2 May
(written for Biosphere Expeditions)
The weather remains challenging as is the visibility and wind, and the team members have had to remain flexible. We had an unusual – and sad – sighting on Sunday when we saw a dead common dolphin. It was missing its tail, and we assume it got caught in a fishing net even though the tuna fisherman here in the Azores use hooks and not nets. Monday was the best day on the water for this slot so far – we saw Risso’s dolphins breaching, a giant sun fish, a loggerhead turtle, and a group of fourteen sperm whales with calves!
(start Alisa’s blog commentary and pics–I did not show the dead dolphin to the Biosphere readers)
Dead Dolphin (Common) - Missing Tail
And here is something cool…sometimes there is a ship anchored outside the harbor. I’m told it’s a tuna buying ship–they pay better prices than on ths island, so tuna boats sail directly up to them and sell their fish.
Tuna-buying boat anchored outside Horta Harbor
And pretty cool, yesterday, the story was confirmed when I saw the tuna boat moored with them.
Tags: Azores, dolphin watching, whale watching, whale watching conservation holiday
I got caught in the rain the other night walking back to our base camp, and suddenly it occurred to me how magical this town is at night. (Can you tell I am in love with Horta?!?)
Enjoy the gentle pictures the soft rain inspired.
Here’s another stroll along the wharf (docks) in the Horta Harbor.
(In case you missed the first set of wharf paintings, here they are: http://motoadventuregal.com/blog/2012/05/a-walk-on-the-wharf-1/)
Tags: Azores, Biosphere Expeditions research team, dock life, Faial, Horta marina, Horta port, Portugal, whale watching, wharf paintings Azores
I’m leading a conservation holiday – a vacation in which volunteers pay to be a part of a research team. If you’re following my blog, then you know we’re collecting data on whales, dolphins and loggerhead turtles. I thought I’d give you a glimpse of the tasks that we all do–I assign a rota at the beginning of the Expedition, and we all rotate through the various tasks throughout the week.
Welcome aboard!
Lookouts-port
Lookouts - starboard (The Azores are a world-class whale watching destination, and yes, sometimes we do have other boats at our sightings) There is a system of fagias, or lookouts, on Failal and Pico, paid by the whale watching companies, and we all communicate with one another and share information)
POPA People (2) (Programa de Observação para as Pescas dos Açores) - we are the only non-fishing boat capturing this information for the University / POPA program I sit on the top deck with the POPA people, assist with the paperwork, and generally make myself available for help
Photographer
Data Sheet Person (follows Lisa the scientist around and records every sighting)
Hydrophone Listener
Hydrophone Listener (reeling in 100 m of tubing from behind the boat)
Log Keeper
Data Entry back at Base (log keeper, data sheet person, hydrophone listener)
Datasheet again
Our Skipper, Nuno
Biosphere Expeditions Azores Expedition 2012 Scientist Lisa Steiner (the most important job of all!)
The cetaceans also have a job: (Common dolphin bow riding)
Tags: Azores, biosph, Biosphere Expeditions, conservation holiday, volunteer holiday in the Azores, whale watching conservation holiday
24 April
(Diary written for Biosphere Expeditions)
Slot two has completed their last “turtle time”, and yes, we finally spotted a turtle within the designated turtle time thanks to Sylvia. Lisa bought us a round of drinks and Nigel bought us a round of desserts and it was quite sweet, on all accounts. Just as we finished that celebration, yesterday we finally caught and tagged a loggerhead turtle, so we are quite happy with the turtle sightings this slot.
The second team had a week of terrific weather (Beaufort=1-2, wind=1-2) and once again we had a great variety of animal sightings and made quite a few matches to animals Lisa has previously matched up here in theAzores.
Thank you team 2 – roll on team 3!
Sightings for team 2: sperm whale – 28 encounters, 51 animals, 7 calves | minke whale – 3 encounters, 3 animals | sei whale – 1 encounter, 3 animals | blue whale – 2 encounters, 2 animals | fin whale – 5 encounters, 6 animals | common dolphin – 21 encounters, 800 animals | bottlenose dolphin – 4 encounters, 238 animals | Risso’s dolphin – 5 encounters, 31 animals | striped dolphins – 2 encounters, 230 animals.
