tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77772217370468468762024-02-07T09:34:19.042-08:00Trans-Atlantic Cetacean and Bird SurveyPaddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-84653240660566676092012-06-26T03:07:00.000-07:002012-06-26T03:07:22.705-07:00Survey finished!Sorry for the delay in finishing this for some reason I've been locked out of my blogger account.<br />
The last day despite having great weather was largely uneventful. Which was disappointing as we came in along the south west coast of Ireland to dock in Castletownbere.<br />
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Two far off blows early in the day were the only thing to report cetacean wise. Aside from a group of dolphins spotted by crew at four in the morning needless to say I was asleep for this. This was made even worse when I found out that Nick Massett was chasing Humpback whales around the Blasket Islands. I could see the Blaskets off in the distance as we came along the coast but too far off to see anything.<br />
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Bird wise is was busier that other days with plenty of Gannets around all day. Fulmars , Shearwaters and lesser and greater black backed gulls were all present during the day.<br />
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Word on the ground is that there will probably be a similar trip nest year so hopefully there will be plenty more to see then. Thanks for following the blog and i hope you enjoyed it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Office (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-20962637974585660912012-06-08T16:08:00.000-07:002012-06-08T16:08:58.653-07:00Nearly Home<br />
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<span lang="EN-IE">Today
started perfectly, light winds, small swell and plenty of sunshine. No sooner
had I got to the crows nest then a group of 8 pilot whales appeared just off
the starboard side of the ship. There were 6 adults and 2 calves in the group.
With my first sighting of the day coming so early I took it as a sign that it
was going to be a busy day sightings wise. I was wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">With the
weather almost perfect it was a pity there wasn’t more activity during the day.
The birds were present in slightly higher numbers than over the past few days.
A few Fulmars and Gannets circled the boat during the day. We also passed two
groups of Shearwaters and a lone Great Skua which was heading east shortly
after lunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">We were to
stop at the Marine Institutes M6 weather buoy to carry out some repairs just
after dinner. As the M6 weather buoy is located near the shelf edge it would
provide a good opportunity for sightings. As I was leaving the crows nest I
could see it in the distance and then saw a few blows well off but in the same
area. They disappeared as quickly as they had appeared and after 15 minutes I
could no longer see them so I ran down to the mess thinking I would be back up by
the time we got to the buoy. No sooner had I a plate in my hand than word came
down from the bridge that they could see blows again so I went back up to the
crows nest. What followed was a fantastic two hours of watching 6 Sperm whales
and 2 Fin whales feeding and swimming in the area of the buoy. It was great to spend so much time with them
while the crew were carrying out the repairs. It was hard to keep track of them
all as they keep disappearing in one area and then appearing off somewhere else.
We started off again once the repairs
were complete and I finally got my dinner that Jimmy had kept out. Thankfully!
Hopefully this was a sign of things to come as we make our way into
Castletownbere tomorrow evening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fin Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pilot Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-9404506422920835202012-06-07T14:38:00.001-07:002012-06-07T14:38:51.007-07:00Half way<br />
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<span lang="EN-IE">Finally no
more fog! However in its place was a gloomy grey sky and a very grey looking
ocean. Conditions weren’t bad for sightings with smaller swell and lighter
winds than in the past few days. We were also passing over the mid Atlantic
ridge so I was hopeful that there would be plenty of sightings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">I was wrong not a single cetacean sighting all day long. The birds weren’t much better I did see a small few Fulmars and Lesser Black-backed gulls and two Gannets one in the morning and one in the evening. It was disappointing considering the area we covered that there wasn’t more activity. And moving back into deep water (about 4000m) for tomorrow things weren’t looking good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gannet (Paddy O'Dwyer)</div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Conditions today were almost perfect sunny with light winds and low swell. It was the best day for sightings so far. But it starter poorly with no sign of birds or cetaceans anywhere. This continued for most of the day with fewer birds than yesterday. There only a few Fulmars, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls and one Gannett. The highlight of the day had been a yacht that sailed past us heading west.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yacht (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Just as I was beginning to pack up I spotted a blow ahead in the distance. I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was my imagination after two days with no sightings. Sure enough it appeared again and was coming towards the boat. Once it got close enough I could see that it was a sperm whale. This lifted my spirits and was followed shortly after three more sperm whales all swimming slowly west. And another one that the captain Denis just called me for just as I write this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sperm Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)</div>
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With the
weather to be similar tomorrow hopefully there’s plenty more to be seen. We
should be coming up on the Porcupine bank tomorrow evening this should present
a good opportunity for more sightings as we move onto the continental shelf.</div>
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<br /></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-61365124225383990242012-06-05T15:28:00.000-07:002012-06-05T15:28:40.647-07:00Part Deux: Return of the Observer.<br />
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<span lang="EN-IE">I should
have updated this sooner since I’ve been back on board since Saturday evening.
