the animals. For me, the LAVA project is a way to promote conservation and love for the islands. The purpose of this project is also to promote inquisitive minds in young people and raise curiosity about nature.

The LAVA project tries to show that not all those who put on a lab coat, look inside a microscope, and do work in a laboratory are scientists. The purpose of LAVA is to prove that scientists can be all sorts of people in many different settings; you do not need to fit the description above. We can be scientists while on a beach under the sun, with the sea breeze blowing. That is the interesting thing about working on this project.

We hope to continue working on this project to ensure that it does not crumble. I think an effective way of keeping it going would be to not only to work with International Baccalaureate students, but also to give the opportunity to young people all over the island, by for example creating an exclusive club for the LAVA project. Thus, this would encourage all of the young people of San Cristóbal to become more involved in the field of science.

I’m entirely unsure where the last month and a half have gone, but it has certainly been a productive time! Our vacation week in Santa Cruz and Isabela was lovely. On the return trip from Isabela, we met up with Karen in Santa Cruz for a few days before heading back to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Since our return, we’ve been teaching the Lava students methods of data input. As it’s sometimes pretty boring to teach students how to input data into Excel, we were a bit nervous for these lessons. The nerves were not needed- the students picked up data entry quickly and with the same enthusiasm as they approach observations. We spent last Wednesday teaching the students how and what to enter into spreadsheets. Friday was spent teaching the students to organize and back up photos on the SD cards. Yesterday, I met with four of the students in the IB classroom to go through data input from the last observation while Maddie, Kelly, and Karen went with the students to the beaches to run the protocol.

Unfortunately, it would ultimately take too much time for the students to go through and enter all of the data that they collect. One student simply cannot be expected to input 9 front-and-back sheets worth of data from the previous session in 90 minutes. The students would likely fall behind on data input, and maintaining organization with a backlog of data is always a challenge and never ideal. It was also troublesome to split the students to have one at the school and the rest on the beaches. So, to confront these issues, data input will be simplified and conducted at the beach moving forward. The teachers will bring the laptop with them to the beach. One student will organize and backup the photos from the previous observation session while the other students are taking data at Playa de Zona Naval. Included in these photos will be pictures of the data sheets. The data can then be entered into the excel sheet when the photos reach Penn. This process of organizing photos should not take too much time, and the student should be able to rejoin the observation at Playa de Oro or Playa Mann. We will take tomorrow to re-teach the students this change and to cover a few slight changes and reminders about the protocol itself. The time spent teaching students to input the data, though, certainly was not wasted. It is incredibly important for students to be exposed to every step of the process, from protocol design and troubleshooting to data input and analysis.

Our role for the next 10 days is to ensure that the Lava project can continue smoothly when we leave. After the challenges associated with data input are resolved, this should be relatively easy. There are a few tasks, like charging and bringing the technology and materials, that will fall to Luisa and Alfredo. Little details like who is bringing what materials and what is to be done with those materials after the observations are our biggest concern now. To make sure that we have addressed the day-to-day issues, we will essentially pretend that we aren’t here next week. Wednesday and Friday will be run entirely by the students and teachers. We’ll just be there to troubleshoot, answer questions, take pictures, and make sure that the photo organization protocol is clear.

Our other projects have also been going well. We’ve done 20-odd interviews, the photography class has presented their best photos with great success, and guide training preparation is ongoing. It’s becoming more and more difficult to ignore the fact that we only have 10 days left on the island. We have a lot to do in that time, but we also want to leave space for time spent watching sunsets, sitting on the beach, and a final snorkel or two! With limited time left, each moment is becoming more and more precious.

Hasta Leugo,

Carla

My name is Briggitte, I’m 16 years old, I like sports, eating, animals, sea lions, and going out to the beach.

The LAVA project consists of studying sea lions. We study their behavior, their sounds, what is around them and how it influences them. Thanks to the opportunity offered by University of Pennsylvania we have obtained comments that we did not know about our own sea lions.

What surprised me a lot about the sea lions is that as each human being has our DNA that identifies us as individuals, they have fins that uniquely identifies them. Therefore, while monitoring the sea lions, photographers take pictures of the fins and these photos serve as information for others.

Name: Carlos Aldair Paredes

Age: 16

Interests: Playing basketball, reading books.

What was your attitude before, during and now in the LAVA Project?

In only a short time, the LAVA project has begun changing my attitude towards Galápagos Sea Lions. Before, as a resident of San Cristóbal Island, I did not pay much attention to the sea lions, since I was used to seeing them all of the time. However, during the project I learned many things that I did not know, even though I am from the island. The things I have learned from the LAVA project include how to identify sea lions (sex, age…), how they behave towards people, the rules/laws to follow in order to properly respect the sea lions, and what to do in the potentially dangerous case that a sea lion approaches you. I have seen many people who are from San Cristóbal that do not know about the sea lions, and I feel good knowing that I am an exception. Now I view sea lions in a new way and realize that they are very important to the Galápagos ecosystem. We must conserve them, take care of them, and maintain them, because they are a unique species in the world.

