Aug 21, 2014
Ancient rocks glowed in the bright, morning light. This is no surprise, it happens every day – we rotate and the sun comes up. So far, we have been lucky, this still seems to occur. But lately, we have had occasion to witness this beautiful phenomenon, simply due to our busy filming schedule. The stunning wilderness vistas of the Kimberley are astounding and life-changing. I was sad to leave Yampi Sound and the Buccaneer Archipelago this morning, but several whale pods nicely took our attention.
I still can remember as plain as day, the first time we sailed into Yampi Sound and the islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago. We had spent just over 2 years building our custom-built sailing catamaran and with our 7 month old daughter, Micah and Chris we sailed from Dampier to Broome to begin our Kimberley adventures. Rounding Cape Leveque with strong tides we crossed King Sound and then made our way into the archipelago… the rocks, the islands, the huge sky, the colours – I was blown away by everything! I thought my heart would burst with surprise – surprise that we had actually managed to build a boat (as biologists!), that the Kimberley was so beautiful and that there were whales, lots of them and lots of young calves too. The Kimberley holds a special place in our hearts, a connection that will remain forever.
In the smoky morning haze from nearby bushfires, the islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago appear many tones of grey.
With bowls of chicken noodle or pumpkin soup and toasted baguette, we welcomed an early lunch before working with a large pod of boisterous males, carefully and thoroughly documenting their antics with notes and photos. It is very interesting to follow the roles played by all the individuals in the pod, as they sort out which male gets prime access to the focal female. It is also interesting to see how relatively static these roles are. The Primary Escort wishes to remain the Primary Escort and he will throw his weight around, literally, to achieve this goal.
Last night at Conilurus Island, before anchoring, we saw the fierce orange flames of a fire-front torching the hills of the mainland country to the south of Yampi Sound. Light wind conditions overnight held the smoke in this area, so the morning light over the hills and island was even more misty than usual.
A Head Lunge, an almighty surge at the surface by one of the males, was the surfacing signature of that individual humpback whale.
Heading into the tangerine sunset tonight, we revelled and marvelled in the glassy, calm conditions. The horizon was lost behind us in a blur of pink and the whole ship witnessed a green flash as the sun disappeared from our vision over our bow. Well, there might still be a few doubters! Pink, purple and grey hues provided a silky canvas for the whales to surge through. As my trigger finger worked overtime in the gorgeous light, I just kept thinking ‘There goes another hard-drive!’
Delicious Pasta Bake for dinner, with meat, without meat and without cheese (how many ways can you make it?) filled our tummies after another busy afternoon. Thank you Resty for looking after us so well!
With the joy of the Kimberley ever beating in my heart – I bid the islands a fond farewell,
Mich
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