However bad weather has lead to poor sightings and little else to report. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">We left
St.Johns just after 5 on Saturday evening. Having only arrived on board at 4 I
only managed a few short hours of observing.
The conditions were poor with thick fog and rough seas. This resulted in
no cetacean sightings. I did manage to see a few birds but most left us after
we got further and further away from land. Fulmars, Gannets and a single great
Skua were the sum total as far as variety goes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">The
conditions Sunday morning were not much better. Rough seas and thick fog that
only eased off in order to give hope that it was lifting only to return stronger
shortly after. With visibility reduced to a kilometre or less for most of the
day I wasn’t very hopeful of seeing anything. To my surprise I did spot two
whales early on in the day and after consulting with a higher power they were
confirmed as Fin whales. This was followed up shortly after by another whale
which disappeared into the fog as quickly as it appeared prevent me getting an
id or an image. There were plenty of Fulmars around today and a few Shearwaters
but we didn’t encounter any other species. On a different note we did see an
ice berg just after lunch. It was much smaller than the one we saw on the first
leg but none the less still impressive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Fin Whale, Paddy O'Dwyer)</span>
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<span lang="EN-IE">After not
getting much sleep Sunday night due to very big swell and high winds, I was
relieved when the captain said it was too rough to go up to the crow’s nest.
Instead I was able to conduct my watch from the comfort of the bridge. Given
the terrible conditions all day it wasn’t a shock that I had only one cetacean
sighting, a blow not far from the boat. As for the birds Fulmars made their
predictable appearance along with a few gannets as well as some pomarine and
great Skuas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Conditions
today were better and I was able to return to the crow’s nest to do my watch.
Despite the occasional patch of fog it was a good day for sightings. There were
two cetacean sightings in the form of blows. The first encounter was of two
animals but they were too distant to confirm a species id. This event repeated
itself with a single animal a few hours later providing plenty of blows but too
far off for a proper species id. The trend of seeing less in terms of bird
numbers compared with the last trip continued. Still there were four different
species of birds encountered today Fulmars, Great Skuas, plenty of Longtailed
Skuas and a very lonely Gannett all on its own. We will be coming up on the mid
Atlantic ridge tomorrow evening so hopefully the weather is good and there will
be plenty to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">Longtailed Skua, Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-34469121150059190022012-05-12T12:07:00.002-07:002012-05-12T12:07:54.762-07:00Day 9<br />
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Our last morning started well with low swell and light winds
making it perfect for sightings. But we were definitely feeling the effect of
the cold Labrador Current even in our flotation suits. We were aware that Humpbacks migrate to this
area in great numbers but thought it might be a bit early yet. However Humpbacks
were visible all the way to St. Johns. We didn’t see any cetaceans other than
the Humpbacks. The Canadian scientists said that they were feeding on fish
called caplin. It was a fantastic way to end the first leg of the trip and
makes the start of the next leg look very promising. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Humpback (Enda McKeogh)</span></div>
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As we were quite close to the shore the numbers of birds
seemed to increase drastically. We encountered 7 different species today the Glaucous
gull, Herring gull, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Guillemots as well as a return from
the Gannets, and for the first time on the trip Puffins. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We pulled into St. Johns just after noon to complete what
was a really good trip. The weather over the whole trip was much better than we
expected. This led to us having lots of sightings of cetaceans as well as birds. We will
be back on the ship for the return leg starting on the 2<sup>nd</sup> of June.