Darwin had it easy.

Darwin worked hard, took risks, and challenged the most influential dogmas of his time. He spent years at sea, sailing from ocean to ocean on an expedition more likely to kill him than make him famous. He was nauseous and sickly, suffered from malnutrition, and once contracted a fever so severe that he was bedridden for a month. But for all that, Darwin had it easy.

You see, Darwin was part of an old and powerful tradition that says that scientists should control every part of the scientific process, from choosing questions to making observations to interpreting their significance. Ultimately, this tradition hopes science will improve the lives of people across the globe. But it excludes most of those people from the scientific process.

This way of conducting research can be productive, but it can also lock away the benefits of science inside a small community of professionals. Despite the best of intentions, the interests of the rest of the world are not always represented in the choices scientists make about what research to do and how to allocate financial and intellectual resources. Local knowledge is often ignored, and the joys of using scientific tools to solve natural mysteries are reserved for a lucky few. And when it comes to interpreting and applying research results, the people who are most likely to be affected often have no seat at the table.

The LAVA project is part of a new tradition, one committed to the idea that science should be a project of, for, and by normal people. There is, of course, a place for professional scientists in this tradition, but so too is there a place for local naturalist guides, educators, tourism operators, and National Park officials. In developing in this project, these important members of the local community helped us decide which animals to study, showed us where to find them, and told us what research questions we should ask once we arrived. Now that the project is underway, the stars of the show are Galapagueño high school students, who are interacting with sea lions twice a week and providing real-time feedback on the research protocol. When it is time to analyze the results and reach out to the community, these students, their teachers, and members of the naturalist guide association will once again be leading the charge.

There is a reason that most science is conducted by professionals. Developing a truly community-based science project is hard! The diversity of participants enriches the project, but also makes it more complex. We are working in two languages and across continents, and all the while negotiating differences in goals, preferences, and expectations. We are embracing challenges that Charles Darwin never had to reckon with. The joys and benefits of science should be accessible to everyone, and with the LAVA project, we’re doing our best to spread the love (and the science)!

Best,

Karen

This week with the IB students was a big one, as we finally let them take charge of the data collection. On Wednesday, we began with the students in pairs, setting them free to conduct the protocol from start to finish. We stayed nearby for questions, but there were only a few bumps. After being split into two groups at their respective second beach, with half going to Playa Mann and half going to Playa de Oro, the students finally got to practice collecting data individually. This step was important, as this is how they will be gathering information for the rest of their time working on the project. Both at this point and on Friday, when all their observations were done alone, the students began to intimately understand the allotted timeframes for the assay, identification, and observation tasks. While some expressed being bored by the inactive sea lions assigned to them, others admitted feeling a little pressed for time. Luckily, a great deal of the time spent during some observations is spent watching sea lions sleep, and so some of the information which is unavailable in the beginning can logically later occur without affecting the data. Getting to know the protocol in this way was a large part of the learning for this week; specifically, knowing what things one must do in a set order, such as labeling the social groups before doing the two-meter assay, and what things that can be done later, such as determining sex and age during the behavioral observation if it isn’t obvious immediately. This simple ability to know when to move on can save a great deal of time in the overall observation, and it’s something the students will gain through practice.

Wednesday, specifically, was great for another reason, too – we added some planned leisure into our schedule with the students! After the observations concluded, we invited them to join us for a “chill session” at Playa Mann. In preparation for the meeting, Sabrina, Carla, Maddie, and I popped some popcorn and invaded Ernesto’s kitchen to bake a batch of brownies. Naturally, we went all-out: We used chocolate chip cookie dough as the base, followed by a layer of Oreo cookies, all topped with brownie mix. With our cups in hand (we told everyone to BYO), we all sat on Maddie’s sarongs amidst the normal crowd of people, passed around a carton of milk and a few juice choices, snacked on brownies and popcorn, and listened to some tunes. We talked to the students about their favorite types of music, made jokes, and even played a game of Frisbee before dismissing them. It was nice to see them in a more relaxed setting than what is seen during our observations, and making those connections was good for our relationship with them. Hopefully this will make communication easier and our general interactions even more friendly during the second half of our time here on the island. It’s hard to believe we’ve been around for so long already!

Ciao,

Kelly

Today we cut the apron strings.. Almost. We spent our time with the students at Playa Mann today. The students partnered up and assigned themselves 5 sea lions per partnership to assay and observe. Unfortunately, observations were made difficult by some very active sea lions. The students that I was helping had a lot of trouble keeping track of which sea lion was which, as all the animals were moving all over the beach. As the students were having trouble, so was the photographer – it wasn’t always clear to her which sea lion was which, and tracking all of the rogue sea lions down was time consuming.

