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My flight to Horta on Sunday was cancelled due to bad weather. An unplanned extra day in Lisbon followed and some rapid replanning of the expedition preparation began. Huge thanks to Lisa for stepping in and help organise what she could in my absence – though there is limit to what you can do from a laptop in Lisbon. The good news is I have finally arrived in the Azores, albeit much later than expected. No real harm done, but the next day or so will be busy getting everything back on track. But this is an expedition, so it is great to have a plan, but as important is a willingness to change it and adapt.
Strong winds whipping up the surge at Horta beach
The good news is our hosts at Monte Da Guia (Silvia and Mario), Lenita (our housekeeper) and Lisa have been preparing the expedition base for group 1’s imminent arrival, and I will continue this evening.
We now just hope that the weather and whales (and other target species!) are on our side and we can look forward to some great fieldwork (and data collection) over the next few days.
So safe (and hopefully uninterrupted) travels to those of you on group 1 still en route and we look forward to meeting you all on Tuesday morning.
It’s almost time to return to the Azores, which means it is also time for the initial introductions. I am Craig Turner and I’ll be your Expedition Leader on the Azores Expedition this year.
Craig Turner
The Azores has an allure that keeps drawing me back, and I know I am not the only one returning this year. Who doesn’t want to live on a volcano, in the middle of an ocean, searching for a diverse array of charismatic species, including some of the biggest creatures to ever roam our planet! It is always great to be going back to the Azores. Whilst my home patch of water (Loch Ness) has its own monstrous appeal (and I spend a lot of time on it with the RNLI), the mid-Atlantic is vast, and despite this, we do have a better chance sighting the beasts that frequent the depths!
I am currently organising and packing my kit, checking that I have all I need for the next month – so don’t forget to check the project dossier.
It will be great to meet up with old friends and colleagues from previous years, not least, our scientist Lisa Steiner – it has now been over ten years since I first worked with Lisa. If you want to find cetaceans in the Azores, then as many know she is the person to find them. If you have seen the latest expedition report and Lisa’s publications, then you’ll know, not what to expect, but what we hope to record. Last year, you’ll note they had a variety of records – so you never can be too sure what ‘data’ we will collect. Dare I say it, blue whales have already been sighted! Just cross your fingers and do the relevant dance for good weather….
I arrive in Faial over the weekend, a couple of days before meeting the first group, in order to set up the expedition headquarters. I’ll send around another message once I get on the ground in Horta and confirm my local contact details.
I hope you’ve all been eagerly reading your expedition materials and know to bring many layers of clothing. The weather is often very Scottish – so prepare for warm, cold, wet and dry – sometimes on the same day. Don’t forget your sunglasses or your waterproof trousers – you’ll thank me when you are stationed on the bow of the boat as a lookout and the weather is choppy (so also bring your motion sickness pills/patches – if you know you need them!) otherwise you’ll be feeding the fish!
So, with the local team in place, whale sightings already recorded by Lisa, all we are missing is you. It will be great to meet you all and I’ll send along another update very soon.
In his fifties, Neil Goodall felt the familiar urge to get away from it all and out into nature. Yet when he took the leap into expeditions, Neil discovered more than a new world – he found a new path, and a new lease of life.
Neil on expedition in 2018
Neil Goodall never expected to find himself in an acacia bush.
‘We were tracking leopards in Namibia, and had to set traps,’ Neil explains. ‘So I volunteered to crawl into the bush, and put the smelly carcass in the trap – and I thought, I’m an accountant!’
Setting a trap for leopards in Namibia
Since his first expedition in Namibia, Neil never looked back. Thailand, Malawi, Tien Shan: Neil traversed swamps, crossed deserts, and returned with a different perspective on life. ‘The contrast between this and working at my desk all day was just amazing. My colleagues couldn’t believe it. Gradually I became known as the Scat Hunter!’
Yet he wasn’t always an adventurer. Like many people, Neil found himself isolated from the natural world.
‘I always liked nature but never found the time for it,’ he says. ‘I was in my early 50s. Busy life. Two kids, family, and a very busy job – as a finance director for a public organisation.’
To get closer to wildlife, Neil followed what seemed to be the only option – safari, spending five days in the Serengeti.