We will continue this blog then and hopefully we will have plenty to report.<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Humpback (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></o:p></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-27365175520824386522012-05-07T17:46:00.001-07:002012-05-07T17:46:06.307-07:00Day 8 Iceberg’s ahead.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">This morning as we were going up to the crows nest we were
told to keep an eye out for icebergs and growlers. Growlers are bits that have
broken off the main iceberg and can be more dangerous as they are not picked up
by radar. The conditions were good for spotting the icebergs with low swell and
light winds making it easy to spot anything on the surface. The problem was the
fact that it was very hazy and our visibility was limited to a few kilometres.
Sure enough shortly after starting we got a call to say that an iceberg had
been picked up on the radar. Not long after we could see it through the haze
and it was big! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJt6RmeznqSFbniqv9EA_qBwyS-WnTayC2NAKZp0CEZZBW92qfOqg6jwYFAb3nY7tcPvtIA4RsD9yNImwC5_GtRhPIFGuoIVscsY8UQeac36gC_KTTT0K_lTbTPa7fWR_aoPxZQtnpWAJy/s1600/IMG_5973+%25282%2529+%2528800x495%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJt6RmeznqSFbniqv9EA_qBwyS-WnTayC2NAKZp0CEZZBW92qfOqg6jwYFAb3nY7tcPvtIA4RsD9yNImwC5_GtRhPIFGuoIVscsY8UQeac36gC_KTTT0K_lTbTPa7fWR_aoPxZQtnpWAJy/s320/IMG_5973+%25282%2529+%2528800x495%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">You bring the jack and coke, we'll bring the ice (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE"> Despite
spending most of the day looking ahead of the ship we did manage to record a
few sightings. On three separate occasions we spotted blows but they were too
distant for a proper species id. Enda did manage to capture an image with his
new shooting from the hip method of photography. I must admit that over the
last few days this technique seems to be working very well. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">Numbers
wise it was a quiet on the bird front today. But we still had 6 different
species Kittiwake, Manx Shearwater, Pomarine Skua, Long Tailed Skua, Herring Gull and our old
friends the Fulmars. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWqRyUEmg32AuFoGGcW9lxe_fnzJClcFYeP8zH4qta7_5QonkOZyaOI57BcxsrgEgQiAT0Z8G6kl5N-ev3AU2ej1aismBWW6IdBmC851uM28YbTnrfXknDJf7zr2CaxBazAs_AJjE-9kj/s1600/IMG_5204+%2528800x682%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWqRyUEmg32AuFoGGcW9lxe_fnzJClcFYeP8zH4qta7_5QonkOZyaOI57BcxsrgEgQiAT0Z8G6kl5N-ev3AU2ej1aismBWW6IdBmC851uM28YbTnrfXknDJf7zr2CaxBazAs_AJjE-9kj/s320/IMG_5204+%2528800x682%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Long Tailed Skua (Enda McKeogh)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">We should
be in St. Johns
shortly after midday tomorrow all going well so it will be our last day of
sightings. Hopefully it will be full of cetaceans, birds and a few icebergs at
a distance.</span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-79812370166671355692012-05-07T17:40:00.003-07:002012-05-07T17:40:34.822-07:00Day 7<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">The
weather today was worse for sightings than it has been. Despite our best
efforts we didn’t see and cetaceans during the day. We have been spoiled so far
on the trip, so one day without sightings isn’t the end of the world. But
hopefully it will be just the one day. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Skkui5SPuE05ums_W6SS9nx2-zEDWUnAfbr83ExFm8roVq4NvIj372nNxETvJ5s0ACPSvDpmY5R1o-COjnlg_v6305yehikPEOfqA_i_XMyyFiOG9mMD_f_hpSHIiqQBS6ezgNHzWJ_g/s1600/IMG_5725+%282%29+%28800x534%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Skkui5SPuE05ums_W6SS9nx2-zEDWUnAfbr83ExFm8roVq4NvIj372nNxETvJ5s0ACPSvDpmY5R1o-COjnlg_v6305yehikPEOfqA_i_XMyyFiOG9mMD_f_hpSHIiqQBS6ezgNHzWJ_g/s320/IMG_5725+%282%29+%28800x534%29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-IE"> After a
long day of no cetacean sightings Enda wasn’t quite feeling like himself.
