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We’re off with everyone here. After some “express-incheckning” in Mora we proceeded to the expedition base and went straight into training for the rest of the morning and early afternoon: What the project is about, why citizen science is so important to it, how the bears are doing, what we will be doing, how to use a GPS & compass, how to pack your research bag and more.
In the afternoon, we checked out some old dens to see what a rock and anthill den look like, as well as an open hibernation nest (the big males just make one of those and let themselves get snowed in). Then a short lecture, dinner with the fire roaring, crash.
More of the same tomorrow. Boring, this life of a field biologist 😉
Sweden is as beautiful as ever, so is our expedition base and the surrounding forest. Note that it snowed today.
Snow in May
The bears have not fared too well over the past 12 months. The government has slashed the number of bears it wants alive in Sweden from 2800 to 1400. This has meant that over the past year lots of bears have been killed in the study site, many of them with collars. At the same time the SBBRP has been starved of funds. How all this impacts what we do on the expedition this year, Andrea will explain when you get here. Suffice it to say that your contribution will be as important as ever, if not more.
On the bright side, we’ll be getting everything ready for you over the next few days. The weather forecast says the weather should improve and get warmer by the time you arrive, but come prepared for fours seasons anyway.
So safe travels and I’ll leave you with some impressions from today…
It’s time for our 2025 edition of our Sweden bear expedition, working in collaboration with Björn & Vildmark (bear & wilderness). I am Matthias Hammer and I will be your expedition leader this year.
Expedition base
This is our fifth citizen science research expedition in Dalarna province, Sweden, gathering field data on brown bears (Ursus arctos), contributing to the conservation of this iconic Scandinavian mammal. The data collected is used by the trans-national Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project (SBBRP). Expedition scientist Dr Andrea Friebe has worked in the SBBRP since 1998 and wrote her master thesis and dissertation about brown bear hibernation and ecology in Sweden.
Dr. Andrea Friebe
The main focus of the Biosphere Expeditions brown bear research expeditions is locating and surveying winter dens used by bears that have previously been fitted with tracking devices. Once the bears have left in spring, each winter den is then carefully measured by the citizen scientists and a wide range of data are collected relating to the type of den, the surrounding habitat and any evidence of cubs and/or bear scats at the den site. The data gathered by the expeditions are used by the SBBRP as part of their long-term research programme following the lives of specific bears from birth to death, to gain insights into bear diet, weight development, patterns of movement, colonisation of new areas, choice of den, social behaviour, mortality and reproduction. Inter-species interaction with moose and domestic livestock have also been investigated, as well as the sensitivity of bears to human disturbance and human-bear conflict. The purpose of this all this is to provide managers in Norway and Sweden with solid, fact-based knowledge to meet present and future challenges by managing the population of brown bears, which is both an important hunted species and a source of conflict, and whose management has been changing rapidly in recent years.
Investigating a den
So, here we are. I hope you have read the latest expedition reports, your preparations are going well and you are all excited. I will be a few days ahead of you and my next diary entry will be from Sweden with updates from the ground.
The snow leopard – perhaps the most iconic flagship species of them all – is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because there are probably fewer than 10,000 adults left in the wild. Living in the high mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to southern Siberia, Mongolia and western China, they are threatened by poaching, habitat destruction and climate breakdown. Helping in their conservation are organisations such as Biosphere Expeditions, who has worked in snow leopard conservation for over 20 years, making it one of the longest-running research projects on snow leopards ever conducted. Citizen science is key to this success story.
“We can only do this, because our citizen scientists from all over the world have provided a steady source of labour and funding”, says Dr. Matthias Hammer, founder and executive director of Biosphere Expeditions, the award-winning non-profit, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024. “It works because these intrepid people are prepared to travel to remote places and help with research such as tracking, camera trapping, biodiversity surveys and more – tasks that can be taught in a day or two – but which provide valuable data for our professional scientists”, continues Hammer. “And they fund the research expeditions through their expedition contributions. So everyone wins: The scientists get data, the citizen scientist a unique and useful experience, and the animals get protected”.
