Tsunami (1 Viewer)

The report of a new earthquake reminded me that I meant to ask this question before.

Does anyone know how the wildlife fared following the Boxing Day tsunami?

D

delia todd said:

The report of a new earthquake reminded me that I meant to ask this question before.

Does anyone know how the wildlife fared following the Boxing Day tsunami?

D

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A very interesting question. There is evidence that some species could detect the impending wave in advance of the human population.

http://www.indianjungles.com/230105.htm

Thanks for that link Tyke, very interesting read. Arenl't elephants amazing?

D

Yep. Many eyewitnesses told of birds and animals suddenly moving to higher ground, like they could sense something. In the aftermath people clearing up noticed there were absolutely ZERO animal or bird bodies, but there were countless human ones as we all know.

Well hopefully most birds and animals did make it to the higher ground and survive as i heard that some of the islands are very low

timmyjones said:

Well hopefully most birds and animals did make it to the higher ground and survive as i heard that some of the islands are very low

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There have been various proposals about implementing animals into alert programmes over the years but the difficulty is that animals and birds react to almost anything. The concern is that they cannot tell us what the trouble is or where it is coming from and the potential for false alarms would be great. Nevertheless, nearly every earthquake disaster has had anecdotal reports of animals and birds reacting long before humans became aware of anything amiss.

Ian

tp20uk said:

Many eyewitnesses told of birds and animals suddenly moving to higher ground, like they could sense something. In the aftermath people clearing up noticed there were absolutely ZERO animal or bird bodies, but there were countless human ones as we all know.

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I was in Sri Lanka at the time of the tsunami and personally I don't believe many of these stories about animals moving off to higher land. After hearing these stories, which were surfacing the very day after the tsunami, I met one tourist who had been in Yala when the wave hit. The wave hit at about 8.30 local time, which meant safari jeeps had been in there for about two hours. If I had been in there for two hours and not seen any animals, I would have been asking myself what was going on - asking if he had seen animals immediately before the wave hit, he said it had seemed 'normal'. Obviously this is just one person's observations, but added to this it has to be said that along large stretches of the coast in this area there is little high land and lagoons prevent animals moving inland (the wave went as far as 2km inland in places).
The apparent absence of animal casualities could possibly be explained in other ways - these are just my ideas, not any facts. First, be you an animal or human, I think survival chances were much higher if you were out in the open country. A great proportion of the dead were either killed by being thrown against something, being hit by something carried by the water or trapped inside/under something. Most survivors appeared to have been swept along until the force of the wave subsided. Obviously, I would imagine an animal in Yala for example stands a better chance of survival being swept through scrub thickets than an unfortunate person in a nearby town for example. I walked down one road in one village just after it had happened and not a single wall or house stood in place, how anyone in that environment had survived was a miracle ...but we know that up to 40,000 on that island alone did not. Additionally, let's face it - people were looking for human casualties, digging through building, etc to recover lost relatives, etc. I think there were higher priorites than to go hunting through the remote scrub for animal carcases, which in all likelyhood would be buried by sand and silt too. It also has to be said, other than the elephants and deer, most of the animals are quite small and I think it would be difficult to find carcases in many cases even if looking (remembering the general debris and sand covering too).
It was a sad day for Sri Lanka, can't say much more than that.

Memories

The fateful day, picture one is on the beach a couple of days before - scoping the terns, second picture speaks for itself

Jos, what a lucky escape you must have had, I hope you didn't have too bad a time.

Part of the thing that was lurking in my mind when I raised the question but didn't get around to asking is there likely to be any long-term damage to the habitat due to the salt water etc.

Thanks all others, very interesting responses.

D

delia todd said:

Part of the thing that was lurking in my mind when I raised the question but didn't get around to asking is there likely to be any long-term damage to the habitat due to the salt water etc.

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Not sure on this one, but certainly many of the lagoons in the coastal areas of Sri Lanka were saline anyhow I believe and were amazing for birds ...as well as supporting a fair few crocodiles too. I can't imagine the salt water inundating the rice paddies can have done them any good, another blow to the inhabitants of the area.

Reasons to be happy, Sri Lanka, one, two, three...