(Steven Seagull) </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">In the
absence of cetaceans the birds received plenty of attention which wasn’t hard
considering they were following us for most of the day as the crew were
fishing. This paid off with us adding a new species to our list bringing the
total number of bird species encountered to 13. The new species was the Herring
Gull, the other species we saw today were Long Tailed Skua, Pomarine Skua and
the ever present Fulmars. <span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWqRyUEmg32AuFoGGcW9lxe_fnzJClcFYeP8zH4qta7_5QonkOZyaOI57BcxsrgEgQiAT0Z8G6kl5N-ev3AU2ej1aismBWW6IdBmC851uM28YbTnrfXknDJf7zr2CaxBazAs_AJjE-9kj/s1600/IMG_5204+%28800x682%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWqRyUEmg32AuFoGGcW9lxe_fnzJClcFYeP8zH4qta7_5QonkOZyaOI57BcxsrgEgQiAT0Z8G6kl5N-ev3AU2ej1aismBWW6IdBmC851uM28YbTnrfXknDJf7zr2CaxBazAs_AJjE-9kj/s320/IMG_5204+%28800x682%29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Long Tailed Skua (Enda McKeogh)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">Hopefully
tomorrow the sighting conditions will improve and we will see plenty more
cetaceans and birds. </span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-45553295442436503642012-05-06T15:17:00.000-07:002012-05-06T15:17:26.989-07:00Day 6<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">What a
difference a day makes. In the last 24hrs the water temperature has plummeted
from 15 to 4<sup>0</sup>C and the depth went from 4000m to 200m as we moved out
of the North Atlantic Drift and into the Labrador Current over the Flemish cap.
After being spoiled with sightings over the last few days things quietened
today with only two cetacean sightings and even then they were just blows in
the distance so we could not confirm a species id. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBc6If0tt48JPi9STf5fFhmrwcBk6x4YJg9xWipBcwR3FL5hZ0guVnBBmtHh0nuMhZNdEp52NwR8CwNAg3pXiJDHfk1O2UVlRhbYtr8up_6P_-twjPAePd_MLTlkP8S7m4p9ZW4Wb3aNB/s1600/IMG_4605+%282%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBc6If0tt48JPi9STf5fFhmrwcBk6x4YJg9xWipBcwR3FL5hZ0guVnBBmtHh0nuMhZNdEp52NwR8CwNAg3pXiJDHfk1O2UVlRhbYtr8up_6P_-twjPAePd_MLTlkP8S7m4p9ZW4Wb3aNB/s1600/IMG_4605+%282%29.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Whale Blow (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">The birds
kept us busy for the morning with all three Skua species we have encountered
making an appearance Great Skua, Pomarine Skua and Long Tailed Skuas. There
were again high numbers of Pomarine and Longtails. We also had Manx Shearwaters
and a Tern species which was too far away for us to identify to species level.
