WDCS Fieldwork Blog

“Blow!” The yell comes from the sighting deck with a distinctly Scottish lilt and all the people on board sprint to the bow. It’s the fourth day since we set sail from San Remo with the Tethys researchers and Nicola, our WDCS guide for the week, has just spotted our first fin whale.

At the start of the week all the people on board, consisting of four Germans, two French, three English, one Northern Irish, one Scottish plus the four members of the crew, left the port with high hopes of seeing Fin whales, Sperm whales plus a variety of dolphins. Unfortunately all that greeted us was rough seas and a fantastic sun. These conditions, we were informed, were terrible for sighting in but the weather was to improve throughout the week. The night before we had enjoyed a mouth watering meal at a local restaurant but today we came back to port in time to make dinner, which is all part of the experience, as is cleaning the bins every morning. (On boats you can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet.) After we were all fed we relaxed with the optimistic thought that tomorrow would bring better weather and some cetaceans.

After throwing all the umbrellas on the boat unceremoniously off deck the next two days were much more successful. Each morning we were visited by striped dolphins, who came and bow rode, giving us lovely displays of agility and acrobatics. For many participants this was the first time they had ever seen dolphins in the wild and were particularly moved by the experience. Indeed even if you have seen dolphins every day of your life I don’t think that anyone could ever fail to be touched by these incredible creatures.

At the end of our second day we had come so far from San Remo in out efforts to spot whales our only choice was to continue up the coast to France, where we dropped anchor in St. Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

After dinner, as if to celebrate our achievement of the first spots of the week, a firework display exploded from the shore. It was certainty a very nice scene, sitting on the deck of Pelagos drinking wine and discussing the achievements of the day.

The third day progressed very much in the same way with Nicola remaining our top sighter, a reputation that would be firmly cemented the next day. Those with Digital SLRs spent their time running from port to starboard trying to take pictures while those with cameras of less quality or just not bothered with photographs simply took in the experience.

That afternoon the conditions began to worsen and we came into port sooner than usual, although as we were beginning to discover, there is no “normal” for the Tethys crew. To get us involved in the workings and purpose of the trip we were all on by getting us to photo ID some sperm whales that were sighted the previous week. Six whales had been photographed and it turned out that there where three new comers and the rest were retuning to the area. To our delight we were allowed to name the new whales and we decided on the names Valerie (after one of the German’s half daughter), Luigi (after the Nintendo character), Tina (for no particular reason) and Zoë (after myself). I’d like to point out that I did not suggest that name; Anne, a fellow participant, gave this honour to me.

Our fourth day dawned brighter than the rest, the sea was relatively calm and it was slightly overcast but still very warm, perfect conditions for sighting. The morning was unsuccessful but after lunch our efforts, coupled with what appeared to be telepathic communication with Nicola, were finally rewarded. As the participants flocked to the front of the boat to see the fin whale, Viridiana clambered up the ladder to join Nicola, myself and Peter. While she took the respiration rate we kept a look out to see where it was resurfacing. It soon became clear that there was more than one whale about the boat. We were kept busy, swinging the boat in circles as they all surfaced in different places at different times. Nicola concluded that there were at least two whales, if not up to four. Eventually however, we ended up following just two of them for an hour, any longer and it would have been seen as invasive towards the creatures and their feeding time. When we left them we were thirty-six nautical miles from the coast and it was getting both late and cloudy.



We headed straight back to San Remo and during the journey we encountered two different groups of striped dolphins, one while there was a thunder storm in the distance. It certainly made a striking scene, watching dolphins jump among stormy seas while lighting struck the horizon. We went to bed that night happy, thrilled and eager for our last day of whale and dolphin spotting.



However, the weather was against us. The storm did not blow itself out that night and although the harbour was sunny and clam the next morning we were told that the open sea was rough and likely to get worse. Instead we were to stay in port and see if the conditions would improve early enough for us to get out again. Francesca gave us an informative talk on bioacoustics and we watched a few videos about the threats facing cetaceans in the Mediterranean. As Matt delegated the making of lunch to his hapless Dad and helpers there was an almighty boom making us all jump and a few shout in surprise. As the rain poured down we were suddenly very glad that our Skipper had decided not to set sail that morning and keep us safe at the harbour. The thunderstorm raged as we prepared lunch forcing us to eat indoors for the first time all week. As I am writing this the thunder and lightning has worn itself out and the sun has decided to come out again. Unfortunately it is too late to head out to sea so we have to be content with staying in the harbour.

It seems disappointing that on our last day we were unable to get out to sea and attempt to see something new but such is the life of a whale watcher. In working in the wild you are also subject to the conditions of the wild. Nevertheless, despite the bad conditions of the first and last day this has been an unforgettable and most enjoyable experience, one that I hope to repeat in the near future and would encourage anyone else to take part in.

Text written by Zoë Stevenson
Photographs copyrighted by Matt Allen

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Our work in the Caribbean extends beyond the Turks and Caicos and eastern Caribbean.  In Haiti, on the island of Hispaniola, WDCS is partnering to extend our “Live Free in the Sea" and “Pier2Pier"campaigns. Our island coordinator Jamie Aquino is currently in Petite Riviere de Nippes, a rural fishing village approximately 80 miles southwest of the capital of Port Au Prince. 

