By Dhivya Nair & Louisa Ponnampalam, PhD
Translated by Toh Yi Jin (杜怡槿)
Fanbelt — 一只海豚名字的由来
2017年八月二日那一天，MareCet团队一如往常在浮罗交怡群岛(the Langkawi archipelago)海域周围进行考察。Sandra和Jol Ern同船长及两名志愿者出发寻找最爱的鲸豚身影。在平日的考察中，一旦寻获鲸豚群，MareCet团队便迅速着手进行研究工作，收集它们的相关数据，并记录它们所处地点的详细信息。Sandra（印太洋驼海豚社会生态的博士研究生）迅速拿起相机并开始对海豚群进行拍摄，主要目的是为了准确的拍摄它们的背鳍以进行海豚识别。
团队跟随着26只印太洋驼海豚半个小时，相机快门的声音也从没间断。通过镜头勘察，Sandra突然发现有一只海豚在距离海豚群不远处游行。而当她将注意力转向这只孤身的海豚，发现了令人心碎的一幕。
这只海豚身上有着看似新鲜的伤口，一个看起来像是船用发动机的风扇皮带（fan belt）的物件紧紧地缠绕着它的身体，嵌入了它的背鳍和皮肤。Sandra快速地将这令人沮丧的一幕告知了团队的其他成员。团队试图接近这只受伤的海豚以帮助它，但却无济于事。这只海豚对前来的船只很是警惕，并不停地游开。
by Dhivya Nair, Saliza Bono & Louisa Ponnampalam, Ph.D.
Note: This article is best read with your volume up and earphones on! Read on, you’ll see why.
Bright and early on yet another survey day, the MareCet team head down to the jetty, load up the boat with equipment and they are all set to go. The observers take their positions at the bow of the boat as the boat skipper starts the engine and the volunteers look ahead, eager at the prospect of seeing more cetaceans today. …
By Louisa Ponnampalam, Ph.D.
It was a regular night, like any other night for the MareCet team in March 2021. Our team was in the field in Mersing, Johor, and had met up with some colleagues based in the area for dinner. As we chatted over soup and satay, our friend Nazirul casually mentioned seeing a pile of whale bones on Pulau Dayang, Johor a few days prior while he was there for work. My immediate instinct was to ask him if he had taken any photographs. To my relief, he replied “of course”, and proceeded to show me the…
By Dhivya Nair & Louisa Ponnampalam, PhD
Fanbelt — how one dolphin’s name came to be
The day was 2nd August 2017; a survey day around the waters of the Langkawi archipelago that started like any other for the MareCet team. With two additional volunteers onboard, Sandra, Jol Ern, and their skipper headed out on the boat in search of their favourite cetaceans. On a normal survey day, once a pod is found, the team quickly sets to work, collecting data on the animals, and recording details on the area they are in. Sandra (a Ph.D. student studying the social ecology…
Flukes for Thought by MareCet
MareCet is an NGO dedicated to the research and conservation of marine mammals and their habitats in Malaysia.
