Dolphin & Whale Biology/Conservation
in Tropical Asia
Quick Information Guide
Brief Outline:
Roughly the first week of the course will be spent learning field techniques and conducting surveys in areas with different levels of biodiversity and human activity. We will fly into Hong Kong and spend a few days there, then travel to Taiwan and conduct surveys in various areas around the island. During this time you will also learn about the ecology and human affairs in each area.
The second week of the course will be spent in southern Taiwan, where we will be based out of the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA). You will spend this week learning about different data analysis/interpretation techniques and applying them to data sets that you will be given to work on in groups.
Course Dates:
Classes will be conducted on May 4 through May 19. This means that we need
to arrive in Hong Kong on May 4th (very early am), and cannot leave Taiwan
until the morning of May 20th at the earliest.
Travel:
Once we get the enrollment, we will be in contact with you about travel arrangements. In short, we work with a particular travel agent and strongly recommend that you book your flight through this travel agent as well.
Arriving in Hong Kong
Ideally, we will all be on the same flight from Toronto to Hong Kong. However, if you will be in the area earlier, then that is fine as long as you promise to meet us at the airport at the appropriate time (when our flight arrives). This course has a very tight schedule, and there will not be time to go around hunting for people.
Hong Kong To Taiwan
We MUST all be on the same flight from Hong Kong to Taiwan!! This will be a DragonAir flight departing Hong Kong (HKG) and arriving in Kaoshiung (KHH) (to be announced soon). You MUST have a booked/confirmed seat on this flight (no stand-by or other irregular tickets; confirmed ticket using loyalty rewards is fine).
Leaving Taiwan
Many people use this field course as a "jumping off point" for
visiting other parts of Asia, and you are free to do whatever you want once
the course is over. There will be ONE BUS to the airport from NMMBA in the
morning of May 20th, and therefore it would be wise to book flights to wherever
you are going based on when our flight will be going back to Toronto (that
information will be coming shortly).
Vaccinations:
You should be vaccinated for Hepatitis A & B (“Twinrix”), and your tetanus should be up-to-date.