Porpoises, dolphins and whales, oh my!

What an amazing first three days of surveying we have had! Let me start by introducing my-self. My name is Gena and I am working with Kevin over the summer as a research assistant. During my first two weeks in Gardenstown, despite daily watches from the shore, I had not seen a thing, and I was subsequently beginning to think Kevin had lured me all the way from Australia with false accusations of an abundance of wildlife in the Moray Firth. However, the first night the volunteers arrived we spotted a pod of dolphins from the shore travelling west. “Wow” I thought “There really are dolphins here!” This was a great sign for the following day!

On the first day of surveying we found the pod of bottlenose dolphins we had seen from shore the previous night. It was a difficult group to study, as the animals were very spread out, but we managed to identify 20 individuals including 5 calves. However, we estimated 30+ individuals in the pod.

On the second day we encountered 3 minke whales on our first off-shore survey route. The most extraordinary encounter happened after lunch when a ‘friendly’ minke found us! This particular whale seemed really interested in us, and after a short while of sampling the animal's behaviour, we realised that we were not conducting any sort of focal follow ourselves as the young whale was clearly following US! This turned into a great opportunity to try an attempt at a suction tag attachment. So there was a big rush to get the tagging device set up - absolute mayhem on a small boat with people spotting for the whale, someone trying to drive, someone trying to photograph the animal, AND trying to set up the tagging device and pole as well! We didn’t end up getting close enough in the end, even despite our attempts to speak in whale (Finding Nemo style), which seemed to work in the beginning.

On the third day we started on an inshore dolphin survey route to try to find the same group incompletely recorded earlier in the week. We found them on a zero seastate ocean in Cullen Bay, and witnessed some remarkable social behaviour with the calves being babysat by a young adult whilst their mothers hunted further out to sea. The calves were very confident with us and joined us repeatedly for a ride on the bow of the boat. This time we managed to record everybody in the group and were pleased to see all 6 of our newborn calves from 2009 and survived their first winter in the North Sea.




After lunch, we headed offshore again to look for more minke whales, and not only did we find them, but we also met another very friendly, curious whale. After several close pass by's, we were amazed to witness this magnificent animal put on an amazing display of no less than 6 full breaches right in front of our boat of which we managed to record some fantastic shots. For the rest of the day we were all in awe of the amazing experienced we had shared together.

Stay tuned for another exciting instalment from the CRRU team in the Moray Firth soon...personally, I can't wait for more!!!

Didn't we have a lovely time!

Finally, back in the UK and on my way up to Scotland after our very exciting time with the Pink Dolphins of Trang. Still working on the datasets, but during our time on the project we logged a total of 10 encounters and an impressive 900 km's of boat survey effort!






















Group sizes were found to range from 2 to 16 animals, with a mean school size of 5.5. Approximately 85% of the animals encountered were recognisable, and at present we are at 36 identifiable individuals from a cumulative total of 55 animals.

More to follow soon, and a paper to boot too, but in the meantime I would like to express my personal thanks to everybody who made this project possible - to the Nature Resort in Haad Yao, Kanjana and colleagues from the Phuket Marine Biological Center, Thanida and Nantarika from Chulalongkorn Unversity, Bangkok, and to the 2010 team Olivia, Brenda, Hayley, Anton, Calvin, Becky, Alex, Na, Mek, our captain Ban Bow and Lindsey and Kat in absentia. Thank you everyone for making this time so successful and memorable! In haste, Kev

Last days in Trang...

Can't believe we are already at the end of our 2 week pilot study. This afternoon we head out to sea for our very last boat survey, but we have had an exceptional time with dolphins and dugongs galore. Working on data this morning, so full stats to follow, but just a quick line to say thank you to all the team here for your very hard work and support its been an unforgettable experience!!! K

Radar vision!

thanks for all the posts guys - awesome!

I still haven't met anyone who can beat Kev's long distance radar mammal spotting vision!

Pine and I radioed a sea turtle sighting once - turned out to be a seal, never lived it down!

Thank you to all of you for volunteering and getting this project off the ground - Keep blogging!

Hi from Olivia!

