tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750027566165859542024-03-12T20:13:36.113-07:00Icelandic OrcasBlog about the Icelandic orca project and a mix of field notes, commentaries and miscellanea about marine mammals and marine conservationIcelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-25793125508574197502017-08-28T10:53:00.000-07:002017-08-28T10:53:30.071-07:00Fieldwork 2017 – that’s all folks!<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Sara Tavares</span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile killer whale. Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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And this year’s fieldwork is now finished. These were some
full 3 months!! We have now packed everything and left the beautiful
island of Heimaey. But this was not an easy trip. The bad weather (strong winds that lead to high swell!) made it more complicated than it needed to be, with canceled ferry trips to mainland Iceland and then a ferry trip that took 3 hours (instead of the normal 30 minutes!)... But we eventually made it!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Packed car!</td></tr>
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Before the bad weather hit the archipelago, we still had an awesome encounter with killer whales during
the last week. These whales were travelling almost non-stop, they had somewhere
to go! 3 of the juveniles kept coming close to the research boat, it looked
like that they were playing with the bobbles that the engine was making… Very
cool to see, but the driver had to be extra-focused since we had to navigate
the boat with even more caution than usual, because they were coming so close!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These killer whales were travelling fast, where were they going? Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult male killer whale travelling. Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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The Icelandic Orca project will be back next year, and all
new fieldwork adventures will be reported here on the blog! Takk fyrir Iceland!
Takk fyrir Vestmannaeyjar!<o:p></o:p></div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-51033782759085613742017-08-22T08:41:00.000-07:002017-08-22T08:41:05.879-07:00Fieldwork 2017 - Minkes don’t eat chips<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Miguel Neves</span></i><br />
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<i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Miguel Neves has been a part of the Icelandic Orca project fieldwork for the past 5 years. This blog post is about his experience over these last 2 weeks of August 2017.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue whales close to Heimaey. Photo by Filipa Samarra.</td></tr>
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The last Earthwatch team of the
season (team 5) has just left. After our one week forced break in the beginning of
August because of the Þjóðhátíð<sup>1</sup>, it was a relief to see the whales
were still around. This was the first time the fieldwork ran in August, and we
were happy to learn that killer whales could still be found here this time of
the year. But they weren’t the only thing we found. On one day we spotted blue
whales from the land station and followed them on the boat to take pictures to
share with researchers studying this species (did you know that a blue whale’s
tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant, and their hearts as much as a
car?); on another day we worked with the killer whales so close to shore you
could hear the blows from the land station, in Stórhöfði! <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glacier behind Suðurey. Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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The day after that, the sea
seemed dead. No whales were spotted from the land station. Even so the sea was
so flat we decided to go out on the boat to scout further offshore. And boy
were we happy we did it. Behind the islands, in the land station’s blind spot,
we saw an aggregation of minke whales, and counted over 11! Minkes feed on a
wide range of prey, including small schooling fish, such as herring, capelin
and sand eel, demersal fish, like cod and haddock and yes, you guessed it, not
chips. But they do feed on krill! And we got to see those red patches in the
sea that are made up of thousands and thousands of minuscule crustaceans, and
the surface of the water seemed to bubble when they swam. This is the stuff
documentaries are made of.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the minkes of the aggregation. Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red-necked phalaropes and a minke in the background. Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Video by Miguel Neves.</span></div>
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<sup>1</sup><b><i>Þjóðhátíð</i></b> (from
Wikipedia; English: The National Festival) is an annual outdoor festival held
in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland […]. Locals and guests gather in Herjólfsdalur