The ever present Fulmars were around in great numbers and as if they knew we
were going to begin fishing, were hanging around the boat for most of the day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSz9w7npuX0jFj0bv13oXweo-PahKpNdHbaSMdvig1UoSwqSq2l2MAr0MauTPgT3lkIL-9FOmbLTJKPRnWfrWafbzdCxcUVL-Kpr2J6kV0L9JydsX-iIMnvGFBk7OvbRaxDfo9wgtegr4i/s1600/G.+Skua.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSz9w7npuX0jFj0bv13oXweo-PahKpNdHbaSMdvig1UoSwqSq2l2MAr0MauTPgT3lkIL-9FOmbLTJKPRnWfrWafbzdCxcUVL-Kpr2J6kV0L9JydsX-iIMnvGFBk7OvbRaxDfo9wgtegr4i/s320/G.+Skua.JPG" width="285" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Great Skua (Enda McKeogh)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">In addition
to looking for birds and cetaceans we are also on the lookout for icebergs
after reports from Canada informing us that they will be present along the rest
of our journey to St. Johns. </span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-82955087411472524622012-05-06T15:07:00.002-07:002012-05-06T15:07:25.804-07:00Day 5<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">Today, like
yesterday presented us with ideal conditions for sightings with small swell and
light winds. Needless to say after a good day of sightings yesterday we were
expecting another good day today. Our first sighting was of a group of 8 Pilot
Whales. Seeing these has fast become a daily occurrence. However as we looked
back over the photographs we had taken of the group we saw that there was at
least one Bottlenose Dolphin in the group. Things then died down for a few
hours until a blow was spotted about a kilometre off on the port side the
animal only blew a few times before disappearing into the deep. Things really
kicked off after dinner with 5 separate whale sightings with a total of 9
animals. This included at least 1 sperm whale which happily fluked for us when
deep diving allowing us to get a photo. <span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOCv6e9ZBTrmY8paCYLAguONoLd5uvzKyAUoyPj4nxdQzoZCFZftwxGSEBRY-DJhyphenhyphentQCbHiMFSXZYpKCsC3L2tlFbUQBRadJvfbdCNhnKeLY2T0OP1wv04VZbjgZ2we0iWJOV0TucHLR0/s1600/IMG_4581+%282%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOCv6e9ZBTrmY8paCYLAguONoLd5uvzKyAUoyPj4nxdQzoZCFZftwxGSEBRY-DJhyphenhyphentQCbHiMFSXZYpKCsC3L2tlFbUQBRadJvfbdCNhnKeLY2T0OP1wv04VZbjgZ2we0iWJOV0TucHLR0/s320/IMG_4581+%282%29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Sperm Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE"><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">During this
time there was another group of 6 pilot whales which we photographed, and a
group of 5 small cetaceans which were not willing to show themselves for a few
pictures. The other sightings are proving more difficult to identify. The photo
below gives a glimpse of 1 of the animals, if anyone has any thoughts on a
species ID we would be happy to hear them.<span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWiMHZe8y7LWGp7ihBdMIGKBSXFkXaaUeaemMsMlH9UiKqRHdytUdR6U1Yrl0rhAHs5f4JnMfarfaOz-KwqOyU6fgvSroFfmLEBhrthAQqZIKuclSZbvoL5fpMCtMDkne_aSp9Y1qaMkM/s1600/IMG_4658+%282%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWiMHZe8y7LWGp7ihBdMIGKBSXFkXaaUeaemMsMlH9UiKqRHdytUdR6U1Yrl0rhAHs5f4JnMfarfaOz-KwqOyU6fgvSroFfmLEBhrthAQqZIKuclSZbvoL5fpMCtMDkne_aSp9Y1qaMkM/s320/IMG_4658+%282%29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"><span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">As yet unknown (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE"><span>
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">For a while
it seemed that all we had to do was look anywhere in the water and we would see
something. The large numbers of sightings in the evening corresponded with an
aggregation near the surface which was picked up by the echo sounder. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CT_AZYCp4QxX0UTOK8iczv1i8aUfActg3MtefUwGF7A9ckVxeoSrP7lTHKiH8vuaI-2BMCQZb-fJCiolxkwv4pXS33-nux0kvlIiEJT7AdgrEH7sMiqne2fs-3WvFKtVtZcpd7vtlqXc/s1600/screengrab.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CT_AZYCp4QxX0UTOK8iczv1i8aUfActg3MtefUwGF7A9ckVxeoSrP7lTHKiH8vuaI-2BMCQZb-fJCiolxkwv4pXS33-nux0kvlIiEJT7AdgrEH7sMiqne2fs-3WvFKtVtZcpd7vtlqXc/s320/screengrab.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-IE"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Surface aggregation hard to see. Thanks Brain (Canadian Marine Institute)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">While the
cetaceans were putting on their best showing so far the birds were more elusive
