Day 1 – On the High Seas Again! (Written on Jan 19, 2013)
Photo credit M.Jenner
After several days of lists upon lists and running to and fro re-supplying our good ship Whale Song with all things tasty and useful, I try to convince myself that if I have forgotten something and it isn’t on board, then we surely won’t be needing it! I also hope I don’t prove myself terribly wrong!
It is always with a great sense of relief that we gently pull away from the jetty, breaking our ties with the land. The moment our power cord or “umbilical” is carefully stowed on deck, with independence we begin our “at sea” life again! All the fuss falls away and we return to our watery world of visual and acoustic observations of cetaceans. Waving good-bye to the Scream Team on South Mole (Sam and Inday’s family!) was a lovely send-off and then as we face the waters outside the Fishing Boat Harbour I feel a deep-down Yahoo well up from my toes… we are underway again!
As January rolls by with quickening pace, I examine the prospects of our year ahead. The chance to dance across the Bite searching for whales en route is enticing and thrilling and has now begun! What better way to begin, than with seven beautiful bottlenose dolphins bow-riding and escorting us for fourteen minutes through Challenger Passage? In 2013, we have many projects planned with the Australian Defence Department and as such will assist with Signature Management of their fleet, supporting Naval exercises and as well Acoustic Profile data collection of the 100 metre contour around Australia. We continue to be grateful for the wonderful quiet vessel upon which we glide!
CWR logo-printed caps and Whale Song monikered outdoor shirts issued to the crew are well-received and give our crew a professional edge! Skipper is just sad he doesn’t have shirt too!
The wind is southerly but we are making good progress at 7.8 knots towards the centre of Geographe Bay, from there, we will then head around the corner of Cape Naturaliste, past the Margaret River region, and southward into the Southern Ocean.
The afternoon is spent getting all data collectors up to speed with all the different data collection systems. Dinner for the first night is of course, “First-Night-Out-Pasta” with a non-meat version for the veggos in the crowd. All flop into bed, happy and glad to be underway again!
Best,
Mich (written from 32 44.6S 115 28.8E)
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