‘Afterwards, I thought, I loved that, but a couple of things nagged me: you’re a tourist, you’re stuck in a vehicle, you can’t interact, and when you do see wildlife, they’re surrounded by tourist vehicles…it all felt a bit contrived.’
Signing up to be a citizen scientist with Biosphere Expeditions gave Neil the immersion in the natural world that he couldn’t reach in his everyday life – and then some.
‘It was everything that I’d hoped for: structured, but with a sense of liberation. We could go out into the wild, and as long as we did our tasks, we were free to do as we pleased. Wildebeest, giraffe, springbok – all close enough to smell them.’
Yet there was a crucial distinction. Neil wasn’t just close to the wildlife; his participation in the expedition enabled him to contribute to their conservation, shoulder to shoulder with dedicated scientists out in remote wilderness. On his first expedition, in Namibia, part of the project’s purpose was to change the narrative.
‘The farmers blamed the leopards for killing their livestock. Our work was helping to protect the cats. Collecting data, but properly in the wild – it’s such a purposeful interaction with wildlife.’
Part of what makes the expeditions so meaningful is because they’re not a holiday – they’re challenging, as Neil attests.
Neil (right) entering data with a fellow expeditioner in Malawi
‘It’s hard work,’ he agrees. ‘You’re up early, active from the off, but when you look back at the end of the day, shattered, you think – but what have I done? All day in nature, encounters with wildlife, collecting data with a team of people who were strangers a few days before. It’s hard, but it’s also one of the best things to experience because it connects with a lot of deep drivers that are rare to find in everyday life. But Biosphere Expeditions gives you confidence: you’re well briefed, well fed, and you know what you’re doing: solid foundations to go out of your comfort zone!’
And, like many expeditioners, Neil found himself not just out of his comfort zone, but far beyond it. His experiences across the world have been so out of the ordinary that they’ve changed how people see Neil as a person.
‘On my third expedition, I went to Peru – the first person in my family ever to go to South America. I found myself taking the boat from Iquitos down the Amazon, and I remember pinching myself – literally pinching myself – going, I’m on the Amazon. How!?’ Neil says, laughing. ‘People at work see me as the accountant. But it changes people’s perspective of you. They react ‘Wow, you did What!?’’
Neil (middle) with fellow expeditioners in Amazonia
Judging by his stories, this amazement is justified.
‘One night, in a remote region of Malawi,’ Neil begins, eyes lighting up in recollection, ‘We were observing a goat carcass to see if it attracted predators in the dark. We set a camera trap 10 miles from camp, but on the way back, we got stuck in the rutted road. Imagine: three of us, in the pitch black dark, somewhere in the middle of Malawi…and we had no choice but to get out of the car and push it out of the ruts. And you feel the danger,’ Neil admits. “We could radio for help, we knew we were safe, but it’s so far beyond everyday life. You come back and think: Wow!’
Ultimately, though, Neil’s experiences on expedition have given him more than just memories. They’ve given him new skills, opened new opportunities, and have made him an active protester for change. Inspired to put his new skills to use, he attend his first protest march – Restore Nature Now – in London in the summer, alongside 60,000 other nature lovers. Neil says, “I thank Biosphere Expeditions for giving me the confidence and the compulsion to protest for what I believe is a just cause, something I had not done before in my 68 years. And I will do the same again if the march is repeated.”
‘It changed my idea of what’s possible,’ Neil reflects. ‘I’ve always had it latent within me – but when are you going to get the chance, sitting in the office?’
Sixteen expeditions later, Neil the office accountant, has been transformed – and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. So who has Neil’s new sense of purpose influenced most? Neil bursts out laughing.
‘My sons – who see me as a boring old dad – they can’t believe what I’ve done!’
The Thailand 2024 expedition has now ended and all citizen scientist have left base with a little sadness, but also a spring in their step and plans to join future expeditions. It’s suddenly gone very quiet here without them. Just the sounds of cicadas, children, chickens, dogs, a passing buffalo and the calming gurgle of the river.
The last few days saw us continuing to observe the elephants and record their behaviour, adding to the impressive dataset. The final day in the field was hot, but fortunately for us the elephants headed for the shade of the forest and the cool of the streams for most of the time and we all had a wonderful few hours watching elephants forage, explore, dust bathe, drink and interact: simply living the natural elephant life.