and stayed clear of the boat making them difficult to identify. Even though
numbers were down on yesterday there were still plenty of birds around
including Great Skua, Pomarine Skua, Long tailed Skua, Fulmars and Manx
Shearwater. <span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="color: black;">So
here’s hoping for a similar day tomorrow with plenty of chances to see more
birds and cetaceans. </span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-80376378997849951812012-05-04T08:39:00.001-07:002012-05-04T08:48:29.879-07:00Day 4 : What the Flock!<br />
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<span lang="EN-IE">Today was
by far the best day for sightings that we have had yet the swell had decreased
further overnight and the wind had eased off. The improved conditions lead to
almost instant results when shortly after beginning our watch we spotted a blow
off in the distance. This lifted our mood instantly because it was the first
blow we have seen so far on the trip, unfortunately it was too far off for us
to id the whale. Things then got very quiet till we encountered a small group
of about 8 pilot whales just off the port side as with the other two groups we
managed to capture pictures of these as well. Then as the evening wore on and
we began to talk about how perfect the conditions were we were rewarded with
some more blows, first off to our starboard side and then far off on the port
side. As we looked for further signs of these animals two more appeared much
closer to the boat. Enda was quick to grab the camera and captured a few
photographs of the whales<span style="color: red;">.</span> As the excitement
died down and we began to think about dinner, another blow appeared off the bow
of the boat. This was to be the final activity from the cetaceans for the day.
After consulting with our esteemed colleagues the whales were identified as Northern
Bottlenose Whales.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Northern Bottlenose Whales (Enda McKeogh)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">It wasn’t
all whales today as we have added two more bird species to our list bringing it
to 11. The day had started quietly with no activity in the air but this picked
up as the day progressed and culminated in a large group of Pomarine Skuas as
well as our new arrivals Long Tailed Skuas. The Long Tailed Skuas made a big
impression with well over 150 of them passing us throughout the evening
consisting of three large groups of 30-50 individuals and stragglers. All were
headed east and seemed to be on a mission. The other bird sightings today were
a few Great Skuas and a scattering of Fulmars, the odd Shearwater species and 2
groups of Tern species with up to 50 individuals each during the day. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Long Tailed Skua (Enda McKeogh)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE">Then just
as we were packing up John Cunningham one of the crew spotted a large sun fish
passing by in the water it was a nice end to an exciting day. Hopefully the
weather stays the same and we see plenty more tomorrow.</span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-88840993355734677362012-05-03T06:24:00.000-07:002012-05-04T08:33:01.576-07:00Day 3<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE">The clouds
returned today which was probably just as well since I managed to get sun
burned yesterday. The weather is improving all the time with the wind dying and
the swell decreasing leading to better sighting conditions. Pilot whales were
again flying the flag for cetaceans with a group of 16 appearing early in the
day. Enda secured some good images of the group which was mostly adults with
one juvenile. Things have gotten very quiet on the bird front with very few
numbers seen today. We can add another to our list though after spotting a P</span><span lang="EN-US">omarine Skua<span style="color: red;"> </span>which brings the bird
species count to 9. The other species we saw today were Fulmar, Gannet,
Kittiwake, Manx Shearwater and Lesser Black Backed Gull. The crew conducted a
trawl today to test the gear, it went quite deep and despite not catching much
(a quarter of a bucket) it contained all manner of unusual species from the
deep. We will be crossing the mid-Atlantic ridge during the night and with the
weather conditions improving all the time hopefully there will be plenty to see