The snow leopard expeditions are a case in point: Initially, expeditions were based in the Altai mountain range in Russia from 2003 to 2011, where they utilised sign rates and sightings for species recordings to confirm snow leopard presence, which contributed to the establishment of Saylyugemsky National Park. From 2014 onwards, when the national park in the Altai was well on its way, expeditions moved to Kyrgyzstan: First the Karakol valley and lately in the Burkhan & Archaly valleys, all in the Tien Shan mountain range. There, as the 2024 expedition report details, snow leopards were recorded multiple times by camera trapping, track identification and DNA analysis of snow leopard droppings. Analysis of the camera trap photos showed that two, perhaps three snow leopards of unknown sex populate the Burkhan & Archaly valleys, which fits well with home ranges published by other studies. Further expeditions, including in the summer of 2025, will study whether these animals are just moving through or resident. The overall conclusion of the 2024 expedition was clear: The Burkhan & Archaly valleys are significant snow leopard habitat, which could develop into a snow leopard stronghold if the two main threats of game ungulate poaching and significant overgrazing by oversized herds can be tackled.
“So we will return there this summer”, says Emilbek Zholdoshbekov of Ala-Too International University, the young, early-career scientist who has served as the expedition scientist since 2024. He stands in a long line of professional scientists from Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, the UK, the USA, Germany and Brazil, who have all contributed to the expeditions, as have over 500 citizen scientists from over 20 countries across the world over the last 22 years.
“Being the expedition scientist is a great honour and a great experience for me, because this is my first time taking part in a serious project of this kind”, continues Zholdoshbekov. “I am so grateful for the help and to have met all these wonderful people coming to Kyrgyzstan to protect one of our national treasures”.
Another long-term partner of the expeditions is NABU Kyrgyzstan, an offshoot of Germany’s largest nature conservation NGO NABU. Both NGOs, NABU and Biosphere Expeditions, have been partners ever since the snow leopard research project moved to Kyrgyzstan, “In fact an invitation by NABU is what led us to Kyrgyzstan after our job in the Altai was done and the environment in Russia became increasingly hostile to expeditions involving foreigners”, says Hammer. “And from day 1 it was a success”, says Tolkunbek Asykulov, head of NABU Kyrgyzstan, “with our snow leopard anti-poaching group bedding the expeditions in and helping them for the last 10 years. It is especially gratifying to see a young, early-career compatriot leading on the science of the expedition now. This is what building capacity should look like, so thank you to Biosphere Expeditions and its many citizen scientists over the years”, Asykulov concludes.
Snow leopard camera trap capture sequence 1 from the 2024 expedition
Snow leopard camera trap capture sequence 2 from the 2024 expedition
Feedback from the citizen scientists:
Great mother – daughter trip! First sighting of the Tien Shan mountains took our breath away. Daily treks out to search 2x2km cells for wildlife, who knew identifying marmot and badger scat could be so much fun?! One of the best parts was the wonderful multi-cultural interactions with the other participants and the leaders. Memories that will last a lifetime. Gina and Kerry R, USA
Thank you so much for this great experience. It touched me deeply and I will take so many special memories with me. Entering the high rocky mountains to the “living room” of the snow leopard, the wonderful nature, animals, flowers, the very friendly and hard-working locals, drinking water from a glacier, river crossings and to work with camera traps capturing snow leopards in their natural habitat. What else can one ask for? Tanja M., Germany
No phone network, no distractions, nothing unnecessary and still everything that was needed. Or just what was needed. Nature – mountains, beautiful connections with amazing people and so much good hiking. Time to reflect and reconnect. Thank you Biosphere Expeditions for this experience. Mimi K., Germany
What an amazing experience it has been. Magnificent landscapes, a cool atmosphere, hiking surveys, frontier women on the overnight road-trip to Jyluu-Suu valley, offroad driving across glacial-fed rivers, wildlife sightings, clear night skies and the milky way, scenic toilet spots, delicious food, playing cards with the locals until far too late at night. The long hikes to discover the camera traps left by last year’s expedition members and the excitement when discovering images of snow leopards. I am grateful for a lifetime worth of memories. Seema I., Germany
Whale watching can be undertaken in a matter of hours, but monitoring cetaceans to better understand their spatial and temporal use of different areas of our oceans – takes years. Biosphere Expeditions has just completed their latest expedition in the Azores, and is rapidly approaching two decades of monitoring, in an area of the Atlantic Ocean supporting over 25 different cetacean species.
