(Written on Apr 26, 2014)
Scanning and scanning for whales from all levels, Mich up the foremast, Brodee on the flybridge and Russ at the bow.
Photo credit I. Ford
As soon as I woke, I quickly did my exercises to prepare for the day… you can see the focus is always, to be ready! I have learnt to be a Girl Scout! Details – details. Are the camera batteries charged? Is the card cleared and formatted? Do I have my datasheets set? Tiny things to prepare for the big picture!
Again we looked and looked for whales, after filling our tummies with a lovely cooked breakfast from Resty. French toast and two eggs were my fuel for the day. Scanning and scanning, we hoped and hoped for whales, as always… One has to be an optimist at this game. ‘An optimist sees the donut but a pessimist sees the hole’, I remembered a recent quote at our favourite bookshop. We couldn’t have played at this for so long and not have seen the donut.
Even after a rolling breakfast throughout the morning, it seemed time for muffins towards 11 for elevenes! I went down at 1035 to heat them and at 1040 the call came from the top deck that a whale blow had been sighted! Yahoo, we are in the mix again! We followed this whale from Whale Song as the wind was strong enough at 18-20 knots to prevent us launching Orca. So we took stations all over Whale Song and on each deck.
The Whale Lander Tag was prepared and Russ and Simon with the PAXARM rifle took position on the foredeck. On the bridge deck, Curt drove and Lynnath and Skipper observed. On the fly-bridge, Inday with Alicia, Max and Brodee collected the downtime information and counted the blows. These pygmy blue whales are very mobile and anticipating their downtimes helps greatly in predicting where they will surface and thus positioning the vessel for best data collection. Up the mast I scaled and tried to collect photo-id shots of Pod 1. It was unusual to see the animal bouncing at the surface, almost stalling rather than breathing and swimming away. The whale came to the surface and twice bounced, this was indeed promising behaviour for the deployment of the Whale Lander Tag – which we were planning.
Towing the bongo net for plankton collection, from left Dale, Lynnath and Max.
Photo credit I. Ford
Most of the morning we were aware of at least three relatively small recreational fishing vessels in the area of the canyon, perhaps part of a game fishing tournament. I watched carefully and was happy to see each vessel moving, as I was not wishing to mess with our tagging day by having to stage a rescue….
Resty prepared lunch and we grazed, gathering energy before the next activity. As the sea state reduced, we prepared to launch Orca. At 1439 we were on the water and off in Orca to follow Pod 2. Two blows were seen on our bow, so we followed behind, but unfortunately this individual was to remain very secretive. No photos were taken although we spent almost 3 hours toddling around ‘The Gully’ looking for whales in Orca. Sadly, no other whales were seen and thus at 1723 we returned to Whale Song with delicious dinner aromas welcoming and filling the foredeck as we stepped off Orca. We really are very soft these days…
To make us think about our hard days, I recalled all those hours and in fact miles spent, making me shorter in small boats skipping over the waves! There is a certain liberating feeling to small boat work and then there is reality! Eleven thousand miles of bouncing in the Perth Canyon has given us an appreciation for stepping off Whale Song and also stepping back on Whale Song and the luxuries she affords us. We LOVE her!
Krill – whale food swirls in the bucket!
Photo credit I. Ford
The neat thing about this trip has been the overlap of activity. In the day while we look for whales, the water has been sampled for chlorophyll and some day plankton net collections have been conducted. Mostly, when we are done with whales, the Queen of Krill takes over, and Lynnath and her student Alicia and Max, do net tows for 10 minute durations at a time to 50 metres, at specific depth categories (100m and 50 m) and the krill are analysed on the spot. A new lab has materialised with a microscope on the aft deck near the bbq, it is wonderful, a mobile wet lab!
As we re-grouped on board Whale Song and the plankton tows began, we heard a rescue unfolding on the VHF radio. Due to the non-panicked and very professional nature of the conversations between the two helicopter participants, at first we were not certain that it actually was a real rescue. But as we listened, we realised that it was the real thing. A solo sailor on a sailing vessel named Alkin was airlifted to safety by a rescue helicopter and the message to all ships in the region was that the boat would be gone within 30 minutes… Well didn’t our fine vessel feel even more fine.
What is going on in the galley?
Photo credit I. Ford
We checked the weather upon return to Whale Song and with the BOM indicating the weather was closing in due to the approach of a low, we did two plankton tows and then made our way back toward Fremantle. Micah will be very happy as we can attend a concert tomorrow night, the tickets of which she gave us for Christmas! The weather gods have been kind!
What another great day! I am truly feeling so happy to be out in the Perth Canyon in Whale Song and in Orca. I felt I could hardly wipe the whale grin off my face as we bounced over the waves!
At midnight we tied alongside back in Freo. Yahoo, how good is life?
Mich
P.S. For the next Blue Blog, look next Monday!
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