valley on the island of Heimaey for four days of various events. […] <i>Þjóðhátíð</i> was first held in 1874 when
islanders were prevented by bad weather from attending the celebration on the
Icelandic mainland of the millennium of Icelandic settlement.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-40597885034597654682017-08-19T04:38:00.000-07:002017-08-19T04:41:00.795-07:00Fieldwork 2017 - lots of work in July!<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Sara Tavares</span></i><br />
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Uff!! We’ve been busy… We’ve had some full weeks at the end
of July! Work with Earthwatch team 4 started slow, with some very bad weather
(mostly strong winds) not allowing us go out on the boat or do land station
surveys. However, after a few days, the weather changed completely and we were
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We had days with lots of sightings, one day we saw 4
different species: minkes, harbour porpoises, pilot whales and killer whales! Check
out this video (by Miguel Neves) of the team working on the boat observing feeding killer whales:<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had a 1 week break during the first week of August and
now we are back to work, with more news to come soon!</div>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-36213170178766868722017-07-24T03:20:00.000-07:002017-07-24T03:20:10.152-07:00Fieldwork 2017 - the first 2 weeks of July! <i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Tom Bean</span></i><br />
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<i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Tom Bean joined the Icelandic Orca project fieldwork this season as a skipper. This blog post is about his experience over these last 2 weeks with us.</i></div>
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Data collection with Earthwatch team 3 started in haste with particularly good weather, and clear views of the glacier – the calm before the storm! We found whales right away and were treated to some unique experiences. Namely, four whales had moved closer to the land station, and both the boat and land teams were treated to observing killer whales in and around the cave under Suðurey.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Killer whales inside a cave! Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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On the same day we managed to collect two herring samples from a feeding event.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Measuring the size of the prey fish collected during a feeding event. Photo by Filipa Samarra.</td></tr>
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The days following this became more difficult to conduct boat surveys with limited weather windows. We rose from our rest between 5 and 6 on one morning, attempting to find a break in the weather of just a few hours. Unfortunately, the weather was not as predicted and we were not so lucky. Increased effort was focused upon the land station with more pairs of eyes and binoculars!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMYxgP81vfIXZbuI2t44EshdZZhYb86pzQTIOvU9rPuHIoZJtQVTFdUVYpQcDJup-AOzMby9Dxe9HJPM1o2lev-E8DguyiT7ex5hrSuSuxxaqcA-m1eP4uTa7HzLrReQn5k31RmHj3fr9/s1600/2017-07-13-10-31-19_IS_ST_IMG_9385_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMYxgP81vfIXZbuI2t44EshdZZhYb86pzQTIOvU9rPuHIoZJtQVTFdUVYpQcDJup-AOzMby9Dxe9HJPM1o2lev-E8DguyiT7ex5hrSuSuxxaqcA-m1eP4uTa7HzLrReQn5k31RmHj3fr9/s400/2017-07-13-10-31-19_IS_ST_IMG_9385_logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Land station seen from the boat (can you see those little dots at the top??!!). Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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Outings to the land station always bring excitement – foremost for the diversity of wildlife sightings in general, but also accounting for a stunning landscape, weather and sheep behaviour! It’s edge of the seat perseverance working in such a remote and alien environment. Personally, I often strain my eyes with my keenness to find something in an eight-hour survey period. Stopping to think about our location really drives home how privileged we are to be working here. Let me orientate you - behind us to the northeast there’s a huge glacier, Eyjafjallajökull (remember that one that erupted in 2010, cancelling all the planes?). It’s super stunning on a rare clear day. In front, to the southeast, is a myriad of islands, stacks and underwater volcanic mounds – lined up but spaced out in near precision – a physical documentation of eruptions through time (a bit like Galápagos). Not forgetting Surtsey, the furthest island from us, the extent of our survey area and one of the newest islands in the world, created by a sudden upwelling of magma in the 1960s.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eyjafjallajökull visible at the distance. Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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If that wasn’t enough, we’re perched on the edge of an inhabited active volcanic island in an archipelago south of Iceland, peering over a one hundred metre sheer cliff, surrounded by 800,000 pairs of Atlantic puffins – the biggest colony in the world. Again, adding to the awe, we’re surrounded daily by stunning birdlife – ravens, great skuas, fulmars and snipes to name a few. Ravens are one of my favourites to watch, just for their sheer size, perceptual intelligence and noisy attitudes. Although male snipes put up a good fight in the noisiness contest, drumming their tail feathers in courtship displays.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fulmars being fulmars... Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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OK, so we’ve walked the distance from the car to our station, seen some birds in their summer breeding rhythm (before the days grow short once more), but now the real work begins. We’re here to find whales! Our priority is to locate a group of animals for the boat team to gather some discrete focal data. Ideally, a small feeding group where every individual is photographed followed by a prey sample collection and a tissue biopsy – our main focus here is foraging ecology. So while one person commences the search, the remainder of our team sets up the theodolite, laptop and tent, simultaneously ready to record a sighting or shelter from any weather thrown at us. Our purpose is twofold: finding whales and reporting on the weather across the archipelago. As such, the boat and land station teams are in frequent contact and our role is critical to the success of the data collected from the boat. Intermittently we’re joined by our friends – the sheep. Big eyed, hungry and shaggy. Their fleeces are messy, and I mean hanging off their backs!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A killer whale checking us out! Photo by Sara Tavares.</td></tr>
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During our land-based effort, it was a pleasure to speak with and educate tourists and school groups from around Europe and North America about our conservation and research work, and for some people to see their very first whales! It reminds me of my first wild cetacean encounters – the awe and wonder of a short snapshot in the lives of large and independent animals going about their business to feed and survive. No regard for the shopping centres, pop culture, advertising and fast-paced lives so many of us are now accustomed.</div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-71800112413670134032017-07-06T07:34:00.000-07:002017-07-06T07:34:59.209-07:00Fieldwork 2017 - June completed! What will July bring?<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Sara Tavares</span></i><br />
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Two more weeks have past and we couldn’t have been luckier
with the weather! We had the second Earthwatch team joining us over these weeks
and we went out on the boat and worked in the land station almost every day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult male killer whale travelling. Photo by Filipa Samarra.</td></tr>
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We started this second study period very apprehensive, since
we had read on the <a href="http://icelandreview.com/news/2017/06/23/nato-submarine-exercise-icelandic-waters" target="_blank">news about the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) exercise</a> just South of Vestmannaeyjar running from the 23<sup>rd</sup> of June
until today. We had no idea what this exercise involved but wondered if
something could have an impact on the killer whales and make them move away
from Vestmannaeyjar. So on the 26<sup>th</sup> of June we went out on the boat,
and we searched for whales the whole morning around Heimaey. Nothing… No killer
whales or any other marine mammal. The land station also looked for whales the
whole morning and 3 different people saw a minke whale only once (!) and at
different times… And never saw it again. They started calling it a ghost whale…
Was it even real?</div>
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It seemed like a “dead sea” to us. And we were wondering: “Could
this be connected to the NATO exercise? Did all the whales move away from here?”…
But not giving up, in the afternoon we opted for a different route and looked
for whales over the Northwest, further away from Heimaey where the land station
only has partial view of the North of Vestmannaeyjar. And there they were!!!
Killer whales everywhere! They were still here and it was around that area that
they spent most time of these 2 weeks. We had amazing observations of feeding
events in these area! We even had spy-hops and breaching whales at some point.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Humpback whale sighted from the boat. Photo by Filipa
Samarra.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Adult male killer whale. Photo by Sara Tavares.</span> </td></tr>
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The land station could follow the movement of these whales in the area and also saw other marine mammals from there, including pilot whales in the South of Heimaey. These were some amazing two weeks with lots of data collected. It shows that we can never get discouraged if we don’t find whales. Also, it is important to know that the whales are not in a specific area, so that we can learn how they use this herring spawning ground. As many researchers say: no data is good data!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We are looking forward to meet the third Earthwatch team and to continue data collection over the next two weeks. We can’t wait to see what these amazing killer whales will do next!</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kittiwake feeding near killer whales. Photo by Sara Tavares.</span> </td></tr>
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Killer whale breaching. Photo by Sara Tavares.</div>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-31301981555244119262017-06-24T02:41:00.002-07:002017-06-25T15:28:57.495-07:00Fieldwork 2017 - the first 2 weeks!<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Sara Tavares</span></i><br />
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We’ve started our 2017 field season in Vestmannaeyjar and the
first two weeks of fieldwork are completed! We’ve had our first Earthwatch team
joining us and despite the periods of strong winds, rain and fog, we had some
amazing sightings from the land station and encounters from the boat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Adult male killer whales close to Heimaey. Photo by Sara
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Our land station is on Stórhöfði, a peninsula at the southern
end of Heimaey which is the place of a meteorological station (officially the
windiest place in Iceland!). From there, we can use using high-magnification
binoculars to search for killer whales and other marine mammals and record their
position using a theodolite. This will give us information on how groups of
animals use the area over the season.<o:p></o:p></div>
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From the land station we saw killer whales, humpback whales,
porpoises, potentially a beaked whale species (but it was not possible to
confirm it), and pilot whales. And the observations of pilot whales could not
have been more amazing! They appear in groups of hundreds and can be seen
arriving from far away, in the horizon, since so many whales swimming so fast
do a lot of splashing in the water!! And it’s incredible to see these large
groups of whales arriving and the killer whales just moving away as the others
come closer, eventually disappearing. The pilot whales are chasing the killer
whales away! It was incredible to witness this from the land station.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Land station. Photo by Filipa Samarra.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scanning for whales. Photo by Filipa Samarra.</td></tr>
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We had awesome encounters from the boat, we saw many
familiar killer whales (including a particular one with a distinct deformity in
the spine, <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/icelandic.orcas/photos/a.528036140658116.1073741828.527377800723950/1245774878884235/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">see our Facebook post here</a></span>), minke whales, pilot whales and also an incredible sighting
of a carcass of what looked like a shark. We could see the shark gills in the
carcass on the sides of the head. It could have been a Basking shark but it was
not possible to confirm the species due to the degradation of the carcass.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKTbAXb4J1yomh_Z8JSxaBTy_j7pFYGg3TOaFyI09X0IcMlHGL2lE81_cQSsAPH8VF6nswM7HmjkZx1zzhqroKpqy9FyS5-4BrwzSwfaEaXAvGyTu3cFQ7JAYHjKyRceTXloT5HcxJ1os/s1600/2017-06-19-11-54-21_IS_GE_DSC_9358_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKTbAXb4J1yomh_Z8JSxaBTy_j7pFYGg3TOaFyI09X0IcMlHGL2lE81_cQSsAPH8VF6nswM7HmjkZx1zzhqroKpqy9FyS5-4BrwzSwfaEaXAvGyTu3cFQ7JAYHjKyRceTXloT5HcxJ1os/s320/2017-06-19-11-54-21_IS_GE_DSC_9358_logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Killer whales travelling. Photo by Graeme Ellis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pilot whales coming close to the research boat. Photo by
Graeme Ellis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSYJD18mAC9l6NYsLEbVP2Kjqil3dVq9JHlGkQpHyVoid6rzR-snxPvs0k_s4hW0VajR-KZYvdKwIiy0NhFghMS11dbTrE2vE1-PlvAdnEZKlAXOQAM3tC-EWC7lZAHtvwsHxQdQDnPWd/s1600/2017-06-12-07-47-48_IS_GE_DSC_9324_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSYJD18mAC9l6NYsLEbVP2Kjqil3dVq9JHlGkQpHyVoid6rzR-snxPvs0k_s4hW0VajR-KZYvdKwIiy0NhFghMS11dbTrE2vE1-PlvAdnEZKlAXOQAM3tC-EWC7lZAHtvwsHxQdQDnPWd/s320/2017-06-12-07-47-48_IS_GE_DSC_9324_logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shark carcass encountered floating on the water. Photo by
Graeme Ellis.</td></tr>
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From the boat we took photo-ID pictures and behavioural
observations of the killer whales. And we were pooped on by gannets… a lot! It
is very common to have countless gannets flying in circles above the boat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These weeks were a very successful start of fieldwork. It
was great to have such a fantastic Earthwatch team joining us in the field and
