Team Brief

Lighthouse

The first day of the Earthwatch Expedition started at noon when we all assembled at the Whale Safari dining room. This was mainly an introductory day for us, with Iva giving us the background detail and showing us around the village, which was eerily quiet on a Saturday afternoon.

Our job is to monitor whales; mainly sperm whales. We will be doing this at sea from tour boats, a research boat and a ferry, as long as the weather permits. We will also spend an hour at a time up at the top of the magnificent Ardenes Fyr, which is a steel lighthouse that still functions at night. There is some spectacular optical gear up there for us to monitor whales with, but I have already been told it is not for bird watching. (It didn't take them long to figure me out.)

The local scenery is spectacularly jagged and the weather changes by the minute, which makes for interesting pictures at least; and it keeps the flies at bay.

Seven Sistors

I think I'm really going to enjoy it once we get out there. Today's highlights were meeting the team and botanising along the shore. I found mountain avens at sea level, growing among other so-called alpines that I have seen up Ben Lawyers in Scotland. I must find a flower book in English. Meanwhile, I will make a blog-page just on the local flowers.

The birds have been pretty much what you might expect so far; seabirds, and lots of them. I  did find a rock pipit and a while wagtail on the beach and I saw three red-breasted mergansers on the water, but I'm looking forward to seeing more birds close up when we get among the whales. This will be tomorrow morning if all goes according to plan. (It didn't, of course. Ed.)

Meet the Team

Iva.

We have quite an international team. Our leader on the project is Iva Kovacic who is doing two Ph. D. projects on the whales at the same time! She has been here for eight years but is actually from Croatia. She has also worked in Greece and the UK.

Inaki

Inaki Aizpurua is an extremely lively and enthusiastic interpreter and researcher who bounces in and out of our activities all the time when he is not with the tourists and guides at the Whale-Safari centre. He is originally from the north of Spain where he studied psychology.

Lloyd

Lloyd Figgins is the global safety officer from Earthwatch and is based in Oxford, UK. He is a man hooked on adventure and has even rowed the Atlantic.

Marta

Marta Acosta Plata is not only interested in new ways to monitor  sperm whales; she is also very keen on involving the local community. Her studies up to now have taken her to Greece, Spain and Argentina.

Kristina

Kristina Happ is looking at the benefits that whale watching can bring to the local community. She is a trained social worker; really interesetd in people. She will be our Mum for most of the time, making lunches and making sure we are happy.

Marina

Marina Gortz is from Sweden doing an MSc on the feeding ecology of humpback whales and the effect of fisheries on them.
In addition to the scientific team, we also get help from the Whale Safari staff who are all very helpful and knowledgeable.






There are six of us on this team as Earthwatch Volunteers. Three are from the USA and three from the UK.

Warren

Warren Stortroan is a veteran Earthwatcher from St Paul, Minnesota. He has been on 77 Earthwatch expeditions around the world and he is a great ambassador for the programme. On his way to Norway he participated in another project in the French Alps where he studied marmots.

Warren, like many people in Minnesota, is actually of Norwegian descent so he is especially interested in the local culture. He stoopped off in Oslo for a cultural visit on the way up.

Ann

Ann is from down-town Chicago and has almost been on as many trips as Warren. She is game for an adventure and has many a tale to tell.

Laura

Laura is from near Washington DC. This is her 7th expedition with Earthwatch. She has studied dolphins in Greece and elephants in Tsavo.

Eleanor

Eleanor is from South-west Wales where she lives almost on the beach. A lot of the wildlife we have seen here is familiar to her and she has been on several projects, particularly in Namibia.

Richard

Richard lives near London and he knows as much about whales as any-one here, having been on Earthwatch projects in British Columbia and Quebec, Galapagos and other whale-some hot-spots.

Team Brief

That just leaves me, Jim Stevenson from near Cambridge UK. It's my first Earthwatch trip, my first visit to Norway and hopefully, my first encounter with a sperm whale.