Cetacean research questions cannot often be addressed (with any certainty) in a month or a single year. Data collection may take a decade or longer, to reveal meaningful patterns and this is the case with the cetaceans of the Azores. The true value may not always be in the ‘here and now’, but be realized as future questions or challenges arise. Such a data bank will only accrue value over time.
Some feedback is more immediate. Images of sperm whales and blue whales taken this year, have already be matched to other locations in the Azores, and northern Europe, across more than two decades. Some blue whales have not only been matched but never been recoded so early in previous years. yut many more whales have still yet to be matched, revealing range of their movements and importance of different parts of the oceans. Some individuals have only been recorded for the first time, again contributing to our understanding of population dynamics.
This year’s project still has a lot of data to process, from over 125 cetacean encounters over 15 days at sea, sighting over 1500 individuals. But some species are absent from this year’s research findings (e.g Sei whales) and dolphins have been found in lower numbers. On the upside, a few rarer records were noted such as orca, minke and Sowerby’s beaked whale.
With the expedition fieldwork continuing to commence in March, “it has also been great to extend the data collection beyond the normal tourism season”, says expedition scientist Lisa Steiner, “and collect data on a range of species, across a broader time span. The value of this work is huge as we wouldn’t have documented the range of species, including several sei, humpback, fin and blue whales, since there are fewer tour boats out at this time of year”.
Understanding spatial and temporal patterns of so many cetaceans is key to their long-term protection and conservation. And undertaking field research when others are not often at sea reveals new information such as species being absent or present in lower or higher numbers compared to other years.
“The ability to collect such data is greatly enhanced by the annual contribution of the Biosphere Expeditions citizen scientists”, says expedition leader Craig Turner, “and underlines the value of long-term data sets in illustrating the importance of the Azores for many cetacean species”.
This data-collection approach is being applied to other species of whale, along with dolphin species, such as bottlenose and Risso’s. The scale of the data collection both in terms of time and space serves to demonstrate the importance of the Azores for several cetacean species. And highlights the importance of appropriate conservation management, to ensure these species continue to thrive not just in Azorean waters, but elsewhere in the wider Atlantic Ocean.
Citizen scientist feedback:
The expeditions was very well organised. Craig & Lisa work very well together and you could tell they enjoy what they do. They cope very well when plans change, flights are delayed, weather changes etc . Amazing Nicola B, Switzerland.
Our first day on the boat (also my birthday) I will never forget. I wished for a blue whale and I think we had six sightings that day (plus seven orcas!). Seeing the blow, seeing it just at the water surface and the beautiful turquoise colour before it dives. It was an experience way beyond what I expected. Accommodation was excellent. We were so lucky to have a view over the seas and Pico beyond. Great positive atmosphere of all the group members Anne Clarke, UK.
The group dynamic was excellent and the leader really helped to create this. The expectations were handled well and we knew flexibility (weather etc) needed. So no frustrations or disappointments. Meals etc were excellent, science presentations very informative. Peter S., Canada.
We found everything to be very well organised. A big compliment to our expedition leader Craig – what a wonderful guy – he kept everything going and the spirits up ; and to Lisa, our great scientist from whom we learned a lot. Loved the lectures from the Portuguese scientists who came to explain about their work on cetaceans. Loved to listen to Lisa who shared her unbelievable knowledge with us. Gitta V., Netherlands.
This was a wonderful experience for me. Lisa & Craig are top notch organisers and kept things flowing. Briefing every day after outings and evenings were perfect. Selections of vegetarian options was excellent for me Mita P., USA.
That’s all folks. It is time for final diary entry. The end of the expedition is suddenly upon us, and five weeks seems to have flown by, with the international team now gone. Before I wrap the expedition, let me first recap the last few days:
Our final day at sea presented yet more great sightings. Most notably was another fin whale and not one, but two more humpbacks – one far easier to photograph than the other, but still a favourite amongst many. Add to this, more sperm whales, common and bottlenose dolphins and it was another great data haul. Sea conditions and our continued search for more sightings put us close to Capelinhos – the most recent volcano to erupt in the Azores – at the west end of Faial. This presented an opportunity for another first in 2025 – a circumnavigation of Faial – as the seas were easier to navigate to the north. Our 2025 data collection ended with our final loggerhead turtle.
