Archive for October 17th, 2010

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN HUMPBACKS, TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES, PLANKTON, VICTORIA AND FALLEN DOWN A HATCH ALL IN ONE DAY – I HAVE!!!

What can I say heading over to Canada was anything but uneventful, as we headed to an acoustical conference.Im sure the other blogs will fill you in on the details, but i wanted to talk about our journey there. We set of early on Tuesday morning and having cleared customs in the USA Monday evening. When we first headed into Canadian waters we had to clear customs again, then we were finally free to set of to find the whales. What we actually found was even better than we expected – we found Humpbacks. There were two that we followed for a couple of hours and I got my geek on with my microphone and recorded them surfacing. They were surfacing in unison  with Mount Baker in the background – it was like a painting. However this is where the hatch comes in! I was merily recording away and stepped back to get to a better position away from the cameras, when . . . . . . . . . I fell through the hatch to Hana and Vanessa’s room, which was open! My gosh it hurt, but my first thought was did I break the mic!!!?? That’s when you know you’re a scientist! Megan and Hana were killing themselves laughing! The bruising was instant but it was worth it for seeing the whales. I soon picked myself up again (but left the microphone safely inside) and set about taking some pictures. That was definitely a good decision, as I got some great fluke shots and got a video of a Humpback right next to the boat.

After the Humpbacks had put on that show, we made a group decision to try and catch up with the Transient Orcas that had been reported to be feeding on seals not that far from us. Again this group got lucky and we were able to catch up. We got some great shots of the Whales infront of the lighthouse with Mount Baker again. Hana was really happy because we found a whale counterpart for her (ill let her explain why), I already have one in the Residents.  We want to find one for everyone :).

By this point time had slipped through our fingers and it was time to head back to Harbour. On the way back we did a plankton tow, it was very cool and kind of shocking how many different organisms there were in the small amount of water we filtered. Back in Victoria, we made dinner and then went on the hunt for the showers (which were harder to find than you may think). Once clean we explored the city and got ready for the conference the next day.

So to conclude I will always remember our short time in Canada fondly and the words ‘oh Canada’ hold a whole new meaning to me now :).

On a side note it was 10/10/10 for 350 last Sunday and I couldn’t write a blog without mentioning it!!  (http://www.350.org) The focus is on the number 350—as in parts per million CO2. If we can’t get below that, scientists say, the damage we’re already seeing from global warming will continue and accelerate. On Sunday the Beam Reach crew decided we were going to join the cause. We wrote a press release to spread our message of sustainability and shared our stories. Not only did we do that but we also took some pictures to send into the website. So check it out and help spread the word!!!

Read More

Victoria, Whales, Plankton, and the Conference

In order to get to Victoria and the conference we had to cross Haro Strait and start heading West through the strait of Juan de Fuca.  We had to make a quick stop in the harbor, in order to pass customs for Canada, but after we were cleared the opportunity arose to watch a few Humpbacks in area.  We got some amazing photos, and Cat even got some recordings of the blows with her fancy parabola set up.  She also had a close call involving a hatch, but everything turned out okay (see her blog for more information).  After the we got some amazing videos and pictures of the Humpbacks we turned around and found some transient killer whales near by.  We heard that the transients had killed three seals just before we got to them, and when we found them they were all resting.

One major downside to spending time with the whales was we missed a chance to have a tour at Race Rocks on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.  The institute there sounded very interesting, and earlier Beam Reach classes have attempted to measure the underwater noise from a tidal turbine located in that area.  On the way into Victoria Harbor Scott deployed some Plankton towing equipment, and by using a microscope we were able to find some very interesting critters.  My Favorite was a bright orange Polychaete worm that had some very impressive looking spines.

We went to explore the city of Victoria as a group on our first night there, and in the end we all agreed that the city felt very strange after four weeks on the boat.  The next day was completely filled with the acoustics conference, and it was a new experience for me.  We heard a broad range of presentations that applied to current acoustical research, and our professor Jason Wood gave a talk about the killer whales we are studying.  Over all is was a great experience, and it was very interesting to see and meet other scientists that work in the field of acoustics.  Cat and I had a great opportunity to talk with the keynote speaker Christine Erbe, which was extra cool because we read  a few of her publications early on in the quarter.  Cat got some very interesting contacts, and I had a good time discussing my project with her.  We had a great chance to meet other students and see them present their personal research, and one in particular was in the process of studying the same killer was as Beam Reach.  We are currently on land and we are about to leave for our final week on the boat tomorrow.  Personally I am going to miss the atmosphere of the Gato Verde, and I plan on visiting Todd and the Gato Verde in Bellingham with my family in future.
Read More
Design by pixelumbrella  |  Built by Quorus  |  Optimized by Foundry Interactive © 2005-2024 Beam Reach  |   Non-discrimination policy   |   Disclaimer  |   Terms and conditions