Author Interview: Karl Ramirez (1 of 2)

On the blog today is an interview with musician, songwriter and proud Bicolano Karl Ramirez. He has a new book for children that tells of the story of Irrawaddy dolphins and the campaign to protect their home and ours too. 

Know more about Karl and his advocacy in this interview.

1.   How did it start for you – writing Wady, a concept book for children? Do you have a special affinity for dolphins?

Yes, I have a soft spot for dolphins.

In addition to being a singer-songwriter and music producer, I've been involved with the Earth Island Institute Asia-Pacific for over a decade, advocating for marine mammals (dolphins and whales) and marine species in general. The Philippines is an archipelago, and there is much to be done, not just for the health of our coastlines, but also for the habitat of those who live along and beyond them.

Earth Island in the Philippines has been active in advocacy work against caged animals in entertainment venues such as "marine" parks over the years. I feel that dolphins and whales, according to their physiology, are being held like captives in these parks, regardless of their size. Hence, we advocate for a stop to this practice or business model.

We had the opportunity to speak with marine biologists active in the Visayas' marine fauna in 2017. They told us about the Irrawaddy Dolphins of Negros and their plight. Earth Island joined marine experts in their advocacy for studying and safeguarding these Irrawaddys.

We learned through that experience that the Irrawaddy population in Negros is diminishing. Even though they are named after a river in Myanmar, these Irrawaddys are native to the Philippines and in that precise spot in the Visayas.

They are actually as Filipino as the kalabaw, and as endangered as the tamaraw. And, with such a small population, the Irrawaddys of Negros are in grave danger of becoming extinct.

And the factors that contribute to their endangerment are quite challenging issues: from water quality to, of course, human activity, and the most recent one: the multibillion-dollar bridge project.

In 2018, after our short immersion with our Negros scientist friends, I sat down to write. It was only supposed to be phrases for documentation, but when I got halfway into writing the phrases, it felt as if they were talking to me, and immediately I imagined a young Irrawaddy dolphin talking these phrases back to me.

Before I was able to complete the documentation, I rewrote the initial phrases into parts of what you have read now, written from the perspective of... Wady. Why Wady? Partly a tribute, because to spot a young Irrawaddy in that area is so rare nowadays (maybe even zero), and also because I thought it would be good if the story was told by a young Irrawaddy addressed to young humans and talked about taking care of their habitat. 

2.  You have a background in music and performing. How did these artistic endeavors factor in your creative process for Wady?

My experience in songwriting probably helped me in writing the narrative of the story. But my background in music had more application when we were doing the audiobook version, which my youngest son Hugo narrated as Wady.

I did Wady’s sketches too and some of the main illustrations. 

Part 2 of this interview will be posted