December 15, 2013: Halo Tern

365 Project, Day 139

Here is my day 139 submission to my 365Project:

I got this shot of a Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) flying past the ship. I did a bit of post-processing in Picasa to add a little enhancement...a lovely halo :)

December 6, 2013: Birds Of A Feather

365 Project, Day 132

Here is my day 132 submission to my 365Project:

There were quite a few terns around today and from what I could see of them they were all royal terns (Thalassius maximus). In one area we work in there are half a dozen large bouys used for anchoring offshore installations. And it appears that when these aren't being used, the terns like to take over and use them as a resting spot. We were passing quite close to this rusty one and I snapped a shot of these terns. Looking at the spacing between them, they seem to be clearly defining their personal space! The one at the highest point on the top of the huge cleat must be the alpha tern :) 

Birds Of A Feather

Fun fact of the day:
The royal tern is found in North and South America and on the Atlantic coast of Africa. In Africa, the subspecies Sterna maxima albididorsalis breeds from Mauritania to Guinea on the western coast, ranging in winter from the Straits of Gibraltar and Morocco to Namibia.  

Read more about the royal tern at this Arkive webpage.

Here are some more photos from today:

Royal tern (Thalassius maximus) in flight

Royal tern (Thalassius maximus) in flight

Royal tern (Thalassius maximus) with Kuito FPSO in the background

It was HOT today...so hot and still that my calf was dripping with sweat just while I was sitting and scanning the water!

December 3, 2013: Busy Bottlenose Dolphin

365 Project, Day 130

Here is my day 130 submission to my 365Project:

Yipee! Today, after a period of relative quiet, we finally had some decent sightings. The seas were flat calm this morning (which definitely helps with observations!) and sure enough during my morning watch I spotted a group of dolphins leaping and splashing and traveling quickly towards us from off our bow. 

Unfortunately, they didn't come any closer than 2 km as they passed us on our starboard but with my Nikon 70-200 mm f2.8 lens with 2x teleconverter I was able to grab some decent enough photos to crop them in and get an identification of the species. I could then confirm that there were, at least, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the group. Based on what I saw through my binos though, I'm pretty sure there were some blackfish in the mix. Bottlenose dolphins often travel with short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrohynchus) and false killer whales  (Pseudorca crassidens) which would've been my guesses but I didn't get a good enough look or decent enough shots to ID if or what other species was present.

I had a feeling it might not be the last we would see of that group since we were soon headed back the same direction they headed...

...and, sure enough, while I was eating lunch, and after one of the other crew members claimed he'd seen something through the messroom windows surfacing twice, I received a call from my co-MMO that we had some a blackfish species (most likely animals from the earlier sighting) zipping past us again but this time they were only a few hundred metres off the starboard side. I ran as fast as I could to the top deck to snap some photos...and after scrambling to get another memory card in my camera (I'd removed the other to download my photos and ID the species!) I got a few shots but the animals were already off the stern of the vessel moving away from us quickly. 

In the end, based on my (somewhat distant) photos and the photos the other MMO took we confirmed we had a group of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens)...and, although I got some shots, I'd just missed a very close pass and amazing photo opportunity because I was eating lunch and didn't put my spare camera card in my camera!! Oh well, another lesson learned...ALWAYS have a memory card in your camera because you never know what might happen!  

Interestingly, I also received a report from one  of the crew on another vessel, also on the project and further offshore of us today, that they also observed a group of large dolphins between the times of our two sightings...and it definitely sounds like they had the same animals we saw. 

So, my photo of the day, though it is not spectacular, is one of the photos, cropped in, of a bottlenose dolphin from the morning sighting: 

Busy bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)...it definitely looks like it's in a hurry!

Fun fact of the day:

As I eluded to above, associations of false killer whales and other species are known to occur. Common bottlenose dolphins and rough-toothed dolphins associations are frequently documented and it is believed these associations could be anti-predatory since both false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins are occasionally killed by large sharks.  

Read more about Bottlenose dolphins and False killer whales at this natureworldnew.com webpage.

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) leaping

Cattle Egrets in flight (Bubulcus Ibis)

Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus)

Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus)

Distant shots of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in action :)

False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens)

False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)

False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens)