Shark and Squid Sunday (Jan 10, 2016)
At 0710 when I peered from our window to check on the potential status of the day, the gentle movement of the boat was evidence that the light breezes experienced on my watch during the wee hours had persisted. Indeed I surmised, we were in for a wonderful day crossing canyons of the Great Australian Bight (GAB). Calm days stay in my memory banks, in fact these cancel out any not-so-calm days. The most of these lovely days must be made.
Glassy Day. Perfect for looking and listening.
Half way through the morning, a small flock of twelve shearwaters resting on the water got my attention. Not usually a particularly amazing spectacle, but as I grabbed my camera and stepped on deck, I muttered to the gathered crew in the wheelhouse, (by way of explanation), that I was going to photograph the birds, just in case overnight I had forgotten how… As if!
Seabird Circle. Flesh-footed shearwaters encircle flesh looks like squid!
The flesh-footed shearwaters were sitting calmly on the water and as I took a few photos, I saw a white blob at the surface in the very centre of the flock. At first I thought that a bird had just pooped in the water making a white “cloud” but immediately with a second glance, I realised that it was no such thing. I banged on the window calling “They have something-it’s flesh- it’s some squid!” Surprisingly, this did get everyone’s attention and we headed towards the birds, quietly and calmly guarding their quarry.
“What is that?” Skipper looks at the squid, unsure of yet another new animal he has seen!
Indeed, the white blob turned out to be a squid! Approaching, we could see the soft-bodied mantle was approximately 1.5 m in length. The edges of the large orange-tan curved wings, which extended the length of the mantle, were frayed with bite marks as well as the orange-tan colouration of the mantle itself appearing to be white-spotted indicating many sustained attacks. Two fish fins, a beige-toned dorsal fin outlined with a thin black line and a dark beige, long heterocaudal tail indicated the squid had company, avian and pelagic. This blue shark, approximately 2.5 m long circled the squid-the tips of the two fins appearing on one side of the squid, then next on the other.
Visitor Below. A blue shark circled taking occasional bites.
The calm wind and sea conditions and the sighting proved irresistible for Curt and he began preparing to launch and film with his HEX H2O hex-copter. Sam his right-hand launching man was retrieved and very soon from the fly-bridge (the top deck) the yellow machine was winging over to the still-alive squid, which was enduring occasional chomps from the blue shark, sometimes from beneath, other times from the mantle exposed at the surface. It did not look like an entirely pleasant way to go and in fact, an injured cetacean will often beach itself, most likely to avoid exactly what we were witnessing. Only about a third of a metre of the 10cm-across squid tentacles remained. Rob procured a scientific paper on giant squid, Architeuthis dux, which detailed the mantle and 8 tentacles are approximately equal in size, thus when intact, this animal could well have been around 3 m long.
Safe Return. Footage of the blue shark circling the squid is fantastic!
The vision from above which showed the squid gently moving the wings (perhaps in a failed attempt at escape) and the shark constantly circling was amazing to review, as soon as the hex-copter was safely returned to the ship.
Buzzing from this experience we continued on our track-line eastwards towards Port Lincoln on a gorgeous glassy sea. A mid-afternoon sighting of another largish shark lying just beneath the surface, the dorsal fin and heterocaudal fin protruding, added to Curt’s early morning observation of the dorsal fin of a white pointer. Keep your toes on board, was a high priority.
Twilight Pilot Whales. In the closing light of day, they appeared alongside!
Most of the afternoon we could hear whistles (from whales or dolphins) on the towed array. Just where were they? Surely with the strength of the signals and in this calm weather they must be nearby and we must be able to see them. We were all eyes on deck and even at the dinner table everyone was wide-eyed, looking every which way as we ate! Resty’s dinner was simply delicious but there was no time for polite dinner conversation – there were cetaceans to find!
Curt and Rob honed in some calls getting a bearing directly ahead. ‘They are coming this way!’ Curt said and about 5 minutes later Carrie was banging on the portside window excitedly saying ‘They are here!’ ‘Pilot whales!’ called Bec. The whole ship erupted in excitement and on the Albatross deck we saw at least 20 pilot whales, mothers and calves closer on our starboard and larger bulls at the stern. In the drawing twilight, I pushed the camera settings and black lumpy dorsal fins in pink light on a pinkish sea revealed we indeed did have long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas. For the next few hours they made quite a racket and delighted the crew no end, especially Bec.
I flopped into bed and did the classic, ‘1-2-3 sleep’ and was. Well, that was Shark and Squid Sunday, what is in store for Monday in the GAB?
Mich
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