This ocean-based tour of the island gave the group a better feel of where to visit on their day off – with many heading back to Capelinhos. But on our last day we were thwarted at the final hurdle, in our effort to go to sea, by bad weather, but this presented another opportunity to sort more data. Not how we would wish to end, but you can’t argue with the Atlantic Ocean – just accept that plans may often change. So that concluded our data collection and sorting, on another really successful expedition in the Azores.
This year we’ve again documented an impressive array of records that without Biosphere Expeditions, would not have been collected. Here are just some of our highlights. We have
deployed three teams into the field, comprising 8 different nations, spanning multiple decades
completed in excess of 84 hours of surveys, covering over 1400 km of the ocean
collected data on at least eleven different cetacean species (six whale and five dolphin species), one turtle species and numerous birds
encountered more than 125 cetaceans,
confirmed some positive whale IDs, and several re-sights, but also have numerous new flukes – i.e. individuals never recorded before
Data in isolation can be a bit ‘dry’, and lack context, as field research rarely gives us instant results (though fluke matches are coming through) or fast answers to our bigger questions. But we’ve collected another great baseline of data and the full results will become clearer in the expedition report. The power of this simple field data builds over time, as has been illustrated by our excellent invited speakers (thank you, to all).
Whilst we comb the see and learn about the cetaceans and contribute to the ongoing data collection on this project (19 years and counting), it is not always all about the project. What also makes the project so special is the people. So let me initially offer some thanks. First off, to our three groups, who stepped up to the daily challenge of data collection to achieve our goals of better understanding the spatial and temporal distributions of the cetaceans and turtles of the Azores. You’ve not only all contributed to advancing this knowledge and making this expedition a success – you have also been great fun to work with and not given the expedition leader too much stress!
We also thank the wider Biosphere Expeditions team, as this project can’t happen without the unseen preparation, often months before we even set foot on a boat. I also extend thanks to all in Horta who have supported us, particularly Norberto Divers, the lookouts and our various caterers – whose food has more than sustained us! We also extend our thanks to our hosts (Silvia & Mario) and the project base, of course to Lenita (our housekeeper) who ensured we were more than comfortable. I (like many) can also not forget our skippers (‘Pico’ Pedro & Pedro 2), who not only took us to sea, but ensured the team knew the sea state, wind direction, cetacean locations and always got us back to port safely – thank you gentlemen. Finally, our collective thanks go to Lisa. A constant force for knowledge and our leader in all things scientific. It is always a privilege to share in your world of cetacean fieldwork.
We have also had the great privilege of briefly experiencing life in Azores. As I mentioned in my very first diary entry (if you remember!), who doesn’t want to live on a volcano, in the middle of an ocean, searching for a diverse array of charismatic cetaceans. The allure of this fascinating archipelago is strong, and I don’t doubt that some of us will return, in the not too distant future – there are many reasons to come back.
For me personally it has been great to have the opportunity to return to the Azores, work on the project, in this wonderful place and meet old and make new friends. It has been a blast, but all good things come to end and now I too must make my way home. Time to head to my place in Scotland, catch up with my own family and see what projects we take on next.
The early part of the week brought a change in the winds, and a change of direction for our surveys. We initially headed north to follow up a report of a humpback whale in the area. This was our first time north of Faial this year, and heading into a north-westerly wind and building waves made the search harder than we wanted, but the humpback was finally located – a favourite species for many.
Staying with it brought more challenges, and having briefly lost it, the team spotted what we initially thought were the characteristic white pectoral fins in the waves, but this turned out to be a random sighting of Risso’s dolphins – doing their best to distract us. They achieved this briefly before the humpback was re-found and ID photos secured.
Subsequent surveys and sightings brought more dolphins in the form of common and bottlenose, the latter being less frequently sighted, but have now been located by all three expedition groups. So more dorsal fin ID images to process and catalogue.
