Team 1, 2008 - Reed Elsevier

I have been "volunteered" to write a summary of "Team 1, 2008" for the new CRRU blog, but I am not sure I know where to start!

Maria from the Sound of Music would admonish me to "start from the very beginning..." but if you want a blow by blow description of what went on jump over to the team blog at http://dolphinwatch2008.blogspot.com/.

Suffice to say, on Saturday the 31st May 2008 I and seven strangers, albeit colleagues, from different parts of Reed Elsevier (a global science, legal and business publishing company) joined the CRRU in Gardenstown, near Banff, Scotland to begin our Earthwatch expedition "The Whales and Dolphins of the Moray Firth".

So, since I have chosen to eschew the chronological, I shall instead endeavour to provide a "top ten" guide which will hopefully whet the appetites of future teams!

#1 has to be the cetaceans themselves - the excitement you feel when someone yells "BLOW! That way about 150 yards", and how you all nearly leap out of the boat as you turn around to try and look where they are pointing, is only matched by what you feel when you actually get close enough to observe the animals and their behaviour. Each is different - the playfulness of the bottlenose, the majesty of the minke and the damned elusiveness of the harbour porpoise all entrance you in their own way.

#2 has to be the OTHER animals - the bird life is fantastic (puffins being a personal favourite) and bird watching definitely fills in some long hours whilst you wait for the #1's to appear. Plus Gardenstown is a dog lovers heaven - everyone seems to have two or more dogs I swear - except for the CRRU which is ruled by the felines Pebbles and intermittently Cassie Cat ("Oh, Cassie!").

#3 is the CRRU team. For us, that was "Big Kevva" aka "Dr. Robinson" aka "Kev", Dale "Crash Test Dummy" Edmonson, Pine "Super Girl" Eisfeld and Andreas "The Penguin Whisperer" Fahlman. Their passion (and that word is chosen very specifically) for the marine mammals of the Moray Firth is only matched by their passion for sharing that passion with the visiting teams so that everyone has a chance to get passionate about cetaceans, marine conservation and the environment in general. It's all very passionate, really!

#4 is Gardenstown itself. G-town is a special place, with its own time zone ("Gardenstown Other Time"or "GOT") and I swear it has its own micro-climate too. When you look back from the boats to the shore and everywhere else is clouded over except for a single shaft of bright sunshine hitting Gardenstown you have to wonder if having a 7 to 1 Church to Pub ratio really does give them an inside edge with the man (or woman!) upstairs!

#5 is the "woolly bears" (one piece polar fleece romper suits for adults) and the dry suits... after the first time you've managed to get all the gear on, and one person did describe trying to shove their head through the neck seal of a dry suit as "like being born again, only with even less dignity", you will have laughed yourself silly and started to bond with your fellow team-mates due to said shared indignity. All being dressed up like red Teletubbies is definitely a great team building exercise, that's for sure! Which segues very nicely into...

#6 is your team! By virtue of choosing to go on an Earthwatch expedition "self-selection" almost certainly ensures that you will be accompanied by a bunch of fun, intelligent and interesting people who are keen to get the most out of their Expedition - either out on the water or back on dry land in the house (or the pub). We certainly had a fantastic team where everyone pitched in to help with all the chores, from making the sandwiches in the morning, preparing the boats, driving the boats(!), cooking dinner or getting the next round of drinks. Like any team activity you get out of it what you put into so my advice is to just "Go for it" - I certainly found that the whole Expedition engendered a certain "child-like" (in a good way) "sense of wonder" about everything that was going on around us and that translated into an energy & desire to be friendly, trusting and open to new experiences. Which are all great ingredients in forming a great team, even when your team's diversity encompasses males and females, different nationalities (English, Aussie, American and Italian in our case) ranging in age from 25 to 55 and even includes some non-human cybernetic organisms!!!

#7 is evenings back in the house and the pub. We had a lot of fun. A lot... of very, very silly fun - you can check out the "Dr Robinson song", "The Penguin Dance" and our meeting with "Elvis" as evidence of that... or ask Soo how she came to be wearing Andreas's boxer shorts on her head... If I had remembered to take a picture of the overflowing glass recycling bins the observant amongst you might have been able to deduce one of the sources of said frivolity. If you ever meet someone from Team 1 2008 please buy them a Bacardi and Coke from me... enough said :-)

#8 is Orca II and Ketos, the RHIB (rigid hulled inflatables boats) what you spend your days zooming (or more accurately "puttering") around in. Tips for young players - don't sit up the front when either (a) I am driving (b) the sea state is above 3 or (worst case) (c) both at once (sorry about that Rich & Ellie!). They are a lot of fun to drive so don't be backward in coming forward when you get your chance! Overall they are great boats, very stable and reasonably comfortable EXCEPT for the lack of any sanitation facilities. Tip for young players #2 - watch your fluid intake because you are at LEAST 30 mins plus away from any chance of going to the bathroom. And even the professionals can suffer "stage fright" when caught short several miles offshore and are reduced to having a (not so-) quick pee off the bow (not mentioning any names, of course, but I bet that never happened to Abba during a concert...).

#9 are the lectures back at the CRRU base. Whether it be MIPDANIO, knot tying, cetacean identification, the different between neap and spring tides or Andreas (you remember him, he's the Swedish/Canadian "Penguin Whisperer") explaining exactly how to get penguins to run on treadmills or how "the energetics of marine mammals" can actually have a direct relationship to conservation planning (hint: it's all about how far you can afford to roam to get food!) you will definitely learn heaps... if you are not too sleep deprived or hungover (see point #7).

#10 is, for me, the synergy and synthesis of all of the above - "taking time to stop and smell the roses". G-town, the CRRU gang, the wildlife, my team mates, the active days, the entertaining evenings, learning new skills and knowledge etc etc... taking the time out from our busy lives to experience these great things (all the things that make life worth living next to our family lives) - that for me was the best lesson of the expedition.

And I, for one, will be heeding that lesson about putting a passion for nature, learning, friends and fun much more centrally in my life from now on.

Work is always there, life isn't.

Steve