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All the staff are now here (from left to right): Rita Bento (outgoing scientist), Matthias Hammer (expedition leader), Jean-Luc Solandt (incoming scientist), Catherine Edsell (expedition leader in training).
Did you hear Jean-Luc mention the words “field ID test”? How are your Reef Check studies going?
We’ll see most of you tomorrow morning in Dubai, and Antonia, Amran, Sondy and the crew of the Sindbad, our research vessel, in Khasab.
I am now all packed to go with (from left to right)
Paperwork, of course. I hope you have yours ready. You will need to bring your checklist and PADI statement (and if you don’t know what I am talking about, then you had better read the dossier again, because you won’t be diving without a PADI statement or a valid diving licence, for example).
Buffs. If you don’t know what this is, then watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewVEK-AElDY. People find them very useful for diving, for example to keep hair out of your face. As you will see, I do not suffer from this problem 😉
Underwater magnifying glasses?! All will be revealed in due course.
Snazzy Swarovski Optik binoculars. For our sooty falcon work.
Of course there’s lots more gear, but this is all safely stored in Dubai. Remember that you need to have your diving gear serviced if you have not used it for a while. Otherwise I hope your packing is going well.
I’ll be in Muscat for a few days before getting to Dubai. The mobile number I will have in Dubai for about 36 hours before assembly is xxx. This is for emergency purposes only (such as being late for assembly).
See you there.
Hello everyone and welcome to the first entry for our Musandam expedition diary. I am Matthias, your expedition leader, and founder & executive director of Biosphere Expeditions.
Not long now until the expedition. I will be a few days ahead of you, first in Dubai and then in Muscat, progressing our plans for a marine protected area with decision-makers and officials in Oman’s capital.
I hope your preparations are going well and you are SWOTTING UP ON REEF CHECK as you should – see your dossier as to why.
I look forward to meeting you all at the Dubai assembly point as per the dossier. Some of you will meet us in Khasab instead of Dubai and if you are PLEASE TELL ME NOW so that I can make a note. Otherwise we’ll be looking for you in Dubai, which will hold everyone up. If you are coming to Dubai as per the dossier, you do not need to tell me. I’ll just assume you’ll be there.
A map of proposed survey sites is below.
Now for the changes: Rita Bento has found love and is moving to Brazil. Congratulations for your wedding and all the best for the future. We have parachuted in Dr. Jean-Luc Solandt, our old friend from the Maldives expedition and coral reef expert from the Marine Conservation Society, to pick up the baton as expedition scientist. He certainly knows his fish and invertebrates and will put you through your paces.
Apart from looking at corals, we’ll also help out with birds, sooty falcons to be precise, this year.
I’ll be in touch again from the ground in Muscat, if not earlier, and with my mobile phone number in case of emergencies.
Until then, enjoy your packing and safe travels.
Regards
Dr. Matthias Hammer
Executive Director
Biosphere Expeditions
The sun at last! the final two days of the trip have been stunningly beautiful, we were all up on deck enjoying the the sunshine! Harbour porpoise sightings and sunburn to worry about! We travelled 366.9 miles through storms and sunshine, with 28 sightings of 71 animals including three orca! The whole team went out for dinner on the last night and in the morning we had the inevitable goodbyes.
So this is the end of the Biosphere Scotland Hebrides expedition for 2013. The expedition has been a great success and I want to thank all participants for their efforts and contribution. Thank you also to HWDT staff and the crew of the Silurian for their efforts, as well as Swarovski Optik and BUFF(R) for their support. I am currently wrapping everything up for HQ and hope that you all had a safe trip back home.
I hope to see you again some day on one of our expeditions.
Best wishes
Adam
The wind continues, but we are not giving in! We bashed our way through the Sound of Sleat yesterday navigating the strange tidal currents upwelling from the depths below us. Mast duty was more like an hour in a washing machine! Wet and windswept, we were all smiles in the evening when we went to have a warming drink on the Island of Muck.
We had a harbour porpoise sighting yesterday and plenty of acoustic detections. We are heading close to the “minke triangle” today, so hopes are high for some more sightings through the waves. After the excitement of the orcas earlier in the week, it is a testament to our strong teamwork that we have kept focused when collecting these vital data.
Well, since the last update we have had plenty of one thing, wind! This did not stop us doing a 45 mile survey yesterday in “roller coaster” conditions!
It was the first bird and boat survey day, so we now know our kittiwakes from our fulmars. The Swarovski binoculars are really coming in handy, as is all the foul weather gear; in the classroom bird ID is fine, but out on the boat it is a little more difficult! The weather has made it hard to see our target species, they are here though, 28 individual harbour porpoise detections via the hydrophone and no sightings from the mast!
Currently, with our Buffs over our noses, we are beating a path into the wind to get into Loch Torridon where we can get the survey back on track in more sheltered water amongst some spectacular Scottish mountain scenery.
Welcome to the new (and last) team for this year aboard the Silurian! We have had a couple of nights on board already so everyone has had a chance to settle into their bunks. Yesterday was training day and Olivia filled everyone’s heads to a mush with information on how we are going to conduct our survey over the next ten days. The team shouldn’t worry though, there is plenty of time to practice!
Our first half day sailing took us to the Island of Rum passing many harbour porpoise as well as a fleeting visit from a minke whale. We did have a chance to go ashore onto Rum, mainly it seems, to be attacked by midges!
Today so far has been very exciting, harbour porpoise sightings earlier followed by three orca heading northwest along the coast of Skye.
It was immediately apparent to Olivia that the individuals are known to be from the Hebrides population; Lulu (female), Comet (male), Aquarius (male) (recognised from their dorsal fins). This is the first orca sighting form the Silurain this year, so we have been very lucky!
We have had every type of wether imaginable and we are now back on our planned survey path to near the Island of Isleornsay. We will spend the night there before heading through the Inner Sound tomorrow.
The last few days have been wonderful despite pessimistic weather forecasting. Plenty of harbour porpoise swimming around the inshore waters including a family of them playing around south of Kerrera island yesterday afternoon. We are currently slapping suncream on as we conduct our last survey en route to Tobermory and the harbour porpoise are out again. It is a shame it all has to come to an end, at least for group 3 tomorrow.
Everybody worked extremely hard and have formed a formidable whale spotting team! This is down to excellent training from Olivia and commitment from staff and team members alike. We had fun too! Our only failed objective was to bring James round to liking Marmite. He may still find we slip a pot of it into is bag for the journey back to the States!
Our survey totals are, 411.1 miles covered, 103 sightings,172 animals, 105 harbour porpoise, 6 minke whales, 21 basking sharks, 7 grey seal, 16 common seal, 220 acoustic readings (219 were harbour porpoise), 263 creels and 41 pieces of litter.
We will all be saying our goodbyes tomorrow morning after a send-off meal in Tobermory tonight. I hope the next team have been keeping up to date and know what to expect! I will send a diary update on Monday with details for the next group as it all starts for us again!
The last few days have been wet and windy making survey efforts very interesting! Usually this sort of weather would hamper our ability to spot our target species. However, the results have been quite positive. A few minke whale sightings have kept us on our toes and harbour porpoise sightings are still frequent. The hydrophone is showing up plenty of results, 33 separate porpoise clicks shown yesterday but only four sightings – this highlights the difficulty of spotting in rough weather.
Delicious neeps, taties and (veggie) haggis were served for dinner last night. The tourist myth of a haggis being a live animal running around the highlands was truly busted after the flawed logic of eating a vegetable-based animal was exposed.
Today we are heading down the Sound of Mull in the light drizzle and the first watch has been set. Everyone is in high spirits, we have formed a truly committed scientific team!
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