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!

Ferry Trip

The ideal ways to monitor whales is from small manoeuvrable boats but this is not always possible, especially in the kind of weather we have seen this week.

There is a car ferry that runs several times a day to Grynnfjord across a channel that is over 300m deep. This is not really deep enough for sperm whales, but does attract other species such as killer whales and humpbacks. In a southerly blow the route is sheltered by Andoya and so it is possible to look for whales away from the exposed, deep-water canyon.

The ferry provides a high, stable platform to work from but will not diverge from its course to see whales so that they can be photographed for identification purposes. What you can do is make a transect, which is a standardised sampling technique for a repeatable route over a fixed time, using the same amount of observer effort each time.

Our job was for two observers at a time to scan the sea to the horizon on either side of the ship. Any sightings are recorded on a digital voice recorder so that we can transcribe them later onto a spreadsheet.

The ferry company is very co-operative and they allow the watchers to be on the ship's bridge for the duration of the voyage once we have left harbour. They also allow us free passage. The skipper and first mate were friendly and we were really comfortable inside the wheel-house, though spray made viewing difficult.

We did not see any whales, but we found a small school of porpoises as we entered the fjord.

For me, being in the wheelhouse and seeing the craggy Norwegian mountains approach was a good enough reason to be out there. I also managed to see quite a few seabirds including gannets, puffins, black guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, and kittiwakes, but the highlight for me was to watch arctic skuas robbing the kittiwakes of their fish. A great skua flew past  in a straight flight, just passing through.

I had been told to look out for white-tailed eagles in the fjord, but I saw none. never mind; we will be back, especially if we get more rough days.

Unfortunately, Monday was even rougher than Sunday, with gale force winds so that even the ferry was cancelled. This was a day for data entry.

Museum

Sundays weather was too rough for the whale-watch boats so we had an extended visit to the whale museum.

We joined 80 people for the tour, which seems a lot. Normally, I would run a mile from such an event but we were soon split into smaller groups according to language.

Our guide Ronny was a model for any teacher. He used visual aids and clear, concise English to get across many aspects of sperm whale biology, making good use of the exhibits. It would not be nearly so useful to walk around on your own.

The most fascinating aspect of sperm whale biology is their adaptation to their unique lifestyle; in particular their sonar system which completely governs the front end of the animal. The skull is modified to become a loud-speaker and to support the huge sausage-like amplifier in front.

Group Photo

The group assembled for supper after a long day in boats, in training and up the lighthouse. This provided an opportunity for a group photo. Perhaps we will take another picture outdoors, when it stops raining.

Earthwatch/Whalewatch at Andenes, July 2013

This photo appeared along with an article in the local paper.

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.

Tromsø

10:30 at night.

It is eleven thirty at night in Tromsø and the sun is shining brighter than it has all day. I'm eating reindeer salami from the local co-op, washed down with apple juice because eating out is outrageously expensive. A burger costs £18 to £20 and a beer costs £8. But let's not quibble; I have had the most amazing evening.

My first sight of Norway was at mid-day, just south of Oslo, when we came in from the south. From above everything gets flattened out but I had an impression of pine woods with lakes and some dairy farms. As we circled to land it became obvious that southern Norway is really quite hilly. It reminded me very strongly of Minnesota with red farms sitting down there in the woods. That's no accident of course: Minnesota was largely settled by Norwegians who brought their architecture and cheese with them.

As you fly north out of Oslo more forests and lakes appear. I could pick out blueberry meadows and likely looking fishing rivers. There is quite a lot of forestry too, but the trees quickly start to thin out as bare, glaciated rocks start to dominate. Hard ridges and striations are etched out in white where snow still lies, even in July.

Beyond that, most of Norway lay under the Great Norwegian Cloud for the afternoon and it was quite nerve-racking to be approaching Tromsø with the wheels down but with no sign of the ground. However, we slunk down a valley and dropped straight on to the grey, wet runway. The plane came to a stop outside the rain-lashed terminal and there was absolute silence on board. Despite most of the passengers being Norwegian, I  guessed that they were thinking the same as me. "When is the next flight back to Oslo?"



Given that this was to be my only day in Tromsø, it seemed like a good idea to ignore the rain and get out and explore the area on foot. My eyes soon grew accustomed to the greyness and the temperature was comfortable as I strolled past the shops, the wooden houses and the church on my way to the harbour. Arctic terns streamed overhead constantly and little flotillas of eider ducks swam past. I even saw three red-throated divers flying over the port.

I started to spot familiar plants growing around the houses and on the verges of the roads. Most of the plants were ones that I last saw in Scotland but there were some surprises. Giant hogweed is very common in the town and has become a kind of corporate symbol. It's not native though. In fact, there are quite a lot of non-native plants such as lupins and other North American species. With the rain, the mountains, the sea and the wooden houses it could be the Pacific North West. Think of the "Twilight Saga" which is set in Washington State around towns such as Forks and Port Angelus. I guess Vancouver would be even more like it or Spielberg's California as portrayed in "The Goonies".

The botanical gardens are part of the University Campus, about 5 Km out of town. People only seemed to have a vague idea where it was and I walked past it twice before being put right. I dropped down into it by following the geology trail through some birch and willow woods. Arctic (or alpine) plants were growing naturally everywhere. I even found a sphagnum bog with cotton grass, sundew, cloudberries and blue-berries growing. Rocky outcrops had cranes-bills and dwarf cornels growing on them while the wetter bits had orchids, pink valerian, ladies mantle and meadow-sweet. My star find was grass of Parnassus which was my grandmother's favourite plant.

In that little bit of Arctic woodland I saw and heard two emblematic northern birds; fieldfares and redwings. I also saw willow warblers, green finches and great tits, but hooded crows and magpies were the most vocal.

I walked back towards town on the harbour road where common gulls dive-bombed me to keep me away from their chicks. White wagtails and house sparrows called from factory roofs and a pair of ravens had their home atop a water tower. Not a bad list for town, is it?

If you qwould like to see a slideshow of my Tromsø photos, click here.

Dread thoughts

I'm seriously losing sleep now. Getting to Gatwick on Friday at the crack of dawn means leaving home on the first train of the day at four something. Then there's the logistics of seeing Tromso in a single evening. Can I fit in all the stuff I want to do?

I talked to Trevor Gunton who is an old Arctic hand, and he told me that the botanical gardens are the best bit. 'Breeding bramblings and other birds in trees that are as far north as trees go'. He also told me two more important facts: there is no admission charge and they are open 24/7.

The other place I want to go is up the cable car to the top of the mountain that overlooks the town. Midnight would be good. The car runs until 1 am in July. That gives me a very long day, but my adrenalin will keep me going, I hope.

The weather is another concern, but it looks like Friday will be much the same as here; a chance of a shower but sunshine with a temperature of 21 deg C.

After that, there are so many unknowns, such as "What birds are on the nearby ponds at Andenes?" There might be phalaropes, divers, waders and whatever. I will just have to go and find out.

The picture above is one made by my son Nick when he was a student. This could be me (OK, not with a proper beard) if we got swept away into the North Atlantic and had to eat raw fish to survive. It hangs on the wall in my bedroom, which is why it is engraved in my sub-conscious. I might buy a yellow, oilskin Sou-wester hat.

We have been asked to bring our favourite recipe to cook for the team. Mine is Indonesian Nasi Goreng, but can I get the ingredients in Norway? I've packed the spices and ketjup on the assumption I can get meat and prawns, onions and leeks at the co-op.

Got to pack! Cheers for now.