 

WDCS’ “Live Free in the Sea" Campaign builds knowledge and awareness of the coastal and marine environment, the theme being “What we do on land affects the sea", and with a focus on keeping whales and dolphins wild in their natural environments. The Pier2Pier campaign links students in Florida with their Haitian peers.  Most recently, we have enlisted the interest and participation of international marine mammal scientists, local fishermen, government ministries from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the American Haitian Foundation, a local marine conservation organization and a non-profit dedicated to bringing laptops and a marine-curricula to students in the Caribbean.  
 
In Haiti, we are conducting awareness-raising activities with the students at the Petite Riviere School, including presentations, beach-cleans and other activities to highlight the importance of a clean ocean.  Oswaldo Vasquez from the Dominican Republic is in Haiti now with Jamie conducting preliminary water surveys to assess the potential for a longer term marine mammal survey, while extending goodwill, technical assistance and political commitment from Haiti’s neighboring country.   A building has been donated for our use and for the eventual development of a marine sciences discovery center.  We are also exploring the potential for ecotourism activities, such as whale and dolphin watching, that might bring real income to the community.
 
As the most poverty-stricken country in the Caribbean, we are excited about the prospects that may result from the partnerships that are converging in Haiti to build not only a marine sciences center, where visiting marine mammal scientists might come to conduct valuable research, but a source of empowerment and hope for a population facing many environmental, social and political challenges.  I think the moniker H.O.P.E (Haitian Oceanic Project for the Environment) chosen by Jamie and her students is a good one. The projects and positive focus on the potential of the region may provide hope for the Haitian children and fishing community that they can play a part in changing the environment around them, while contributing to the protection of the fascinating marine mammals in their backyards that they are coming to know through our outreach.

Jamie’s account from her first few days in Haiti is provided below:

I arrived in Petite Riviere de Nippes, Haiti on Tuesday evening.  Yesterday was my first full day in the village.  With the cooperative weather, I decided it was best to get out on the water and explore the area for dolphins and whales.  I was accompanied by Oswaldo Vasquez, who works for the Dominican Republic ministry of the environment.  Oswaldo has been very successful in developing marine environmental projects in his country and is interested in working with me to do the same for neighboring Haiti.

Before venturing out on a boat, Oswaldo and I spent at least one hour talking to a young teacher from La Gonave, a small island situated 25 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince.  Our conversation focused on education of youth about marine conservation, beach clean ups and eco-tourism.

We went out on the water in a small, unstable motor boat operated by two local fishermen.  The first task was to check the coral formations.  In the two areas that we researched, there was approximately 30 percent of live coral existing and some small reef fish including clownfish.  Oswaldo then used a hydrophone to listen for sounds of dolphins and whales in the area.  At the last of five listening stations, Oswaldo and I heard some distant clicking sounds which needed to be further evaluated back on land.

We will return to the sea today with Haitian maritime expert Max Bordey, who will take us to an uninhabited bay where mangroves exist.  We will not only be searching for dolphins and whales, but also investigate the possibility of manatees in the area.  Tomorrow, Oswaldo and I will conduct a marine mammal presentation for the select group of schoolchildren who are going to be involved in this project.

On Thursday, we encountered two sperm whales approximately two miles from shore!  A third whale was seen breaching in the distance, and our hydrophone picked up the underwater clicking sounds of multiple whales.  On Friday, we left shore at 5:30AM, and encountered a small group of pilot whales!  Two species on two separate days…we are excited what else we might find in this area, and look forward to officially documenting the marine mammals in these waters with future surveys!

I have been reminded again yesterday, that the thing about fieldwork is that one just cannot control all variables. After consulting various weather websites, checking out wind speeds, wind directions and swell heights and conferring with colleague Simon and skipper Davy, we had to come to the conclusion that we would not be able to use up all of our survey days after all, as we simply just could not control the weather (oh well, I’ll work on that for the future). We had planned to survey up here until the 19^th of June (tomorrow), but the weather God definitely has other ideas as the weather forecast until Saturday is winds with speeds up to 18mph from a westerly direction making spotting of small cetacean fins impossible. So I officially called the survey over last night. We did manage to do 7 survey days with between 3.5 and 10.5 hours on effort though!

Together with the fabulous Sealife volunteers, I collected the gear from the boat, got it cleaned and stored away, mouse proof, at the Wildlife Centre. That is us done!