it was wonderful to work with them all! We’ll have a second team joining us
soon and we’ll keep you updated on new encounters and observations over the
next couple of weeks!</div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-537595321420504002017-01-17T07:06:00.000-08:002017-01-17T08:25:21.203-08:00The first detailed study on the social structure of Icelandic killer whales<i style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">by Sara Tavares</span></i><br />
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It was the 21st of July 2015 and we had been in the water for 2 hours observing a group of whales. We were nearing the end of our field season and had been observing this particular group of whales for the last days. The group included one adult male, 3 females/subadult males and 2 juveniles which had been travelling and feeding in close association. As the day drew to a close we returned home and wondered if we would see them again the next day. I was puzzled, since I remembered these whales from the winter season the previous year and I never saw them together. The next day we found some of the same whales but others had been replaced. The group was now composed of 2 adult males, 4 females/subadult males and 2 juveniles. Only 4 of the individuals were the same as in the first original group we had observed. To our surprise, the day after we saw the 2 missing whales from the first original group with completely different whales. What was going on here?…<br />
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Understanding the social life of killer whales requires several observations of the same individuals over time, so that patterns of association can be seen. This type of long-term data is essential to understand if whales form stable and coherent groups, and if there is a hierarchy in associations. We studied associations in the Icelandic killer whale population, a fish-eating population that seems to feed on herring, to investigate for the first time in detail what the social structure of this population might be like. Up to now, how killer whale populations are socially organised was thought to be determined solely by differences between feeding on fish and feeding on mammals.<br />
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For example, resident killer whales in the Pacific, that feed mainly on salmon, form clear family groups of individuals that associate very strongly (are always together) and their offspring stay with their mothers throughout their lifetime. These groups are called matrilines and generally all individuals within a matriline associate equally strongly. Different matrilines associate with each other for some periods of time in a hierarchical way - some associate more than others, creating a tree of associations. The mammal-eating population in the Pacific (also called transients or Bigg’s killer whales), which feeds mainly on seals, also has stable family groups but there is some dispersal of both females and males from their family groups that is not seen in the resident population. Associations between adult males are very rare and unstable in this population. The dispersal seen is needed to maintain smaller groups than the ones present in the resident population, which is optimal for feeding on seals. In our study of the Icelandic herring-eating population, curiously, we found striking differences from both mammal- and fish-eating populations in the Pacific. <b>So what else might be shaping the social structure of killer whales worldwide?</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>Using photographs of 198 identified killer whales we measured their association values. We discovered that associations in the Icelandic population are not random but there are very few, very strong associations among individuals. Members of social groups were not always together and didn’t associate equally strongly, unlike what is seen in residents. On the other hand, like in residents but unlike transients, there was no dispersal of either sex from their groups. In this population there was no hierarchy of association where small groups of individuals associate preferentially with other groups – that is, not all individuals associate at similarly high levels within social groups and distinctly lower levels between social groups. <br />
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There is, in fact, large diversity in the groups formed. Some of the groups are simple with similar associations between individuals. However, the majority of groups formed have many different strengths of associations, that is, individuals associate differently with other members of the group, and some groups seem to be composed of more than one subgroup. Associations between whales can be constant, or temporary. But temporary associations were not between coherent, stable groups that associate together for some time, as in the Pacific residents. Instead, they seem to be between (sets of) individuals that associate casually but with preferences. For example, some individuals might prefer to associate in the summer but not in the winter, or in one year but not in others. So they might hang out with the same individuals but be apart for several seasons (and therefore have low association values).<br />
