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On June 17th, I traveled from my home town of Seattle to Holbox Island, Mexico. For the next week, I was able to watch and work with marine biologist Oscar Frey and his team as they used Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) to capture the extensive wildlife which inhabits the island. Oscar is working to document the erosion which is destroying habitats on the island, as well as to perfect the methodology of KAP for research.

There is no doubt that influential Mexican artist Francisco Toledo is taken with kites! After last fall’s successful Toledo-inspired kite exhibit in Oaxaca, Mexico, for which the Drachen Foundation contributed over 50 art kites created by international kite makers, Toledo exerted his influence to exhibit the kites in Puebla, Mexico, a town two hours south of Mexico City.

An important Drachen Foundation grantee, Frey is using KAP to assist his research in identifying whales and documenting their behavior. A marine biologist and professional photograph by professions, Frey has been studying whales for 20 years in the San Ignacio Bay of Baja, Mexico, and elsewhere. Frey uses a state-of-the-art camera rig consisting of a Nikon D70 with wide angle and fisheye lenses so as to cover as many mammals in as much area of the water as possible.

In one of its more adventurous research projects, the Drachen Foundation is funding Mexican marine biologist Oscar Frey in his study of the impact of humans on humpback whales. In its test phase in the Bay of Bandaras, north of Acapulco, Frey joined French photograph Nico Chorier and Drachen Administrator Ali Fujino in making kite aerial videos and still photographs of the giant whales. Going out to sea daily in a heaving 27- foot boat was real punishment, says Fujino, and seasickness was rife. But the team carried on without a hitch.