With a following sea and following winds we had a fantastic glide up the coast.
Once offshore RV Whale Song’s wheelhouse filled with the trills, grunts and groans of humpback whales testing their vocals with this year’s Whale “Top 40” tunes!
Live whale song piped from the depths of the sea onto the bridge remains one of my most favourite offshore experiences and of course all the gorgeous sunsets, stunning sunrises, each and every cetacean encounter, overnight avian visitors AND the delicious galley treats from our incredible 2nd Mate/Chef Taz!
Yep, I love it all! It wasn’t long before we had pygmy blue whale calls as well. These are very low frequency and need adjusting to be audible to our over-used adult ears but we can SEE the detections! The vertical green lines in the 5th photo are the calls of a pygmy blue whale!
Sunset at sea on Day 2. Yep, I mentioned sunsets are another fav.
#whales #humpbackwhales #pygmybluewhales #whaleresearch #marineconservation #rvwhalesong #thesecretlifeofwhales #newsouth #newsouthbooks #michelinejenner @michelinejenner @tasjenner #brianjury #davidstiff #travissimmons @andrewdavenport @lizquicke @aquautopia_seaweeds #centreforwhaleresearch
A comfortable following sea pushed us gently northwards.
And with steady following winds, we were easily on our way to the northwest of Western Australia.
Skipper, our ship’s dog, still scampers around the decks but also takes the opportunity to rest as much as possible!
Pygmy blue whale calls are represented as vertical green lines in the software.
Pink sunset hues never fail to impress.
Evening bliss aboard RV “Whale Song”.
Surrounded by singing humpback whales and calling pygmy blue whales, RV “Whale Song” is humming a whale song!
Reflections on Day 2.
Humpback whale song is shown here in turquoise blue. This is a male humpback whale advertising his mating availability but since it is early in the season, it is likely to be a sub-adult male “practicing” his repertoire for the coming seasons when he is a mature and eligible bachelor.
This is so affecting that I want cry…with joy, grief over the losses, envy over your commitment & scientific/marine know-how and the Cetaceans themselves – such gifts to us & the Environments. Thank you.
Thank you Thyrza.
The pleasure and privilege of research is ours to do what we can to protect and conserve important and integral whales and their critical habitats. By protecting a charismatic animal at the top of the food chain, we are thus protecting an entire ecosystem.
Save the Whales and Save the Oceans!