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One of the most interesting finds was that associations between individuals were not completely determined by their movement patterns. We know that the whales we see in Iceland have different movements; for example, some go to Scotland in the summer while others appear to stay in Icelandic waters year-round. We also know that some of these whales even have different feeding ecologies. In the Pacific the mammal-eating and the fish-eating populations seem to be socially isolated, but in Iceland we see whales with different movement and feeding habits forming groups. For example, the killer whales matched to Scotland, which feed on fish and seals, sometimes group with individuals seen in Iceland year-round, that appear to follow the herring stock.<br />
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of close associations between individuals with different movement patterns, subgroups
and groups: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(a) IF-4, who travels between Iceland and Scotland, in close association
with individual IS121, seen year-round in Iceland; </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 8pt;">(b) 997, another whale who
travels between Iceland and Scotland, in close association with IS041, also seen
year-round in Iceland.</span></div>
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Although our study shows that killer whales in Iceland don’t form stable, coherent family groups alike those of residents, it is possible that these do exist but are just not behaving exactly the same. So, <b>although both residents and Icelandic killer whales feed on fish, they seem to present different association strategies</b>.<br />
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To understand why, consider the differences between Pacific residents and Icelandic killer whales. To start with, they target different prey! Salmon and herring behave very differently and require very different feeding strategies that, in turn, shape the way each killer whale population catches its prey and, likely, the way they socially organize. For example, in Iceland the whales seem to use a group feeding strategy that requires coordination to successfully hunt herring. When herring schools are larger, the whales likely benefit from forming a larger group. We often observe whales in large aggregations in Iceland, concentrated in a relatively small area where there is a lot of herring. This creates lots of opportunities for associations with different individuals and, given the possible benefits for dealing with larger (and always changing size) herring schools, a more fluid social structure may be beneficial for these whales.<br />
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The fact that we have observed Icelandic killer whales on herring grounds revealed the fluidity in the social structure of this population, but it will require many more years of observation before we understand the full details of their social structure. Indeed, it is possible that more observations might reveal stable, coherent groups particularly at other times of the year when large aggregations are not as common. For now, we will continue using photo-identification to investigate all these questions over longer time periods and in more behavioural and environmental contexts. We are also using genetic data to learn about the relatedness between individuals that associate and have different movements. We hope to give you more exciting news of these studies soon!<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Research paper:</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 11pt;"><b><a href="http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/12/28/beheco.arw179.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=jUCHKaGiOLFYBeu" target="_blank">A multilevel society of herring-eating killer whales indicates adaptation to prey characteristics</a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sara B. Tavares;
Filipa I.P. Samarra; Patrick J.O. Miller</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Behavioral Ecology 2016;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">doi: 10.1093/beheco/arw179</span></span></div>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-20438399790164068382016-08-03T09:07:00.000-07:002016-08-03T09:07:08.358-07:00Fieldwork 2016 - the end! What a great season... <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt; font-style: italic;">Commentary by Julie Béesau and Marie Louis</span><br />
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<i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Our 2016 summer fieldwork is now finished. We have packed all the equipment and left the beautiful archipelago of Vestmannaeyjar. We had a very successful data collection this season and a month full of good weather, great orca encounters and an amazing group of people! Team members Julie Béesau and Marie Louis share with us their thoughts about the season. </i><br />
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<b><i>Julie</i></b></h3>
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It was a pleasure to