Over the course of the expedition, we collected 142 hours of records of elephant activity, calf development, types of plants eaten and association between individual elephants. We also completed two biodiversity transect surveys near to base. Scientist Laura is really happy with what we have achieved and in due course she will write up the results and conclusions from our data in the expedition report.
Our final hike back from the forest was great. We passed and greeted the locals sharing the same trail, by foot and motorbike, to get to the rice fields. We enjoyed the sight of butterflies, lizards and praying mantises.
I would like to thank the excellent team at KSES – Kerri, Laura and Cris – who hosted us, oversaw the science and gave us an insight into the world of captive Asian elephants released into their natural habitat. Thank you to Kanda, our young local guide who kept us safe and was always so warm and smiley. Thanks too to the villagers of Ban Naklang who fed and accommodated us in their home stays: Baw Eh, Tawahmoh, Nee, Jadee, Lujet and Seeva. And a big thank you to Neele, Anette, Stephen, Brandon, Jim, Rachel and Ed, the expedition citizen scientists who made this conservation research expedition such a success. You were a great team: hard-working, punctual, cooperative, appreciative of the value of the work we do here and altogether had a great attitude to the expedition. I hope to see you again on a future expedition.
We have settled into a good routine now. A one hour hike to the forest, setting off sometime between 06:00 and 10:00, depending on which period scientist Laura needs data for that day, followed by two or three hours of data collection with the elephants.
Once we find the elephants, we split into teams – generally one citizen scientist per elephant plus a team of two who will record where each visible elephant is in relation to the rest. If the elephants drift away from each other, we have to decide whether our teams should follow them or if it is more useful for us to watch from a distant vantage point. We need to be adaptable. On two days we have had to spend our time fighting through the jungle, following the elephants as they trample their way through thick vegetation. There is a real art to choosing where to go and when, in order to get a good view of your target elephant so you can record its behaviour, while keeping our distance for safety reasons (and to avoid annoying the elephant). It keeps you on your toes (or sometimes off your toes when you trip over terrain that the elephants find effortless to traverse).
Laura, the scientist is happy with the data we have collected so far and the team are operating well, whatever the time of day, weather and conditions.
The rain has stopped now and we are being reminded how hot it gets here when the sun is fully out and the air still. A good day for drying out. Tomorrow is our last day of data gathering – likely to be in the forest as the elephants will probably retreat from the open grass field when it gets too hot. But in the meantime, we have another bio-hike to do this afternoon: a transect survey of a path near our base, recording the numbers and diversity of insect life. After that – large helpings of good Thai food for supper, with perhaps a cold beer to celebrate another successful day completed on this expedition.
Our first two days of research have sped by. The core activity involves hiking out to where the six elephants that we are studying live and observing them for a few hours. Working on different methodologies, we record each animal’s behaviour, how the elephants associate with each other and what plants they eat.
On both our research days, the elephants have been foraging in a large sloping field of tall grass, rather than in the nearby forest. Our best vantage point to watch them is on the opposite side of the small valley. This has the added benefit of a large shelter we can stand under when it rains. It rained incessantly all day today, but with that shelter, use of umbrellas and the upbeat attitude of our small team of citizen scientists, our spirits were high.
We happily watched and recorded the elephants as they foraged, explored, dust-bathed and interacted with each other. The two younger females tend to hang out together along with the 18-month old calf. The two adult bulls usually stay apart although one of them (father to the calf) does readily join the trio. The old matriarch tends to keep herself to herself.
With some spare time this afternoon, we carried out an extra research task. The appealingly named ‘Biohike’ is a transect survey of insects contributing to a long-term study of biodiversity in the area near our base, including habitats affected by elephants, which have a significant and long-term ecological impact as they trample, break up and uproot the vegetation as they pass through.
This evening we will be eating dinner with our homestay hosts and tomorrow it’s back to watching and recording the elephants. The expedition team is doing well.
The expedition has got off to a cracking start. The team assembled in Chiang Mai and travelled to base camp, all present and correct and on time: always a relief at the beginning of an expedition.
Day 1 was pretty full-on, simply with settling in, familiarisation with the base camp and the village, safety briefing and a lecture about the elephants and the work of Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary. We even managed to squeeze in some initial training in the research methodologies we use on this expedition.