tomorrow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Monsters from the deep (Enda McKeogh)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Monsters from the deep (Enda McKeogh)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pilot Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Acoustic profile of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge its hard to see but the numbers on the left indicate a 1000m depts (Dr. Jon Fisher)</span></div>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-20812164488334227342012-05-02T03:38:00.000-07:002012-05-02T03:38:40.598-07:00Day 1&2<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE"><b>Day 1:</b> The
first day began with us conducting our sightings from the bridge, weather
conditions were not ideal with sea state
6 for the day making it hard to observe cetaceans. However with assistance from
the crew we did manage to see 3 common dolphins in the afternoon. Things on the
bird front were better with 8 different species through the day Fulmars, Gannets,
Kittiwakes, Great Skuas, Great Black Backed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Guillemots
and a couple of Manx Shearwaters. We have moved off the continental shelf edge
and are currently in waters that are three to four kilometres deep. The bacon and cabbage dinner more than made
up for a quiet day on the sightings front. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"><b>Day 2:</b>
Unfortunately the sea state didn’t improve over night but we were treated to
nice blue skies for the day and were able to conduct our sightings from the
crow’s nest. Again we only saw only one cetacean species today, a group of 10
pilot whales that we encountered shortly after lunch. We managed to take some
pictures including a few fin shots that may be used for photo-id. The birds
managed to keep us busy again but were noticeably fewer in number than
yesterday we had 6 species Fulmars, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Great Skuas, Lesser
Black Backed Gull and Manx Shearwaters. We have our fingers crossed that the
sea state will improve over the few days and give us better opportunities for
spotting cetaceans. Failing that I’m sure the birds will still keep us entertained.
The internet is pretty hit and miss at the moment but we’ll try and keep you up
to date when we can. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-IE">Lesser
Black Backed Gull (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Pilot Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span>Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777221737046846876.post-51430749238349081652012-05-01T15:35:00.000-07:002012-05-01T15:35:16.987-07:00Trans-Atlantic BlogThe R.V. Celtic Explorer departs Galway tonight for a trip across the Atlantic to St. Johns in Newfoundland Canada conduct cod surveys for the Canada Marine Institute. A collaboration between the Irish Marine Institute and the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology will see Enda McKeogh and Paddy O'Dwyer (GMIT IWDG) joining the cruise to record marine mammals and bird sightings. We will also be on board for the return leg of the journey in June.<br />
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This trip provides an excellent opportunity to observe and record marine mammals in areas where there has not been much survey effort. <span style="color: black;">We will be covering a large
area with many different habitats including shelfedge,
mid-ocean fracture, sea mounts and vast abyssal plains.</span> This follows on from the same trip last year when Conor Ryan, Alessandro Pierini and Emily Wilson joined the cruise and returned with very valuable sound recordings and sightings data even though they faced harsh weather conditions on their trip. At the moment the weather looks favourable for us with easterly winds forecast for the next few days. This trip is expected to last 7 or 8 days depending on the weater we encounter so fingers crossed the weather gods will be our side!<br />
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In addition to surveying we will be deploying XBT's and XCTD's which will record water temperature and salinity profiles across the Atlantic this information is being recorded for use by the Irish Marine Institute. <br />
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We will try to update this blog as often as possible to keep everyone up to date on the sightings we encounter during the trip. Hopefully the weather will be good and we will have plenty of bird and marine mammal sightings to report. <br />
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<br />Paddy O Dwyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119425405812700009noreply@blogger.com0