While today was challenging in many ways, there were still many encouraging strides forward. The students conducted the two-meter assay and were able to identify the age and sex of many of the sea lions without assistance. They were able to troubleshoot when things went poorly, and they were clear and concise in jotting down observational notes. The students communicated with partners around them to identify sea lions that were not assigned to them, and they seemed to have no trouble at all navigating the data sheet. When they did have questions, they were not afraid to ask one of us. I was also pleased to note that, after the observational time was complete, students were able to come up with constructive ways in which they can improve next time.

For the first day of letting the students practice collecting data in pairs, I think that today went very well. We will have to practice a few more times before collecting data that can be used in the study, but the students are steadily improving. We’re meeting at Playa de Oro on Friday to practice data collection on the final beach in the study. Hopefully the sea lions aren’t quite as active so that the students have an easier time keeping track of them!

Hasta luego,

Carla

Days 2 and 3 on the beach went swimmingly! Thankfully, there have been plenty of sea lions on the beach for our practice sessions. The students now have perfected the two-meter assay, a measurement of sea lion aggression towards humans. They have also learned how to identify age and sex classifications of the sea lions and to identify behaviors such as nursing, calling, growling, barking, and challenging. Finally, the students seem comfortable with photographing tags, scars, and flippers on the sea lions. These attributes will hopefully be used to identify individual sea lions using computer programs. Today, we finally put all of these pieces together and practiced the full protocol in small groups, beginning from first entering the beach through the fifteen-minute behavioral observation period.

The students are excelling in their understanding and implementation of this project. They ask probing questions, seeking to understand how to record various exceptions to the basic protocol. They are attentive and interested in the sea lion behaviors and are becoming more confident around the animals; they no longer run away from curious sea lions, but instead maintain their composure and relocate with poise while continuing observation. Guiding the students through the protocol has been educational and certainly enjoyable for me; favorite moments include the ‘Aha!’ moments when students observe and correctly identify a behavior for the first time, or when a sea lion sneezes and everyone in a 10-meter diameter chuckles in unison.

Next week, we’re diversifying the location of our observation to include Playa Mann and Playa de Oro. So far, we’ve been confined to the naval beach because it typically has more sea lions and less human traffic than the other two, making it ideal for teaching. On Wednesday, we’ll practice the full protocol at the other beaches, guiding the students individually through the process. We expect Playa Mann to present some challenges for recording behavior given the larger number of people and increased human-sea lion interactions. Next Friday, we hope to run the entire protocol, beginning with the whole group at the naval beach and then dividing the group in half to visit Playa Mann and Playa de Oro. I, personally, am very much looking forward to it.

Hasta pronto,

Carla

Today we got to get out of the classroom setting and hit the beach! Of course, it wasn’t a typical beach day, as we spent it introducing the protocol to the students. We didn’t want to overwhelm them immediately, so we began by learning everyone’s names and doing an icebreaker activity called “As the Wind Blows.” Then, we began a cursory overview of what we will be doing on a normal meeting day. When it came to the things we found to be a little tricky, such as distinguishing the ages of the sea lions, the students surprised us, picking up the distinctions with ease. They asked important questions, and, through their actions, they made it clear they were experts on the sea lions already.

One thing we were concerned about was the number of sea lions at Playa Zona Naval. At 3pm, our start time, there were less than 10 sea lions on the beach, a number that would be too little to collect meaningful data. Another worry was the amount of interference that really does affect the Naval Beach, our “undisturbed” beach: Foot traffic to Tongo Reef, a popular surfing spot; cars and trucks driving in and out of the base; periodic announcements over the loudspeaker; chanting every morning and evening by the Naval officers. Because of these things, we have been speculating the differences we will observe between this location and our other two locations, Playa de Oro and Playa Mann. We anticipate that the foot traffic and small beach population at the Naval Beach will resemble that of Playa de Oro, similarly near traffic and comparatively less crowded. Of course, we suspect they both will be different than that of Playa Mann, a beach heavily disturbed by lounging tourists and locals alike.

Overall, the students seemed less tense than they were on our first meeting day in the classroom, and they seemed genuinely excited about getting to collect the data and work with us and the sea lions — something we found to be very reassuring. I’m optimistic that they’re going to be pros in no time!

Nos vemos,

Kelly

Greetings from the Galapagos! Earlier today, the UPenn team and Ernesto Vaca, a local naturalist guide and collaborator with LAVA, traveled to San Cristobal High School. We met with the International Baccalaureate students (who will be our field team for the Sea Lion project), their professors, and their parents. It was the first time the whole team was in the same room, and enthusiasm was high. It was great to see months of planning finally materializing!

To begin, we had students and parents fill out surveys designed to establish their opinions about conservation in the Galapagos as well as baseline knowledge about sea lions. This meeting was also a chance to reiterate the goals and importance of the project to everyone involved. They seemed a little nervous, but based on the type of critical questions the students were asking throughout the meeting, I’m sure they will make an insightful and dedicated field team. On Friday, we will take the project to the beach and introduce the students to the field protocol. I am looking forward to actually observing and appreciating the sea lions that we have spent so long thinking about. Until then . . . Adios!

Salud,

Maddie