If you’ve read ‘How it all began’ and ‘How it all continued’ you’ll know the story so far, except when I say story, I really mean the introduction to the REAL thing.

Now we get to the juicy part… Who are Peggy and Stefan anyway? And didn’t I mention there being three conservationists?

I came across Peggy Stap of Marine Life Studies in California while rounding up whale and dolphin conversation groups to be part of Planet Whale’s report and website. My first memory of her was that she was thrilled I had contacted her. She came across as instantly open, warm and friendly.

In the couple of emails that passed between us she happened to write, “Planet Whale is a grand idea and I look forward to working with you. If you are ever in California it would be great to meet you.” At this time I was looking for people to volunteer with, (you know, to go and wow the Masters course professors with my experience and dedication), so that last sentence leapt out at me.

I sent a casual reply (didn’t want to get my hopes up too much), “Funny you should write that, I want to volunteer with an organisation or two somewhere in the world and you never know, I may end up heading in your direction…” Peggy responded, “That sounds great. If and when you go abroad we would love to have you on-board. Let me know and we will talk then.”

So opened up the possibility of working for the wonderfully-welcoming Peggy Stap of Marine Life Studies.

Stefan Austermühle of Associacion Mundo Azul in Peru was quite a different matter. From the beginning of my time at Planet Whale, Stefan stood out as the most amazingly helpful, co-operative, pro-active person. He jumped straight on board with our report and website, and when initially I was having trouble locating organisations based in South America he sent me a long list of them to get me started. He struck me as quite intense, thorough and helpful; when snowed under his correspondence would be brief but when he had time to spare his emails always contained a wealth of detail.

I figured Stefan would be a good person to ask about volunteering. In no uncertain terms he replied, “If you want to prevail in conservation you will need to be a person that can bear enormous amounts of frustration on all possible levels – I know many people doing this for a few years and then they are just burned out. So my advice is: If you are not 100% sure that your passion for nature is worth paying the price – then don’t even start with it.”

His email contained a long, detailed account of his own life within the conservation field and the challenges, to put it mildly, that he has faced and faces on a daily basis. Now his email did not exactly put me off, I am far too stubborn for that, but it did arrive in my inbox at an interesting moment…

Remember that little intuitive voice? It crept out now and said ‘Hmm, well you could forge a path in the conservation world if you want, but where would that leave your writing, not to mention your psychological interests and philosophical tendencies? Isn’t writing the thread that links all these things together?’

So, I made another unexpected choice. I chose to work for Peggy and Stefan but not with a view to training in conservation. Instead, Stefan’s passionate, human, gripping, intense email inspired a desire to write about his and Peggy’s lives; both the conservation side and the human one.

There is one final missing piece to this nearly complete jigsaw. Aren’t there supposed to be three conservationists involved in all this? Yes there are. You see, I have a thing about the number three, I prefer it to two, it feels more rounded. I decided that if I was going to write about two people, I may as well round it up to three.

But who? It had to be on the American continent, my budget would not stretch around the world. I love Canada, so for the love of Canada I decided it had to be there. But I did not have such a close relationship with any individuals in Canada… Except, I did remember one comment from a woman called Laurie Murison of Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station. When I was chasing up information for Planet Whale she sent an email along the lines of “I don’t think I’ve ever met such a cybernag before in all my life!”

Strangely enough this did not put me off contacting her. And strangely, my persistence did not put her off agreeing to my suggestion of assisting her in her work, and she did not seem at all nervous of a cybernagging stranger writing about her.

And so ends the introduction to ‘Stories about Conservationists’. From where it all began nearly a year ago this is where the REAL thing begins… From now until mid May I’ll be working with and writing about Peggy, from then till the end of June I’ll be with Stefan, and for most of July I’ll be with Laurie.

I hope that over the next few months I’ll be able to give you a through the keyhole glimpse into the life of a cetacean conservationist. In the meantime, if you want to get a head start and read some background information on what their organisations do, check pages 64, 75 and 103 of the Planet Whale Report, or visit their websites (see Links page).

If you’ve read my previous post you know the story so far.

