Well there we have it, I have completed my final trip across the Bay of Biscay as the Pont Aven’s ORCA Wildlife Officer, but what a summer it has been and this is by no means the Last Goodbye.

There have been so many highlights for me, the perfect day back in May with the Sperm Whales and hundreds of dolphins, breaching Cuvier’s Beaked Whale on my birthday and most especially Killer Whale at the beginning of August. But it has not just been the wildlife that has made my time onboard such an amazing experience. It’s the people I have met, their excitement at seeing hundreds of dolphins or one Fin Whale, their laughter in my presentations when I compare adult male Killer Whales in British Columbia to my older brother – both of which spend their whole lives with their mothers -(sorry Matt!), their enthusiasm to help the charity with its projects and work, their amazing stories of where they have been and what they have seen. To me this is what ORCA is all about – having these amazing experience with whales and dolphins and then getting involved to help protect them.

The Summer of 2009 - Inspiring encounters with whales, dolphins and people!

Certainly my time with ORCA has not ended with my job as Wildlife Officer onboard the Pont Aven, I hope to keep working as a volunteer surveyor or relief Wildlife Officer…so who knows maybe I will meet many of you again.

But I want to say one final big thank you to the crew, entertainment team and passengers of the Pont Aven, everyone at ORCA and of course those superb whales and dolphins who really did make this a summer to remember…

Rachael – Wildlife Officer

As sad as it seems it is time for me to start saying goodbye to a number of people onboard the Pont Aven, its coming to the end of the summer and I only have 5 days left onboard and as the ships crew change over for another week I am finding myself saying goodbye for the last time to a number of crew members who have been extremely kind and helpful over the last 6 months.

 This Friday it was time also to say goodbye to a number of the Entertainments Team who have been onboard since July; Claire and Paul joined regulars Carla and Jamie to provide some fantastic onboard entertainment. Having had their fill of whales and dolphins passengers could relax watching some of the best entertainment, topped off with the chance to win fabulous prizes with Game Show Greats hosted by this great team. That’s got to be the best kind of whale watching! So a massive thank you must go to Carla, Jamie, Claire and Paul.

The Pont Aven's Summer Entertainment Team: Jamie, Carla, Paul and Claire

A huge thank you must also go to Alexandra, Norwenn and Carolina the Head’s of Animation onboard who have been such a wonderful help over the last few months, there is no way the Wildlife Officer Project would have been such a success without these people!

 THANK YOU!!!

 Rachael – Wildlife Officer

Well ORCA’s Go Large Campaign has been running for a few months now with the aim of raising passenger’s awareness of Fin Whales and the threat they face from large, fast moving vessels. But with a change in Fin Whale numbers observed this summer in the Bay of Biscay, the campaign has taken on another role with further research needed into drop in Fin Whale numbers. Will the Fin Whale’s return to the Bay in their usual numbers next year? Why did they not return in the late summer in large numbers this year? The answers to these questions will only come with further survey work in the coming years, all the more reason for our work to continue and for ORCA to continue raising the profile of these awesome creatures.

Children are arguably one of the most important groups of people we need to raise the profile of Fin Whale amongst as they are the future decision makers. The Go Large Campaign has certainly got the kids involved this summer, measuring Fin Whale’s on deck, painting whales on faces, creating posters telling other children to ‘watch out for whales and dolphins’. In the last week we have introduced another fun activity, thanks for an extremely kind donation from a passenger and ORCA member we were able to buy a badge making kit and have been getting the kids to colour in templates or even draw their own badges.

Thank you to Seren, Angel and James for helping me with the badge making!

One of our GO LARGE badges...

Its just one more activity that gets kids thinking about Fin Whales, these future decision makers may well have the fate of the Fin Whale in their hands…

Rachael – Wildlife Officer

For most marine wildlife I would so no, not the windier the better in fact when it comes to whales and dolphins the less wind the better the chance of spotting things. However there is one group of marine wildlife that I would say absolutely love the wind…sea birds!

