Our back-to-back speakers of the afternoon provided a remarkable contrast. We first went to Namport - the Namibian Port Authority- and learned that the port at Walvis Bay is a major port (one of few along the western seaboard of Africa with a bay deep enough for big the really big ships). Tons of material destined for other African countries and other destinations makes its way through this port. We saw a slick presentation on the current and planned expansion of the port and then toured the actual port. It was facinating to see actual containers being loaded onto a ship from close up!
The importance of the port to Namibia and its economy is readily apparent. (No wonder the British maintained control of this small area during German colonization and it remained under South African control for several years after Namibian independence!)
Big contrast with the information from the Namibian Dolphin Project, a shoe-string operation run by grad students working on Ph.D.s in marine biology. Walvis Bay is home to two species of dolphins, one of them endemic to the region - so found nowhere else. Of big concern is how the land formation (called "reclamation" by the port authority) involved in expanding the port is altering water flow, sediment buildup, etc. and may influence the food chain. Of even bigger concern is the acoustic effects of construction, increased boat traffic, etc. Dolohins use echolocation to navigate, find food, and communicate. Although we can predict that with more boat traffic there will be more deaths due to collisions, the harder thing to predict is the impact on dolphin behavior and long term population trends in this changed environment. It's unclear how well the system of environmental impact statements and risk analysis is working in this instance. But we certainly came away from it all rooting for the Dolphins!
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