These past two weeks went by very quickly and some days have been quite surreal with no cetacean sightings whatsoever! A friend from the west coast who runs wildlife tours there has confirmed that he too found the seas to be eerily empty of cetaceans, so we wonder where they have all gone to…

Before I conclude this blog entry, I want to use this space to profoundly thank everyone involved in the survey (in no particular order): my colleagues Nicola and Laura for all their help, advise, kind words, encouraging smiles, heartfelt laughs and shared space, my colleague Alice for training up the Centre volunteers, my other colleague Alice for giving us her excellent car (that car was a Godsend as it ferried around 7 people!), the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Sealife volunteers Clare, Jenny, Adam and Scott who’ve already inputted ALL the bird data we collected (WOW!!!!), the fabulous Wildlife Centre volunteers Kirsty and Jonathan for giving up their days off to help us out, Jill from SNH and Hywel from RSPB for helping with our cetacean rota and birds respectively, Ian from RSPB for organising volunteers to help out with the bird watching, Simon for coming up from Aberdeen to find out what was wrong with the hydrophone and then coming back and helping out again, skipper Davy for all his advise and endless knowledge about the weather and for bringing us back safely into harbour each day, Iris (who broke her foot! Get well soon!) for all her help, her kind words and laughs and for generally looking after all of us so well! Thank you everyone, because without you it would not have been possible!

A day of rain and winds kept us indoors however as the sun was setting (approximately 2230hrs) on the horizon (more north than west given the fact we’re only days away from the longest day of the year) the clouds shifted offshore, the wind dropped and Pine and I took ourselves off for an evening stroll down to the water. As were coming up over the side of the cliff we were discussing how this was meant to be a good spot for seeing dolphins and low and behold……as we came over the rise and the sea came into view we were treated to between 4 and 6 bottlenose dolphins repeatedly leaping out the water, chasing fish and generally having fun! There was at least one younger, smaller dolphin amongst them and after 10 smile-generating minutes they were off on their way back along the coast! As it is my last evening here in this wonderful wee place, it was even more of a magical moment, with the light just fading and some of the resident avians out on their last forays of the day before settling down to sleep, and the dolphins providing an awe-inspiring farewell display. It’s been a great few weeks and I thank everyone (and the animals) for their help in making it so….! Pine will post a final Moray Firth blog tomorrow whilst I will endeavour to update from my next mission – a week in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Ligurian Sea, Mediterranean) with researchers from the Tethys Research Institute. Some great sightings await I’m sure……and I’ll be sure to let you know about them! In the meantime, I’d also like to wish good luck to our “Whaling Team” who are currently taking up residence in Madeira for the commencement of the annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting. Greenland want to add humpback whales to their list, Japan want approval for coastal whaling and generally the whales face a difficult time….but the whales have some passionate advocates out there so there is still hope! To celebrate my final sighting from my time up here it's now time for some gratuitous (Moray Firth!!) dolphin photos - just cos we can!!

With ginger nuts galore we were down at the boat for yet another 4am start, the sea wasn’t overly welcoming but we decided to take our chances and headed east towards Fraserburgh – not a direct route (as that would have only taken us a few hours) but following a saw-tooth transect taking us over the southern trench – a channel approximately 8 miles offshore that is 200m deep, and shaped like a tongue that comes in from the North Sea. Journey time + 10hours!!

I’ve mentioned in previous blogs how the Moray Firth has been like a vast blue desert, devoid of the abundance of cetacean life we’ve been used to over the years (apart from an abundance of rafting birds)...

…..well today it went from the sublime to the ridiculous and if it hadn’t been for a dolphin whistle being detected on the hydrophone and then us knowing where to look for the owner of the whistle, we’d have seen not a jot – nada, zip, zero, zilch, nix, rien – whatever language you say it in it all means the same…..nothing!! In fact it wasn’t until we reached Fraserburgh (where we were to spend the night) that we encountered some local wildlife - in the form of some resident grey seals who’ve made the harbour their home. They’ve got wise to the fact that there’s always a spare fish or two coming over the side of the odd vessel!










After sampling some of the local cuisine (Fish and chips for some, macaroni pie and chips for others) it was out with the sleeping bags and time to try and catch some sleep and rest the weary eyes ready for another day of dedicated searching!!

We were up with the sun (0403hrs) and back out to sea, headed for home! Conditions were looking better but with the tide and the wind moving in opposite directions we were in for some fairly significant swell – making the bow-watch a very bracing (but hugely enjoyable) place to be! The day started well with a few harbour porpoises notched up and we were in high spirits for what the day had in store.

Approximately half way along the route we passed in front of the cliffs known as Troup Head, home to the biggest mainland UK gannet colony - did you know that over two-thirds of the world’s gannets are found in the UK? The skies were awash with these masters of the sky and sea and everywhere you looked there were flying, diving and resting gannets – with of course a fair few guillemots and razorbills thrown in for good measure. No-one wanted to be on bird shift (where you have to count and record all birds seen during your time on watch) as we passed by but that honour fell to 2 of our noble volunteers who did their best……but cried off with “there’s too many….i can’t do it anymore”!







The swell abated somewhat however the wind picked up making sighting conditions all the more difficult and sorry to say that we made it back to our safe haven of Buckie harbour with no more cetacean sightings. Where have all the minkes gone?

Unfortunately the weather isn’t looking sea-worthy for our remaining days but we’re being optimistic and holding out for some more boat time before our time is up and the survey comes to an end!

We’ll be sure to keep you updated!!