Most of the team managed to get some good sleep that first night, despite the unfamiliar nocturnal noises of dogs and geckos and the bustle of the village waking at dawn. We set off after breakfast to find the elephants. This involves a good hour’s walk over the bouncy suspension bridge, through the village, along the river bank, past rice paddies and corn fields and up towards the forest. There were plenty of insects, lizards and plants to distract us en route until finally we spotted the elephants half-hidden in a grassy field. It was a special moment to see five Asian elephants free-roaming and calmly foraging in front of us. The sixth elephant was the calf, ‘Junior’ who would have been somewhere near his mother or aunty – they tend to stick together as a trio – but hidden from our view in the tall grass.
We followed the herd as they wandered into the forest and at the first opportunity we paused and watched them from a safe distance so that scientist Laura could give us training in the field, putting into practice what we had learnt in the classroom the day before. It was very helpful for us to get a feel for how to carry out the research tasks when faced with the realities of observing elephants wandering around the forest, half hidden by the trees (or each other) for much of the time. It was a good reality check: conservation research is rarely neat, tidy and simple to do. And of course, it was an utter thrill to be up close with semi-wild elephants showing their fascinating natural elephant behaviour.
We returned to base for lunch, tired, hot, sweaty, but happy, ready for lunch and some more classroom training. Tomorrow we will return to the elephants and begin the research tasks for real.
I have made it to the expedition base: in the small village of Ban Naklang, west of Chiang Mai. The village is nestled by a river surrounded by forested hills: this is where the elephants live and where we will be hiking to carry out our research tasks every day. We stay in homestays in the village: wooden huts on stilts to keep them above any floods and any unwelcome animals. The village life bustles with people, dogs, chickens, goats and the occasional motorbike. I was woken up this morning by the distinctive loud call of a tokay gecko living in my bedroom – somewhat startling if you don’t know what it is.
Our base is simple, rustic , practical and comfortable. The main area is on stilts, with good views of the river, the village and lush vegetation. Colourful butterflies flit about and lizards dart about the walls. The weather has been warm rather than hot and the occasional rain storm has passed through quickly. A small suspension bridge crosses the river to connect us to the village. It is excitingly wobbly but perfectly safe.
The team here – myself as expedition leader along with the KSES staff: Kerri (manager), Cris (deputy manager) and Laura (scientist) have been busy preparing for the expedition: checking kit, reviewing protocols, printing documents and getting the base set up just right. Tomorrow we plan to go up into the forest to find the elephants so I can get the lay of the land. And on Monday – the expedition begins!
It’s not long now until the start of the Thailand elephant conservation research expedition. I have now flown out to Chiang Mai on my way to our expedition base at KSES to get things ready with Kerri and scientist Laura there.
Chiang Mai at night is bustling and busy and there are no obvious problems from the floods a few weeks ago. Kerri tells me that the weather at our base is cool in the mornings and hot in the day time. The clothing and kit listed in the expedition dossier will be fine. The elephants seem happy wandering around in the forest whatever the weather.
A couple of practical things: Please make sure you get a ‘True’ SIM card with plenty of data on it, before you leave Chiang Mai (available at Chiang Mai airport) . And download the KoboCollect app on your phone. We will use this to collect data in the field. Also bring any old Android phones you have and download the app to this too before leaving.
I’ll send another update when I reach our expedition base.
As a wrap-up for the 2024 expedition, we thought you would like to know what our scientist Dr. Jean-Luc Solandt said to Reef Check:
During the 2024 expedition we had to operate near to Guraidhoo (four sites) for most of the week due to the high winds. We also surveyed Bandos Island in N Male’ atoll.
Surprisingly reasonably healthy reefs just near to Guraidhoo island (Guraidhoo backreef) where we saw considerable damage in 2022 after the construction of the infilled back reef (see this report). In some (particularly back reef) reef areas there appears to have been dominance of lifeforms other than Acropora – moving towards non-Acropora genera such as Porites rus and Porites cylindrica that are also dominant at Baybe’s.
Porites species dominance
This was evident at Guraidhoo back reef. Guraidhoo fore reef, however, has not recovered its pre-development coral reef condition. Perhaps because the conditions are not suitable for both sediment and wave-action tolerant coral lifeforms such as Porites rus.
These patterns will be discussed in the 2024 report.
Biosphere Expeditions: blogs from the frontline of wildlife conservation and the fight for a more sustainable planet 