Shearwaters in particular seem to thrive and really enjoy windy conditions, banking up and down, shearing close to the wave and then swooping up again; it’s an absolute joy to watch them fly so effortlessly.

The Bay of Biscay has finally come alive with birds. Over the past few months we have seen a couple of Cory’s Shearwater but now they are numerous and have been joined by Great Shearwaters, Manx Shearwaters and Mediterranean Shearwaters.

A Cory's Shearwater effortlessley skims the waves

A Great Shearwater loving the windy conditions

Many birds are starting to disperse from their breeding grounds, some getting ready to migrate thousands of miles across the oceans, the stunning Manx Shearwater for example is only passing through the Bay on its way to the coast of Brazil and Argentina! On the other hand the Great Shearwaters we are now seeing are probably non breeders who have come from across the Atlantic to feed in the Bay. So many amazing wildlife stories playing out in front of the eyes of passengers onboard the Pont Aven.

Its definitely a wonderful time of year to be sea watching in the Bay of Biscay even if it is a little on the windy side!

Rachael – Wildlife Officer

So, the summer season has ended for me! Before I dive into my projects up here in Norway, I just want to thank everyone for a great time out on Pont Aven. Bay of Biscay definitely showed its good side (no force 12 for me, no!). I’ve seen some new species e.g. basking shark in Cork, Cuvier’s beaked whale close to Santander – always a delight to experience something you’ve only read about! I have to admit it though; when I accepted this job as a wildlife officer, one species was highest up on my list….the sunfish. So, the question remains – did I see “him”???? NO! Well, I guess it can only mean that I need to spend more time out on the ocean in the future, and believe me; that is a sacrifice I’m willing to make!!!

Enjoy the Blue – it just gets better and better…

Lena – wildlife officer

I have mentioned the “tail of kids” I’m lucky to have up on the helideck. Very often though, I have a feeling they are not aaaalways looking at the ocean…Yes, I know this “patience thing” is tricky, even for adults. Today I was impressed by the time some kids actually spent scanning the ocean as true whale observers. I’m especially amazed when the binocular is almost as big as the observer itself (I get “spaghetti arms” from less…).

Fergus & Felix observing the ocean!

Bronwen with a very (!) heavy binocular. (You might think she was posing for the camera, but no! This little girl actually stood in this exact position for at least 15 min - you have my deepest rescept as a fellow observer!)

So, Thank You for all the assistance I’ve had out on the helideck!

I’m also going to remember today as the day when the passengers (and not the crazy early researcher up on the bridge – see previous blog update) saw a breaching fin whale! This time it actually came out of the water 5 times in a row, first 2 times we just saw the big splash, and the 3^rd time; half the animal was above surface and ended it all with a huge belly splash. Such a cool sight! The wonderful thing is that on the return journey from Santander, about 8 hours later, we had another breaching whale! This individual also breached continuous times, and many people were up on deck to enjoy the sighting. Just one of those days out on Pont Aven….

(honestly though, we did have to work hard for those sightings on a choppy sea!)

Lena – wildlife officer

The job of a researcher is not often well understood. Many people think it is very easy, while others believe it is something that everyone can do. Well, I am going to clarify all this using my experience onboard the Pont Aven, and what were my thoughts during the whole 6 weeks.

Data collection is the most fun part of a researcher’s job, but don’t take for granted that everything will go according to plan. From movies usually people have an idea that these things are very easy to see, that rare animals, behaviors and so many wonderful things are at everyone’s reach, and that is not how it works. During my first 2 weeks onboard cetaceans were very difficult to spot and not being able to see anything for more than 2 hours just takes all the energy and motivation out of your system. But you have to keep going, you need data to process!

