July 31, 2013: PLT Training Time

365 Project, Day 41

Here is my day fourty-one submission to my 365Project:

I was on the heli-deck this afternoon and noticed these guys, through the fencing around the outside of the heli-deck, on the bow below me doing some training. I liked the view looking down on the tops of their heads and with their colourful boilersuits. They were doing PLT (Pneumatic Line Thrower) training...which is basically like a fancy potato gun (you can see it on the railing) and is used to 'throw' a line to another vessel for operations such as towing. 

Fun fact of the day:

PLTs are not only used for ship to ship deployment i.e. for towing activities, but have also been used as an air-gun to tag or attach transmitters to whales. 

To read more about studies which have used PLTs for marine mammal research check these pages out:

Role of the bowhead whale as a predator in West Greenland

Potential vessel collisions with southern hemisphere humpback whale wintering off Pacific Panama

July 30, 2013: A Little Visitor

365 Project, Day 40

Here is my day fourty submission to my 365Project:

Even though we're 75 km offshore we occasionally get non-aquatic visitors...like this little green insect. I believe is a species of stink or shield bug (Order Hemiptera, family Pentatomidae) I found on the heli-deck today. Unfortunately, usually by the time they're joining us on the ship they're on their last legs and the next time I saw this little guy he was no longer with us :(

Fun fact of the day:

Shield bugs feed on plants by sucking out vital juices, using the long beak that it has for this purpose, which is then folded back under the body. 

To read more about Shield (stink) bugs check out this page.

July 29, 2013: Short-finned Pilot Whales

365 Project, Day 39

Here is my day thirty-eight submission to my 365Project:

It was an exciting day today because, although I have been spoiled with lots of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) sightings, I was fortunate enough to have three sightings (very likely of the same group based on location and timing but this is hard to know for sure!) of mixed groups of short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). I think short-finned pilot whales are very cool marine mammals and I was quite happy to some shots of them milling and interacting with the bottlenose dolphins. 

Fun fact of the day:

The common name "pilot whale" refers to the belief that there is a leader, or 'pilot' of the pod that leads the group and that the group will follow this leader, even when it means certain death. 

Read more about short-finned pilot whales here. 

July 28, 2013: Humpback Whale Mother and Calf

365 Project, Day 38

Here is my day thirty-eight submission to my 365Project:

This afternoon we had a BBQ on the top deck behind the heli-deck where I conduct my watches and this morning, prior to the BBQ, I joked that we'd be surrounded by whales during the BBQ...then sure enough we were! We had three groups of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over the course of the BBQ and I barely had a chance to eat my dinner because I was so busy tracking them. These observations included a competitive pod of whales and a likely mother/calf/escort group and I managed to get a photo of the calf with either the mother or the escort nearby. 

Although I decided to use the calf/adult shot for my 365 Project I also managed to get a shot of this breaching whale so decided to include it in this blog post as something a little extra :)

Fun fact of the day: 

There are at least three different species of barnacles and one species of lice (Cyamus boopis) found on the flippers and body of humpback whales.

July 27, 2013: Snack Time

365 Project, Day 37

Here is my day thirty-seven submission to my 365Project:

I am 10% of the way through the 365 Project and already I'm enjoying looking back on my photos :)

We had many sightings of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) today (10 to be exact!) but I didn't really get any interesting photos so I did another post-shift photo session around the ship. I got this photo at one of the tables in the ship's mess with reflections off of a spoon and...the captain having an evening snack of tomato juice and herring, so Norwegian!

Fun fact of the day: 

The word 'mess' comes from the Old French word 'mes' meaning a 'portion of food', which in the original sense, being "a course of a meal put on the table". This usage of 'mess' appeared in English in the 13th century and was often used for cooked and liquid dishes i.e. a 'mess of pottage' (porridge or soup). By the 15th century a group of people who ate together were also called a 'mess' and this is now the term used in reference to 'messhalls' or a ship's mess. 

Source: Wikipedia

July 26, 2013: Ship's Passageway

365 Project, Day 36

Here is my day thirty-six submission to my 365Project:

We were still quite busy with humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) observations today but, again, they were too distant to get any decent photos. So, although I wasn't sure how it would go I did a quick little photo session around the interior of the ship...and I was pretty happy with this shot of the passageway running from the hospital to the galley and back deck. 

Fun fact of the day: 

The saying "show a leg" (which is used to encourage people to get up in the morning and hurry along) originated from the Royal Navy. Seamen were not allowed shore leave for fear of desertion so they would take their wives to sea with them. Since their wives were not required for ship's duties they would 'show a leg' (being obviously not a seaman's leg!) to the mate in the morning as he went around checking the beds to ensure all seamen reported to duty. 

Read more fun facts at the Royal Museums Greenwich, National Maritime Museum website here.