After the excitement of yesterday, we set off in the morning with high expectations. It was also Alex’s last day and we had gathered up 2 more volunteers to help out – a Hungarian couple staying at the resort – so we really wanted another good showing from the dolphins. We started eagerly but by the time we stopped for lunch we had seen nothing, not even the swirling splash of a dugong, and we were beginning to worry we would have our first day with no sightings. After lunch we experienced our first storm at sea, watching it approach from the distance and pass quickly overhead. We were close to giving up on the dolphins and had started heading for home when suddenly Kevin spotted a promising silhouette in the distance. Sure enough, at the last minute, we had another group of dolphins! A sense of excitement spread throughout the boat and soon the boatman drew alongside them and we were all playing ‘count the dolphins’ – a surprisingly difficult game even with the relatively small numbers we’re finding here. We eventually agreed on eight; 4 adults, 1 sub-adult and 3 calves. We stayed with them for some time and, for the first time, the sea was clear enough to see them beneath the water. They were close to the shore and watching them breaching through the clear water with the sandy beach in the background was a truly beautiful and thrilling sight. After enjoying them for a while we headed for home feeling elated and happy to have been able to share our enthusiasm with our Hungarian friends. The only downside is that Kevin has now crept ahead of Alex and me, with 3 sightings to our 2, and was quick to reclaim his title as chief dolphin-spotter!

Think Pink...

Trang pink dolphin expedition - Survey Day 5

Hi, my name is Hayley. I’m arriving a little late, to say the least, after some small trouble in the UK involving the Icelandic volcano eruption - you may have heard about it! I was supposed to leave Friday 16th from Heathrow Airport but I was cancelled twice, at this point I had given up. I very randomly on the off chance contacted my airline on the Wednesday as the flights were going again and got a call back that afternoon telling me that I was on a flight the next morning!

My trip to Thailand was therefore surreal, as within 12 hours of the phone call I was on my way to the airport, the journey went very well with no more problems and I was at the Resort with the rest of the group by Friday evening. I was given a very warm welcome from everyone here and was amazed to find myself sleeping in Thailand and getting ready for the following day for my first pink dolphin survey trip.

On my first day out, I was amazed at how many Pink dolphins we managed to find! We saw two groups, one of 6 and later one of 16, and this was apparently the best day the team had had to date, so I felt so grateful to be here and on such a wonderful flat sea.

I just wanted to say thank you to Beverley for helping me during the manic trip out, and also to say to Lindsey and Kat that I’m really sorry you can’t be here and that we are all thinking of you. I look forward to getting out again and seeing what else our surveys will bring…

Day of the dugong

Hey Becky here...marine biologist, dive instructor and the baby of the bunch!!

So it was another early start today and the sun was beaming down from the get go!Excited to get started after our day off we were all starting to miss hard work ;) alex and I (the dream team) started off up top on the frame on a desperate search for our pink pals!!

Shift ended and still no humpback dolphin sightings! B ut we swapped around and before long "SIGHTING"...we all jumped up and saw nothing...so concluded it was our first dugong sighting of the day! Ok, so it wasn't a dolphin but it was still a rare sighting of the illusive dugong so few have the privilege to encounter. After a short pause we set off again on our quest!!

As the day went on we realised today was definitely going to be the day of the dugong!!One particular animal came really close and wiggled his bum at us before dipping back down to have a nice munch on some juicy seagrass.

We searched and searched but it seemed that the dolphins day off was in fact today and they had put 6 lovely dugongs out for us to see instead haha! Hopefully tommorrow they will be up bright and early coming to say hello for Calvin and I's last day with the team!

That's all for tonight will write our last goodbye tommorrow...if they can get us to leave that is :P

Day 5 Trang Expedition

Phew – another long day. Now winding down after our evening meal. The atmosphere around the table is electric – a bustle of conversation and excitement as we mingle with the other guests at the Nature Resort and share a beer. And Hayley has just arrived – yeh! – although she is probably a little daunted by all this, but she’s gonna fit in just fine.