After those 2 weeks, I was fed up with dolphins and just wanted new, different cetaceans to see! Fortunately, soon after that I had fin whales, Cuvier’s beaked whales and even killer whales! My mind changed, every sighting even if it’s just a dolphin or a gannet, is always good. You would never be able to see all that sitting at home or even at the beach in Portugal. No, I was very lucky for what I was able to see, for where I was, doing what I love. Once you get a sighting, you don’t need coffee, the thing for itself gives you the rush you need to keep on the look out for 3 more hours.

After getting all the information you need, comes the tricky part: you need to organize it very well, test and validate your results using statistics and then write all about it in maximum detail, so everyone can understand why, how you did it and what great discoveries come from your work! What secrets have you revealed, what do you advice to upcoming projects and the most important – how did your work contribute for the conservation of such elegant and mysterious animals.

Philippe and Yannik up on the bridge

Going somewhere on your own to do research is always a big adventure that starts mainly with knowing the people you are going to be with during this time. Having friends in the kitchen is very helpful, no doubt about that, but the people that will definitely be there, help you, feel your frustration with you and laugh at your joy are the ones that truly deserve most of your attention. There is no way to escape problems, you just need to look for help and find the best way to overcome them. With all this I should say that the crew and especially officers on this ship have been no less than simply amazing.

Sofy

Rachael and I first came onboard Pont Aven in April this year. For some reason, I don’t remember why, she decided that we should always take the stairs instead of the elevator. Remember – we are talking about 10 decks! I have continued this tradition, and I owe you a thanks Rachael. All this “exercise” makes me hungry every 10 minutes (compared to 20 back home…) – so in Santander, me and Sofy (the researcher) always go for food! Oj, oj, oj – how can I go back to dried fish in Norway after all these delights?

This is my favorite – tortilla at the little café right next to the ocean!

Served to crew on Pont Aven – too good to be true!

Lena – Wildlife Officer

Usually we have regular sightings in the Bay of Biscay, which means it’s enough with a bit of patience before you are rewarded with wildlife. Today we struggled! I was so confident we would see both whales and dolphins, since the ocean was smooth and we would spend many hours in the Bay. But no….A lot of people out on deck (=many eyes looking) waited for a lifetime before our sighting of dolphin. Unfortunately, this pod of dolphins stayed away at some distance and were feeding – so not a lot of jumps. After that, a couple of people saw blow on a distance, but at the time I’ve reached that side of the deck we saw nothing. During all this time I had a “tail of kids” after me, following me from side to side. Thank You! You all had so many questions about the ocean, I love that I definitely noticed that you guys got more and more clothes on throughout this time (it’s windy on the helideck and one layer is just not enough!). Since we had such a wonderful time out on deck, despite lack of sightings, we decided to stay out and try to find a whale. Just before it got to dark to spot any wildlife it happened….Eureka! A fin whale, finally! At the time of sighting though, I have to admit that we were having such a great time, talking away (I’m very good at that), that I did not see the first blow. We owe it all to the whale spotter next to us. I am so happy that I was out on deck with you at this time – You inspired me with your excitement. Maybe it’s better with one sighting on good company, than 10 by yourself?????

Thank You so much for the letter you left me in the reception, Claire! You made me very happy! (experiencing wildlife wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without you all)

Lena – Wildlife Officer

The route of Pont Aven links 4 different countries together. I may not be able to speak all languages, but “body language” is actually working remarkably well. It is one gesture, in particular, that always works to minimize the distance between the boat and people on land/other boats – “waving hands”! It does not seem to be important who starts the behavior, passengers on our boat or someone on e.g. a passing boat, the gesture is always returned in similar manner. I used to think only kids had this urge to wave, or after several weeks spent out at sea; but it seems that even 5 hours away from people (other than the 1000 sailing with you) is enough to spark the arm movement. If it is the happiness of seeing more individuals from your own species, or simply the joy of breaking the sight of an endless ocean, I do not know. Further research will have to take place, before this behavior can be fully understood. Until then, I will greet next port like I always do, with a wave and a smile!

Lena – wildlife officer