Tags: Azores, conservation holiday, whale watching expedition, whales, whales in the Azores
Biosphere Expeditions Azores Diary
16 April
Our research team for slot two has arrived, and we are coming together nicely as a research team after our first (half) day at sea. We all got a chance to practice our spotting skills with a fin whale with the unusual habit of diving for more than twenty minutes at a time. We also spent some time with the largest grouping of common dolphins to date, a group of 200+.
Common Dolphins
Common Dolphins Bow Riding
Reeling in the hydrophone about the Physeter (we use it to listen for Sperm Whales)
20 April
Our second group of volunteers has brought very nice weather and some incredible luck for us in our sightings. We continue to have the excellent problem of data coming in so quickly that at times it is difficult to keep up with recording them. A new species for us was sighted on Tuesday when we saw a minke whale. We also had the opportunity to see eleven sperm whales swimming abreast on the surface. Tuesday we also had eight random sightings, which kept Cornelia and Sylvia quite busy on the POPA paperwork.
After a well-deserved shore day on Wednesday, we continued to be lucky in our animal sightings on Thursday and saw striped dolphins swimming in their carousel fashion and a leatherback turtle. We also saw sperm whales exhibiting unusual behavior by sticking their noses out of the water to take a look at neighboring whale watching boats. Both days we sighted the strange and wonderful sun fish. Also on Thursday, several of us on the Physeter had the remarkable good fortune to see a sperm whale breach. We’ll see if we can top that in our last two days.
Mariam listening for Sperm Whales on the hydrophone
Katie signing the wharf painting
Walking back to base from the dock - last day for this group
Tags: Azores, Biosphere Expeditions, whale watching, whale watching conservation holiday, whale watching expedition, whales in the Azores
Alisa aboard the Physeter (Biosphere Expeditions)
Yesterday I posted a picture of the wharf painting our first research team painted on the wharf here in Horta. It’s a tradition peculiar to Horta to paint a remembrance of your voyage/vessel here on the concrete dock…and considered bad luck if you do not.
The wharf is quite long, and quite interesting. Come take a stroll with me and see the whimsical, wistful, and artful paintings. Some made me smile with their simplicity, others made me smile with their bravery, yet others with their audacity…and feel free to tell me which are your favorites. (Hint: if you see an image you particularly like, click on it and you will see a larger version.)
Tags: Azores, Biosphere Expeditions research team, dock life, Faial, Horta marina, Horta port, Portugal, whale watching, wharf paintings Azores
12 April
(Diary written for Biosphere Expeditions)
Our first Expedition is over, and most of the team has gone home. Our last day on the water showed us both the highs and the lows of being on a research team. Once again we were lucky in our sightings– sperm whales with babies, more fin whales, and a species not often seen here: false killer whales. We then spent the entire afternoon without any sightings, following transect after transect listening for, and not finding, a last sperm whale.
We did manage to take a group picture (see below), and Axel designed and painted our 2012 Biosphere Expeditions remembrance on the wharf.
~Alisa
Biosphere Expeditions Azores Research Team Wharf Painting 2012
Biosphere Expeditions Azores Research Team 2012 - Slot 1
Tags: Azores, Faial, whale watchign research team, whale watching, whale watching conservation holiday, whale watching expedition
09 April
(Diary written for Biosphere Expeditions)
Today the joke on board the Physeter was“common fin whales” because we usually see a lot of common dolphins, and today every whale we saw was a fin whale! It was a key day for dolphins—a lone common dolphin bow riding a large fin whale kept letting us know the location of the whale, even when the large male changed direction. Then, just outside the harbor we spotted a new species for this slot, the bottlenose dolphin. Congratulations to Axel, today’s photographer, for setting a new record for the number of photographs taken (1000+!)
Here is a series of pics I took on “sports” mode of a fin whale sighting:
Tags: Biosphere Expeditions, Faial, fin whale, whale watching, whale watching conservation holiday, whale watching expedition, whale watching in teh Azores