July 25, 2013: Waning Moon

365 Project, Day 35

Here is my day thirty-five submission to my 365Project:

I have been spoiled with all the whale observations I've had lately but today it was actually pretty quiet during my watches (only one distant whale sighting). I was hoping to get a good photo of the full moon the other day but, due to overcast skies here, I missed it. I was able to catch the moon on the other side of full this morning though. 

Oh and if you look at this photo compared to my Waxing Moon photo (July 19) it is interesting to see how the orientation of the moon is different...the man is upside down!

Interesting/Fun fact about the Moon:

It takes the same amount of time for the Moon to complete a full orbit around the Earth as it takes for it to complete one rotation on its axis. This is why we always see the same side of the Moon!

To learn more about the Moon check out NASA's Solar System Exploration webpage about the Moon. 

July 24th, 2013: A Scruffy Whale

365 Project, Day 34

Here is my day thirty-four submission to my 365Project:

Another busy day today and at one point I was tracking three different groups of whales; we had two whales a couple kilometres ahead of us, two traveling a few hundred metres off the starboard side in the opposite direction to us and then, when I was busy trying to track them all...this one popped up just about 75 m off our port bow! It was quite hectic trying to track them all at once, but still fun!

July 23, 2013: Sunset Silhouette

365 Project, Day 33

Here is my day thirty-three submission to my 365Project:

It was nearing the end of the  mostly overcast day when I realized the clouds had lightened up a bit and we were having a beautiful sunset. One of the other crew was having a stroll around the heli-deck and I noticed his silhouette in the sunset...and thought it would make a nice photo.

July 22, 2013: Whale Of A Tail

365 Project, Day 32

Here is my day thirty-two submission to my 365Project:

I actually had a tough time deciding which photo to use today...the water was so calm and I got some lovely photos of a pair of whales surfacing together but I decided to go with this tail fluke shot because I already posted a pair of surfacing whales (July 17) and I really liked the tail's reflection on the water and the texture of the water. 

July 21, 2013: Gannet In Flight

365 Project, Day 31

Here is my day thirty-one submission to my 365Project:

Besides the Wilson's Storm Petrels (Oceanites oceanicus), we haven't been seeing much bird life out here and we have only had a couple sightings of Gannets so far. Of course, at the most unexpected moment, when I was trying to photograph the nearly full moon (and my camera settings were completely off) a gannet came flying by nice and close but I still managed to grab this slightly dark shot of this juvenile cape ganett (Morus capensis).

July 20, 2013: We Can Walk On Water!

365 Project, Day 30

Here is my day thirty submission to my 365Project:

Since we started our observations here off Angola I've been trying to photograph these little Wilson's Storm Petrels as they fly low over the water BUT they are quite small, fast and never quite close enough to get a decent photo. I love watching them flying over the water's surface and pattering their little feet on the water as they feed...and I think I finally got a shot I like :)

July 19, 2013: Waxing Moon

365 Project, Day 29

Here is my day twenty-nine submission to my 365Project:

I've been taking photos of the moon as it's gradually been getting fuller...nearly there!

July 18, 2013: Out With The Old, In With The New

365 Project, Day 28

Here is my day twenty-eight submission to my 365Project:

I finished one of my field notebooks today...and you can definitely tell it's been in the field! Time to get started on a new one...

July 17, 2013: Mellow Morning Whales

365 Project, Day 27

Here is my day twenty-seven submission to my 365Project:

The water was like glass first thing this morning when these two whales slowly swam past us. Although not as exciting as the active breaching, tail and pectoral fin slapping activity we've had a lot of lately it was perfect as a mellolw start to the early morning. 

July 16, 2013: Whale Wave

365 Project, Day 26

Here is my day twenty-six submission to my 365Project:

In the words of my co-marine mammal observer about humpback whales(Megaptera novaeangliae)..."they really are quite ugly". Well, I guess if you see the gangly body form and all those barnacles encrusted on them they don't appear beautiful, in the sleek dolphin-like way, but I think their beauty comes from the raw power these animals have. I was very lucky today to have another nice close pass with a couple of these humpback whales. They were quite active at the surface which is always great for photography :)

July 15, 2013: Happy Feet

365 Project, Day 25

Here is my day twenty-five submission to my 365Project:

I did yoga for many years and my instructors were always emphasizing that we should acknowledge and appreciate our feet. They are the foundation for many yoga poses and they carry us through life. We had a busy day today (11 humpback whale sightings!) and my feet definitely carried me through the day as I ran around tracking the whales and recording our data!

July 14, 2013: Humpback Whale Action!

365 Project, Day 24

Here is my day twenty-four submission to my 365Project:

Lucky for us we had a couple of fairly close passes with some humpback whales today. This one breached 5 times as it and the ship passed each other heading in opposite directions...and I got the shot I've been wanting, a breach!

July 13, 2013: Ship's Instruments

365 Project, Day 23

Here is my day twenty-three submission to my 365Project:

Another day with sightings but too far for photographs. That was alright because as I was standing, at sunset, on the helideck I noticed all these ship's instruments with the sky behind them and thought they looked cool.