Things that go bump in the night, happier shots in the nights before and after. Great reasons to go a great country!

a. Chestnut-backed Owlet, Kitulgala
b. Indian Nightjar, Yala
c. Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Kitulgala

Jos Stratford said:

Things that go bump in the night, happier shots in the nights before and after. Great reasons to go a great country!

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Great pics Jos - makes me feel like getting a passport after all.

D

I am going to Sri Lanka next week and hope to get some birding in;Wife permitting!
Does any one know of any guides who would be prepared to take me out birding for the day, depending on price. I would ideally like to see the serendip scops owl ! :<().

Hopefully there will be others at the hotel who be interested in birding and might wat to come along?
[email protected]

mattcoumbe said:

I am going to Sri Lanka next week and hope to get some birding in;Wife permitting!
Does any one know of any guides who would be prepared to take me out birding for the day, depending on price. I would ideally like to see the serendip scops owl ! :<().

Hopefully there will be others at the hotel who be interested in birding and might wat to come along?
[email protected]

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If you are at any of the national parks, guides are (unfortunately) compulsory and thus very easy to find, just insist and double check you get a BIRD guide ...many say 'all guides know birds' - not true, but if you insist and get a bird guide, some of them are excellent. Alternatively, contact Baur's (plug it into google for contact details) - this outfit is a guiding company and has first class guides who really know their stuff. They are Colombo-based and provide car and guide - relatively speaking they are not very expensive (but I travelled totally independant, so didn't use them and don't remember their prices sorry). They have two options - rent a car with driver, plus a guide (expensive) or just a car and driver - in reality, the drivers are, on the whole, excellent birders and know the sites and birds. You need to tell Baur's that you want a birder-driver! As for the Serendip Scops Owl, it is almost impossible! Kitulgala is the best spot and your only (faint) chance is to go with one of the Baur's guides.
My advice is just go birding on your own - you can find amazing birds easily if you have the info where to find. If you have just a few days free, choose Kitulgala ...stay at The River Lounge and you'll see Frogmouth in the garden, along with Green-billed Coucal and Chestnut-backed Owlet nearby ....and all the forest specials across the river. If in the south, the area around Tissa is mind-blowing.
If you need more info, get in touch

Hi Matt
If you get in touch with Baurs ask for Sunil Alwis, he is a drive but also very acceptable as a guide. He did tell me he knew of at least 3 sites for the Serendib and knows its call. He is also very good at finding the other endemics. See my report on birdforum under vacation reports.

By the way, and to Jos, I was in Sri Lanka on Boxing Day and was fortunate to come out with no injuries. The ground floor of my hotel at Kogalla was devastated, lucky for me I was on the first floor packing when the wave struck having decided not to take a walk on the beach to see the stilt fisherman.

Robert

JOS AND ROBERT ,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE INFO, IF ANY ONE ELSE HAS ANY INFO PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

[email protected]

delia todd said:

The report of a new earthquake reminded me that I meant to ask this question before.

Does anyone know how the wildlife fared following the Boxing Day tsunami?

D

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I think several turtle colonies had been badly affected. The north of England zoological society aka chester zoo (of which i am a member) gave a large sum of money through their shellshock campaign to help repair some of the damage. They also donated to a sri lankan elephant sanctuary. I always think its good to see zoos helping conservation in this way, it helps justify their existence.

http://www.chesterzoo.org/newsitem.asp?ID=119

chris3871 said:

I think several turtle colonies had been badly affected. http://www.chesterzoo.org/newsitem.asp?ID=119

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This is also a sad point - spent a night on the beach with one of the turtle workers who devoted his life to protecting the turtles ...walked the beach each night from dusk til dawn monitoring turtle arrival, relocating eggs to safer localities if deemed necessary. Also kept detailed notes and knew when each nest would hatch and indeed showed me a nest which would hatch that night, allowing me to watch as the beach turned into little baby turtles all darting down to the sea. The tragic part is at dawn each day, he returned to a flimsy shack beside the beach {partly turned into a museum} to sleep until the afternoon. Days after I left him, he almost certainly was killed.

Long term, unless the beaches have been damaged or washed away, I think the impact on turtles would be minimal, as the main turtle season had yet to commence in a big way and relatively few were comind ashore each night.

The turtle projects are essential to guarantee the survival of these great animals and full marks to anybody supporting them.