come back to help again the Icelandic Orca’s team, now in the summer place in
Vestmannaeyjar. I discovered this wonderful area that is completely different
from the winter fieldwork, I cannot compare the two areas. It’s just so amazing
to be on the boat with the amazing wild animal named orcas. I spent two weeks
there to participate in the data collection, in particular photo-ID.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As always the team
atmosphere was really great, everyone on the boat was so happy to be in this
beautiful landscape with whales and try to collect as much data as possible. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We had some great
encounter with orcas and we saw some breaching and socialisation like the “pink
lamprey”… I would like to thank everyone for this wonderful two weeks spent
there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy killer whale around Vestmannaeyjar. Photo by Julie Béesau. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing sunset after our last day on the boat. Photo by Julie Béesau.</td></tr>
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<i><b>Marie</b></i></h3>
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Fieldwork and staying
in <em><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vestmannaeyjar </span></em>was amazing. We had really
great weather during the last 8 days and could go out at sea every day. We saw
lots of killer whales in large feeding aggregations. One of the highlights of
the season was to see hundreds of killer whales swimming very fast away from
the pilot whales! It was very impressive!</div>
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Thanks everyone for a
great time! And a special mention to our
favourite friendly whale Cray-cray featured in the last blog post!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfpFIIWTcU26UDo1B2scxMfh3c-ganc7YoFMetcYGBB0ZV32iWqBRSXNR30SBaNknq5l-JKGe35f1UPvLHn3hufXIamgPLEBjaW9etJHE_0KcWx43oj1OsWYTEGzkE7-bLa9rKpRxYIOq/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfpFIIWTcU26UDo1B2scxMfh3c-ganc7YoFMetcYGBB0ZV32iWqBRSXNR30SBaNknq5l-JKGe35f1UPvLHn3hufXIamgPLEBjaW9etJHE_0KcWx43oj1OsWYTEGzkE7-bLa9rKpRxYIOq/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spy-hopping killer whale. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4KSBBE0YZRZwgnqukIjRfw3UK7aS0Nvo4IO7hMAQ4B5JkzdEvZ-Q8TwDF26eJ2UDNqx5HTaubKSj8QZBRDtQUmciTjoSFJbEXdEuVwJv6l_Xrp58HjacgGt1ydsmd9KjR2m4-_KbkX20/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4KSBBE0YZRZwgnqukIjRfw3UK7aS0Nvo4IO7hMAQ4B5JkzdEvZ-Q8TwDF26eJ2UDNqx5HTaubKSj8QZBRDtQUmciTjoSFJbEXdEuVwJv6l_Xrp58HjacgGt1ydsmd9KjR2m4-_KbkX20/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The A-team enjoying the last very sunny and warm survey day (yes this photo was taken in Iceland!). Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-15698540451836859432016-07-27T03:14:00.000-07:002016-07-29T12:22:20.661-07:00Fieldwork 2016 - on the last week already!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8oZ0HJMl9D7A7v6SVkSJF6lVU1AOFcgNZqJU4XK2GojmRk3x8UOrhCWNz5MF8syn1U1j6Ya3WHBfZJ6dmXEjGitIBHjQks_FvO3Al_OcM8mg8XhB6MFl0CfL6hT-4jZr9U09bEO2XnLK/s1600/2016-07-23-16-40-08_IS_ML_IMG_2157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8oZ0HJMl9D7A7v6SVkSJF6lVU1AOFcgNZqJU4XK2GojmRk3x8UOrhCWNz5MF8syn1U1j6Ya3WHBfZJ6dmXEjGitIBHjQks_FvO3Al_OcM8mg8XhB6MFl0CfL6hT-4jZr9U09bEO2XnLK/s200/2016-07-23-16-40-08_IS_ML_IMG_2157.JPG" width="133" /></a> <i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Gary Haskins</span></i><br />
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<i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Gary Haskins joined the Icelandic Orca project fieldwork this season as a skipper. This blog post is about his experience over the first 3 weeks with us.</i></div>
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We have been testing out the
feasibility of utilising a land based crew to monitor and track orca movements
using a theodolite. This system allows us to record the positions and movements
of whales, boats, tidal flows/upwellings, etc., on map in real time. This is
cool as firstly the land based team can direct boat teams on the location of
whales, but also you get large scale movement and behavioural data that can be
then related to lots of environmental factors or even boats in the area.
This gets even cooler when you place a listening device, moored at sea visible
from the land station so that behavioural activity can then be monitored in
conjunction with ‘listening in’ on the associated vocalisations a’ la the NSA.
Unlike the NSA however, we welcome whistle blowing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is all good in theory (and
in practice eventually) but theodolites are fickle beasts, otherwise known as
pieces of precision equipment. They have to be set up carefully and once set
up, they must not be knocked. They become difficult to use at rock concerts,
and I imagine they are a right pain in Space, but of more relevance they are a
bit iffy in windy places. It turns out that our land observation point, <em><span style="font-style: normal;">Stórhöfði, is the windiest place in Iceland.