Did I manage to sit still long enough at Planet Whale? Yes, sit still I did, apart from the odd game of testy-tennis (ask me another time), impressions of a footballer kicking balls while in mid handstand and the odd photo-shoot involving a hairdryer and a rather cool Mini, (again, ask me another time…)

In fact, I did not just sit still for the month but for six months. That’s down to:

1. Dylan and Ian being so fantastic
2. Planet Whale being so fantastic
3. me having the most fantastic experience there

Not to overstate it, Dylan and Ian are wonderful people to work for. Their knowledge and experience about cetaceans, wildlife in general, conservation, whale watching and nature guiding is enormous and they are the most fun, passionate, caring bosses you could hope to work for. It may well be that their list of attributes is endless; but don’t tell them I told you so.

Also not to overstate it, www.planetwhale.com is a wonderful website. It is THE best place to find whale and dolphin watching trips all around the world; THE best place to find a whole range of other whale and dolphin related things you can get involved with; and THE only place to combine whale watching and conservation. If you believe in the job you are doing, you want to keep doing it; no wonder I didn’t leave.

The Planet Whale Report

I couldn’t possible overstate how wonderful my job was. I was entrusted with contacting cetacean conservation groups around the world, writing a report about them and featuring them on the Planet Whale website. From having very limited knowledge of whales and dolphins, I was suddenly liaising with professionals who have worked with them their whole lives. I was in a state of awe on a frequent basis.

By the way, if you want to find out more about all the organisations I was researching, then check out the Planet Whale report by clicking on the picture.

So what about my plan to focus on conservation? From my experience at Planet Whale I was surely on track to pursue a Masters course in conservation.

It was around about now that a woman called Peggy Stap from Marine Life Studies in California invited me to drop by and say ‘hello’ anytime I happened to be in the area. It was also around about now that a man called Stefan Austermühle from Mundo Azul in Peru replied to an email I sent him about volunteering and training in conservation. And it was around about now that a little intuitive voice was telling me, what about writing?

So began another subtle shift in the direction I was heading in, but more about that next time…

Lets be clear; by ‘all’ I am referring to me writing about the amazingly inspirational lives and work of three whale and dolphin conservationists. I am not referring to my life, this planet or indeed the universe.

It began like this…

Once upon a time, well about a year ago, I decided to bravely go where I hadn’t gone before and give myself some time out from dancing and teaching to pursue new directions.

“I will explore!” I told myself, “I hereby give myself permission to experiment for the next year and see where life and my passions take me…”

Having been interested in psychotherapy for a long time, I thought that might be the way to go. I researched options, interviewed for a course and got accepted.

Job done maybe. Well, no, not quite; I also looked into conservation and interviewed for a Masters course; could it be possible to get on such a course without having done a biology degree I wondered? Apparently yes it was, with enough voluntary experience to show a commitment to conservation and get my skills up to scratch.

“Aha, I have a plan!” I thought, “I’ll start the psychotherapy course and in my spare time get involved in conservation projects and see where both these interests take me in a year’s time.”

But then chance stepped in to swing things in a new direction, (although, whether chance or fate or a moment of grace I may never know for sure…)

After a mixed up, roundabout, cartoon like series of emails and phone calls trying to track down a conservation organisation to volunteer with, I somehow ended up having a conversation with some guy called Dylan Walker from some website I’d not heard of called Planet Whale.

Their office was, amazingly, just down the road. A couple of days later and I left the office after my interview with Dylan and Ian Rowlands to skip down the street thinking “Somehow this just feels right!”

…Bizarrely, unexpectedly, strangely right. I had been imaging myself off in the field somewhere assisting researchers as they tracked down some elusive creature, not sitting in an office all day. Could my movement addicted really body handle it? Even Dylan and Ian wondered that, “Will she sit still long enough to do the job?” they asked each other.

After a day in the office I made a decision which surprised me; not to do the psychotherapy course at all but to focus on conservation.

“Aha, I have a new plan!” I thought, “I’ll work for Planet Whale for a month or so and then I’ll do some other conservation projects, wow those biology professors and get a place on a Masters course in conservation.”

But then a few other things occurred to subtlety shift my course towards a new heading, namely the wonderful Ian, Dylan and Planet Whale, a persistently surprising intuitive voice, the editing of a global report, conversations with conservationists and the minor matter of my love for writing.

More about all that next time…