Yesterday we took a day off sightseeing. We took a boat to Koh Muk and Koh Kradan to swim and snorkel and we visited the Emerald Cave – an incredible 50 metre snorkel in the pitch black to a secret cove with a beach on the other side. Some great snorkelling on Koh Kradan, and just what we needed as a refreshment ready for our 4th day out on the boat today. And what a day. Unfortunately, no dolphins, despite a considerable survey distance, but dugongs, dugongs, dugongs and more dugongs! And one came REALLY close and actually gave me the opportunity to photograph it! See below. Trying to get the rest of the team to contribute to this blog but they are all too exhausted (or drunk) ha ha ha. More “brieflings” to follow…

Kat, Lindsey & Hayley

Still having the best time in Trang, but Kat, Lindsey and Hayley you are missed terribly (as the UK flight crisis made travel plans to Thailand impossible - thu apparently Hayley is now on her way!). So, in your honour, we decided to name the first identifiable pink dolphins after you. So here they are:

Kat















Lindsey















Hayley

Day 3. By Calvin

After a long journey down the coast to Sukorn Island we focused our attention on two areas which we thought would be prime dolphin territory. Only minutes later we had our first sighting, two Humpback Dolphins which appeared to be frolicking at the surface. After a period watching these animals it became clear they were mating and after taking some voyeur photography we let them be and continued down to the south east of the island.
Another group was spotted and we spent a while with this group taking photo’s trying to get closer to get better quality images for identification. Avoiding and being elusive we accepted the images we got and headed back home. Before we knew it the boat captain shouted ‘Dolphin’ and pointed us in the direction of our third group of the day!
This one contained three Humpback Dolphins which we got very close to and some nice photos of both left and right side for dorsal fin identification. Once we were satisfied we headed home after a very productive days work with smiles on all of our faces. A brilliant day!

Day 2. By Calvin

An early start led to a swift breakfast and onto the boat. Heading out to survey it wasn’t long before our first sighting. Two Humpback Dolphins were spotted not far off and the boat approached. A further sighting nearer the coastline gave us a third cetacean in and some nice photo’s to match. The rest of the morning was interspersed with a few possible Dugong sightings and heading back to the resort.
The afternoon proved less fruitful but a large Dugong breached the surface not far from the boat and was a confirmed sighting for the afternoons search effort. As the day progressed nothing further was seen and the evening was spent chatting and making sure the 5 Dolphins seen so far were correctly labelled and ready for the database!

Day 1. By Calvin

After a nice lay-in to follow the previous days 7 hours of Thai public transport, we had a very tasty cooked breakfast in the Nature Resort restaurant overlooking the sea.

Once all the equipment was prepared and the team briefed for the day’s activities we jumped onto the longtail with smiles in eager anticipation of our first cetaceans. With the GPS pinpointing our location every minute we set out with a general idea to head south along the coast before sweeping around through the islands and across to the North before heading back to base.

Within just 30 minutes of spotting and applying sun cream we had our first sighting. ‘SIGHTING’ is shouted and everybody looks to where we are directed, nothing is seen again and as we approach the area and slow down, it is concluded a Dugong was spotted as there was no repeat surface.

Back on sighting effort we head south again and before we know it ‘SIGHTING!!’ and immediately I spot the two dolphins. The boat slows and we attempt to pull alongside the pair, travelling slowly and resting they surface repeatedly and we close the distance between us and them.

Kev grabs the huge camera and as we get closer he gets our first few photo’s of Humpback Dolphins!Still a bit too far for the best identification photo’s but we were all very happy with our first sighting of the elusive species. After spending a while with them but not being able to get any closer, we finished this sighting and continued on with our search effort.

Heading north now we spent another few hours on search effort before the sun got the better of us on the first day and we headed back to the resort for some well deserved air conditioning and a shower.

Evening entertainment was postponed as we were all too interested in reading articles or identification books, followed by telling stories of past encounters with dolphins and whale of different varieties.

With high hopes for day 2 we head to sleep ready for our early start to catch the dolphins active in the morning light...

Day 1, Trang Expedition

Easier said than done this blog thing. Now I remember why it never succeeded before - there is simply not enough time in the research day. It almost midnight again and we are back on the water at 7am. So for now, a quick summary. 2 days, 2 surveys, 2 pink dolphin encounters (total of 6 different animals), 3 dugong encounters and a absolutely great team of folk. Great company, great food, beautiful scenery and wonderful experiences and fun. So a few piccies will have to suffice for now! K & gang X

Pink Dolphins of Trang Expedition

Well, we're here and we've started, after all those months of careful planning. We look forward to bringing you news of this first expedition in Thailand very shortly from the team. Watch this space!

Whales and Dolphins of the Moray Firth 2010

The CRRU are now pleased to announce that they are recruiting for volunteers for the 2010 season.  Ten team starting in June, running through to September.

For full details please see:-  

http://www.crru.org.uk/join_the_team.asp

Or contact Kevin.Robinson@crru.org.uk