JB to Hobart
Day 76 to 78 (Dec 13-15, 2013)
The ever-present and always gorgeous common dolphins bow-riding!
Photo credit M. Jenner
Departing at 1610 from Jervis Bay after some running repairs on the gear shift system, we were off to Tasmania! Immediately, we were greeted by common dolphins and even saw three of the Clipper Boats, sailing yachts in a round the world race sailing north to Sydney. The northerly breeze was fantastic for our transit southward, we were certainly happy to be heading in that direction!
Common dolphins are so delightful in many ways, one being their outwardly apparent enjoyment of the process of bow-riding. Twisting and rolling, sometimes belly to belly and moving through the water in singular fluid motion, their bodies are spectacularly mobile. We laugh and giggle at their antics, our enjoyment bubbling over due to the proximity of witnessing such wonderful creatures! Small scratches can be easily seen, teeth rake-marks and skin aberrations like fungus are also noticeable as they dance beneath our feet.
By midnight, my first watch again while underway, the sea was calm and a half-moon gave the waves a greasy appearance. A dilly-dallying AIS signal appeared to be a sailing yacht loosing the wind thus travelling slowly on many points of the compass. Soon, the boat engaged his iron-topsail and was less erratic with speed and course. Not much time later, that yacht could not have complained about the lack of wind! Just before 2am the wind picked up, a 25-35 knot Southerly Buster (the colloquial name for this southern wind) had arrived bouncing us around! Sure enough in the morning, everyone blamed me for finding all the potholes! On my watch, the weather is either a glass-off or really lumpy – nothing in between!
The next day we had a wonderful calm sea with many flocks of albatross. Counting, we recorded 65 resting on the water, 2m apart. One hundred metres away, another resting flock of 15 as white dots bobbed and 25 flew overhead. Half a mile down the track, we saw more albatross resting, 50 more with a separate group of 35 nearby and 25 gliding. The majority were Shy Albatross with the odd Grey-headed and Wandering swinging by briefly. Again, common dolphins delighted with almost one hundred in several pods. Skipper was deliriously happy and flat-out exhausted at days’ end!
Birds continued to take our interest as more circled and flew past Whale Song. Checking images on the D800 with our bird id guides, indicated we had a good range of seabirds including Crested Terns, Wilson Storm Petrels, a Northern Giant Petrel, a Pomarine Jaeger, and a White-chinned Petrel. As the day progressed, we saw more of these bird species and of course more common dolphins, up to 300 dancing animals!
On the last night watch before arriving in Hobart I was thrilled to see amazing phosphorescence as I stepped out on deck to collect the temperature readings for the midnight weather report. The eiry, green glow – swirling in wobbly lines from the bow and amidships wash on glassy water intrigued me for the 2 hours that it was present! Quietly sneaking back into our cabin, I grabbed two of my four cameras, and wondered if I should wake Curt. He looked so sound asleep so I refrained, but I decided if dolphins came by, he would definitely get a wake-up call. Tip-toeing around on deck I took some video with the Coolpix but knew that my best bet was the GoPro. Taking about 20 short film clips I desperately hoped that the images of this lively, green motion would be captured… The experience was so lovely, but it would be even better if dolphins were outlined in this hue. Even though they didn’t show, I thought I should wake Tas and Inday, knowing they would enjoy it. Tas just had a quick peek out of her porthole and promptly lay back down again, meanwhile Inday appeared on deck with her pj’s, a jacket and two cameras! Huh, on a mission, we moved around the deck quietly, looking and looking for sparkling “dolphins” in the darkness. Phosphorescence, the wonderful phenomena we had seen, is bioluminescence found in a small crustacean called an ostracod, which glows when disturbed such as with the bow wash of a vessel. After two hours of my three hour watch, sadly it was no longer present… In the glowing moonlight, the black lumpy shapes of the Freycinet Peninsula, on our starboard beam and only 5nm away, added interested to the nightscape. At the break of dawn, on Simons’ watch, 40 common dolphins danced on the bow. This was going to be another dolphin-filled day!
After millions of years of erosion a large part of the sandstone surrounding the dolermite intrusions has eroded and the black dolermite pillars now stand vertically in the sea. Photo credit M. Jenner
The spectacular and imposing geology of Tasman Island and Tasman Peninsula kept our cameras busy all day as we rounded Cape Pillar and crossed Storm Bay. About 165 Ma the land mass that is now Tasmania, was raised up violently by the sea. During this process molten dolermite was intruded between the sandstone strata. Dolermite contracts as it cools, resulting in vertical cracks and the resultant spectacular scenery. Winding our way up the River Derwent we thoroughly enjoyed the view. Deeply-toned green vegetation on steep or rounded mountains with neatly-packed continuous ribbons of painted cottages and unusual eco-homes across the lower hillsides down to the water’s edge, reminded me of Wellington in NZ.
The Hobart Port limit at a darling red and white lighthouse called Iron Pot grabbed our attention and rounding the bend Constitution Dock, the main wharf in downtown Hobart was visible. A small number of colonial-style buildings hinted at the commercial sector of the Apple Isle capital. A cruise ship dockside and sailing yacht tacking across the harbour waterway reminded us of the Sydney to Hobart sailing race about to get underway on Boxing Day leaving beautiful Sydney Harbour. As we depart after Christmas Day, possibly on Dec 28th, we may see some of the fast boats arriving in Hobart!
At 1840 we made our lines fast on the end berth of jetty C at the Prince of Wales Bay Marina. A fitting place, we thought for the start of our whale research journey! And thus safely completed our travels from Fremantle to Hobart (Sept 28 to Dec 15, 2013) collecting acoustic information in the program named CNAP (Circum-Navigation Acoustic Profile) with another 6138 nautical miles under our belts!
The next adventure is about to begin… Hobart to Fremantle via the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic!
Mich
A pelican with a bill-ful leaving HMAS Creswell as well!
Photo credit M. Jenner
Farewell HMAS Creswell!
Photo credit M. Jenner
Pristine national park borders Jervis Bay.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Happiness is… Skipper with his friends again!
Photo credit M. Jenner
A common dolphin leaping towards our bow basket and into the camera frame.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Reflections, common dolphins and algae – all come together.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Shy albatross, identified by their underwing marking, glide close to the portuguese bridge.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Just above the water, another Shy glides.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Dancing in an inky southern Tasman Sea, another playful common dolphin surfaces!
Photo credit M. Jenner
White coloration patterns on the dorsal fin of common dolphins show clearly in this closeup shot.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Crested terns have a distinctive yellow beak and ‘squawky’ call, often one hears them before seeing them.
Photo credit M. Jenner
Another sunset Skipper Session!
Photo credit M. Jenner
An ancient landscape at Cape Pillar on the southeast tip of the Tasman Peninsula, rises from the sea.
Photo credit M. Jenner
‘Whale Song’ is accompanied by several large common dolphin pods as we cross Storm Bay.
Photo credit M. Jenner
“Look at all those hills to run up and down!”
Photo credit M. Jenner
Travelling north up the River Derwent, we went under the Tasman Bridge towards the Prince of Wales Bay Marina.
Photo credit M. Jenner
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