July 12, 2013: Cabin Lighting

365 Project, Day 22

Here is my day twenty-two submission to my 365Project:

This was the quietest day for sightings since we started our observations on this project about a week ago. I did have some sightings this morning but they were too far to photograph. So, I took some photos around my cabin this evening and got some of the flourescent lighting in my cabin and I liked the abstract look I got in some of them.

July 11, 2013: Bowriding Bottlenose!

365 Project, Day 21

Here is my day twenty-one submission to my 365Project:

We have been busy, busy here off Angola since we started our observations...we're at 25 sightings and it's just been a week. Today, I started the morning with about 50-60 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) all around milling and leaping. Then this one came over and was bowriding for a bit. I could even hear it whistling away from where I was standing looking down on it from the bow. Very nice way to start the day :)

July 10, 2013: Helideck Sunset Bokeh

365 Project, Day 20

Here is my day twenty submission to my 365Project:

I was on the helideck at sunset this evening and thought it might be cool to photograph the sunset on the water as a background to the siding of the helideck. I'm constantly taking sunset and sunrise photos out here and try to find new ways to portray it :)

July 9, 2013: New species sighting for me...Dwarf Sperm Whale!

365 Project, Day 19

Here is my day nineteen submission to my 365Project:

This is not the most amazing photo but I chose it because it is an unusual sighting and my first one of a dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) (bet you didn't know they exist!). I was watching a couple of hammerhead sharks when I noticed what I thought was either another shark or a log floating beyond the sharks. I took a couple photos thinking I'd confirm which of the two it was later but when I did look at them I realized I had something quite unique. I've been working offshore doing marine mammal observation for 3.5 years and this is my first sighting of this species :) 

July 8, 2013: Welcome To My Office

365 Project, Day 18

Here is my day eighteen submission to my 365Project:

So this is it...where I conduct my watches for marine mammals, sea turtles, sea birds, sharks and pretty much whatever else wanders past while we're on survey. Not bad is it?

July 7, 2013: Feeling Bounty-ful!

365 Project, Day 17

Here is my day seventeen submission to my 365Project:

So we had sightings today but they were either too far or too quick for photos. It ended up being a long day and I was exhausted and uninspired for photography but then I saw the package of my half eaten Bounty bar (chocolate day on the ship :) and thought the colours and the reflection of it on my laptop were cool. Yum!

July 6, 2013: Something from Sci-Fi?

365 Project, Day 16

Here is my day sixteen submission to my 365Project:

All was quiet on the wildlife front for me today but we passed fairly close to a couple of the many large offshore installations i.e. drill ships, out here and, although I have been doing this for a while, it still blows my mind the scale of these operations!

July 5, 2013: Finally...Angola Humpback Whales!

365 Project, Day 15

Here is my day fifteen submission to my 365Project:

At last we left port yesterday and today we started our visual watches for marine mammals and sea turtles (and birds and whatever else we might see out here!). It was a good start for us with 7 sightings of 15 individual humpback whales including a couple groups with mothers/calves and male escorts! A few came quite close and I was able to get some decent shots :)

July 4, 2013: Red Ship in a Hazy Sunset

365 Project, Day 14

Here is my day fourteen submission to my 365Project:

I don't know what it is about the conditions around here (dust? haze? air temperature?) but we've had flat, calm seas and incredibly hazy skies that have created this consistent grey around us all day. We can barely distinguish where the sky and sea meet. Fortunately, at sunset, the sky and water had these amazing colours and I thought the red of the Seabed Prince (the ROV/OBN vessel we're working with) and the sunset looked great together.

July 3, 2013: Fire and Water...and Fishermen

365 Project, Day 13

Here is my day thirteen submission to my 365Project:

There are so many offshore oil and gas installations here in Angola...you pretty much can't look anywhere on the horizon and not some sort of installation. Despite all this industrial activity the local Angolan fishermen continue their small-scale fisheries and, apparently, they like to fish under the flames of the oil rigs at night because the fish are attracted to the artificial reef system the rig creates and the light of the fires. 

July 2, 2013: Palm Nut Vulture

365 Project, Day 12

Here is my day twelve submission to my 365Project:

I decided, even though we're still at anchor, I would sit on deck for a while this afternoon and see if I could spot some nearshore wildlife. There were no marine mammals but this Palm Nut Vulture flew past. Unfortunately, I didn't have my zoom lens on but managed to swap lenses and switch the shutter speed with enough time to get a couple shots. I didn't get the sharpest results but I was glad I got something I could use!

July 1, 2013: Cable and Rope Reels

365 Project, Day 11

Here is my day eleven submission to my 365Project: 

We are still at anchor...so I am still taking photos of things around the ship. Itching to get offshore to, hopefully, start getting wildlife photos but, in the meantime, this has been fun :)