We also spent a day south of Pico (very familiar territory) tracking sperm whales. It is still surprisingly easy to lose these magnificent beasts, as they can dive for 45 minutes. This gave us an excuse to deploy our hydrophone – a sophisticated underwater microphone – so we can listen in on the underwater world, and hopefully locate sperm whales and other species. It wasn’t as effective as we hoped, but our lookouts were able to locate more whales – with ‘eyes all around’.
Using the hydrophone kit was timely, as we welcomed Sarah Kather for dinner. She studied sperm whale vocalisations for her Master’s Thesis (at the University of the Azores) and gave a fascinating insight into the importance of sound-based communication (and noise pollution) for various cetacean species.
Amongst all this, Lisa also managed to match some of the sperm whale flukes documented from our earlier sightings, showing three individual females had been repeatedly recorded up to ten times over a sixteen year period. This further highlights the importance of the Azores to this species.
Fingers crossed for our final days on the 2025 expedition.
We have commenced the third and final part of the 2025 Azores expedition. It is great to have another diverse and enthusiastic group. With the welcomes, greetings, briefings and training sessions out of the way, we were all keen to get out to sea. Again, the weather made us wait a day, but used the day with more training and science presentations.
Our first day at sea was a triumph. Starting almost where we had left off – with a blue whale. That means blue whales have been seen on all but one day at sea this year – which is incredible. Next were a large group of sperm whales, who again were not the most cooperative, with very few fluking – so limited ID data, but a great job by the team for keeping up with all the sperm whale sightings. Add in some common dolphins, a loggerhead turtle, and this was a great start.
But our day was not done, it ended almost as it began, with another blue whale sighting, but this turned out to be a pair of blue whales – a first for this year. I am beginning to think we should rebrand to the Azure Expedition!
Our second sea day was less frenetic, but had a common theme – blue whales. We also recorded a large male sperm whale and common dolphins as we travelled along the south of Pico, using the volcano as a shield from the prevailing winds and thus take advantage of the calm-ish waters.
It has been a good start to the last leg, and here’s hoping our luck continues.
In the words of Crowded House, it feels like we’ve been ‘walking round the room singing stormy weather’, as the seas have put on quite a show. This has also curtailed our boat time but not put a full stop to data collection or image processing – there are always things to do on the expedition – whatever the weather!
Indeed the worst of the sea conditions provided an opportunity for a day off and time spent exploring Faial, and enjoying the visual spectacle of the mid-Atlantic. It also gave an opportunity to process more data, and the chance for another talk; this time from Cláudia Oliveira from the Azores Whale Lab on the role of photo-identification and bioacoustics for sperm whale studies. Again, illustrating the power of data collection such as ours.
Over the past few days, we have travelled almost 400 km over four days at sea. The group has been able to add vital cetacean data to this year’s haul, add a new bird species, and the numbers of encounters and individuals have also increased. A great effort by another great group.
So, as we bid group 2 farewell, we now welcome group 3; and we hope you bring the luck with the whales and the ‘weather with you’.
The Azores sits in the middle of North Atlantic ocean, but the weather and sea state can still restrict us to a relatively small area for surveys. This has been the case for the past few days.
Following a shore day on Wednesday and a chance to explore the island of Faial, we headed out to sea, more in hope than expectation. We were initially rewarded with an extended common dolphin sighting, close to the south of Faial. This was followed by a second encounter, in the waters protected from the worst of the winds.
Our luck then improved further, with a ‘random’ blow sighted, which of course turned out to be yet another blue whale. And during the course of obtaining the required ID pictures (great job Pixy), a second blow was spotted, but heading into the worsening seas, so we gave no chase. Whilst waiting to photograph both sides of ‘our’ blue whale, we spotted a ‘strange’ looking, almost leucistic gull. With images circulated to bird groups, it transpired that it was an Icelandic gull – a rarer visitor to these waters, normally seen in very low numbers over winter.
The day ended with an encounter with Risso’s dolphins not to far from home. The calmer waters meant a relaxed observation of four mums with calves. From the photos taken we could work out that one of the mums has been documented since 2006, so is likely to be over 20 years old. Well worth getting out on the boat.
Additionally, one of the blue whales recorded at the start of week was first recoded in 2001, and this is the sixth year it has been documented, but never previously so early in the year. We await news on some of our other sightings.
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