Data Entry

Today we have data entry. It sounds boring, but it's not dull when it's about sperm whales. It might be the nearest I ever get to one.

We worked in two groups:
One group transcribed the logs of whale sightings from the voice recorders into an Excel spreadsheet. A good observer can give alot of concise data in a brief message. We at least need the GPS location and time, the species seen and a description of the sighting, such as what the whale was doing. Using this data in the long, dark, Norwegian winter they will be able to plot the movements of whales in the Andenes area. Mostly they will be male sperm whales, but we transcribed records of porpoises and a minke whale.


The second group worked on the photographic library to organise pictures of sperm whale's flukes and dorsal fins. Currently there are over 30 individual whales active in the library, which is not too many to compare your shots with.

We also saw footage of an ideal day at Andenes, with good visibility, calm water and a lot of whales. You can see this on You-Tube at Whale Trip. It was taken in the winter when the sperm whales are joined by killer whales and humpbacks that seem to be following the herring.

I was told that, when the herring are in, the pubs fill with fishermen from Norway, Russia and Estonia. On the night we popped in, the only customer popped out as soon as he saw us!