Light breeze.

The weather has taken a turn for the better and we have sunshine and calm seas. Yesterday we went out to the fishing grounds and made more sound recordings of the sperm whales. No whales were seen near the fishing vessels during this particular haul, although the fishermen have met sperm whales on almost every other occasion. Heading out today as well!

Calm weather is good for sighting whales.

Out again.

The weather forecast states that the wind ought to change direction soon and the fishermen are about to head out again, which means that we go out too. We are making everything on board shipshape and preparing ourselves for the sail.

The change of wind.

Fair winds.

Jonathan has gotten the hydrophone array all set up and we took Iolaire out for a stroll regardless of the varying weather forecasts. However, the waves proved to be a bit too steep to conduct proper hydrophone towing, so we decided to turn back and talk with the fishermen of Stø.

Conditions were not favourable. Fred at the helm.

 Fisherman Lauri Pietikäinen joined us for this season too.

 

 At the heart of the research, the hydrophone workstation.

The weather forecast for next week seems promising with light winds and a low wave  height, which is good news for going out. Stay tuned.

Season of 2017

We are back at the fishing village of Stø and the Greenland halibut season has  started. We are on site with our dear old friend, the Sailboat Iolaire and her splendid skipper Martin.

 S/Y Iolaire, our research vessel.

Depredation events have been seen by the fishermen throughout the week and we even managed to get a video from one of the fishermen documenting these events. 

Dr. Jonathan Gordon

Our team spent a good day out at sea setting up hydrophones (courtesy of Dr. Jonathan Gordon and Vanishing Point Marine) and taking ID-photos. We saw one Spermwhale in addition to hearing many of them via the hydrophone. We are so very lucky to have Dr Jonathan Gordon, a pioneer on benign sperm whale research, as part of our team. His wealth of knowledge about these animals is indispensable.

Volunteer crewmember Lene and the Captain, Martin.

The main focus for this season will be to get a more detailed idea of the depredation behavior through a combination of acoustic and visual observations. Photoidentification of the whales interacting with the lines is also a priority. We continue to work closely together with the fishermen and the whalesafari crews.

Connections.

The conference main tent.

Hindsgavl Castle.

The conference was a success with many interesting talks. The venue was held at Hindsgavl Castle, which is more than suitable for this type of event. We witnessed many interesting talks from across the globe and connected with fellow scientists and ocean explorers. The conference was also a good opportunity to spread word of our own project. The weather continued to be nice. 

As for now, we are making the final preparations for this years fishing season as it is just behind the corner. Stay tuned.

European Cetacean Coference.

 The conference is up and running in Middelfart, Denmark.

The Arctic Swirl team is on location, here in Denmark for the Annual European Cetacean Society conference. The venue is filled with scientists from across the globe and there are lots of interesting talks here.

We are here to bring awareness to our project, find collaborators and exchange ideas with fellow ocean explorers. The weather is also nice.

Firing up the blog.

The Arctic Swirl team on the job.

Spring is well under way and it’s time to report. We have been outfitting ourselves for the next season and there seems to be a good amount of people with the willingness and skill to help out with the project. We have started preparations for the upcoming season and met up with prospective collaborators. Things are on the up!