Literally. (The actual meaning of literally, not the silly new meaning, where
literally has literally become the antithesis of itself).<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OMG! Jen was so happy to be collecting data she literally died.</td></tr>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal;">In
short the theodolite has to be levelled and any movement by a tiny margin will
give false or no readings. Therefore wind can hinder the set up. But, we went
from taking two patience sapping hours to being able to do it effectively and
accurately in 10 minutes. We successfully tracked orca and collected some nice
data on minke presence and movements for our undergrad student, Jenifer
Stollery. We even recorded a sneaky anomalously pigmented (white) harbour
porpoise calf.</span></em></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTTA3jAZBXQwlcRkFquNFSS3-Trb_ZX6FPfvyhAJysyjeUZFplU2F8KbiDQVQxJn2r5lzUwaRlcqFs4djsJTut9WWN5i-Yr_q8doG7hJuSfeHaVZmCBhaHOe2B-xM-4rz-ykYr161NMPR/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTTA3jAZBXQwlcRkFquNFSS3-Trb_ZX6FPfvyhAJysyjeUZFplU2F8KbiDQVQxJn2r5lzUwaRlcqFs4djsJTut9WWN5i-Yr_q8doG7hJuSfeHaVZmCBhaHOe2B-xM-4rz-ykYr161NMPR/s320/2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A porpoise is in this picture somewhere. Photo by Jen Stollery.</td></tr>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal;">Other
than that I have been skippering the boat, helping out with Photo-ID and bit of
acoustics and anywhere that I can try and lend a hand. Our main goal this week
has been to acquire biopsy samples from orca using an ARTS system. The ARTS
fires a dart that takes a small sample from the whale (its harmless) and allow
all sorts of information to be determined; diet, movements, sex, relatedness,
pollutant load. Again, great sounding in theory but in practice it can be pretty
tricky to get close enough to these animals. According to Craig Matkin, they
act like ‘offshores’. That basically means they are boat shy and have a circle
of trust, of about 25 or more meters. We can biopsy up to about 18 m so gaining
access is a case of softly, softly catchee monkey. But man, those last few
moments, as we edge ever closer, timing our gentle arrival to the last surface
of our target animal before it dives…..you could cut the air with a theodolite.</span></em></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xdMTiA98j0KKTPdH3yOoq8SCeQUOiTYEQHaK7f38mnA9NsyLTbMglHTYTjvBgvc2AiaYXWON1ES37dyLNAYIBW-iKyICNAnEc2d4nRDDSYBxjhw8L-wDlwvsaf_9m4_eQccgXrsUkj-b/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xdMTiA98j0KKTPdH3yOoq8SCeQUOiTYEQHaK7f38mnA9NsyLTbMglHTYTjvBgvc2AiaYXWON1ES37dyLNAYIBW-iKyICNAnEc2d4nRDDSYBxjhw8L-wDlwvsaf_9m4_eQccgXrsUkj-b/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miguel with the ARTS system, as we enter the circle of trust.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating a successful biopsy, Miguel claims all the credit and won't share the sweets.</td></tr>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal;">As
well as boat shy, twice now I have seen these orca porpoise at high speed away
from incoming pilot whales. Admittedly there were lots of pilot whales charging
in like madmen but there were perhaps over one hundred orca. In addition, a
local fishermen was telling us about how the whales he sees from his boat
always flee when the porpoise turn up. He insists its porpoise displacing them.
Orca – you used to be cool man, what happened?</span></em></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scary pilot whales apparently.</td></tr>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal;">N.B.
I say they are wary and boat shy, and they are. All exempt our new favourite
whale, IS423 – affectionately named by Miguel as Richie Cray-Cray. Whilst the
others are playing hard to get, IS423 approaches the boat and swims in our wake,
less than a metre from us, seemingly attracted to the bubbles produced by our
engine. He is now too close to biopsy, obviously.</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal;">Thanks
to all for having me as part of the team! It is greatly appreciated.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Video of IS423 (by Miguel Neves).</td></tr>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-27240585580473261422016-07-19T11:09:00.000-07:002017-06-25T15:29:14.212-07:00Fieldwork 2016 - the first 2 weeks!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Marie Louis</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Marie Louis is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of St Andrews joining the Icelandic Orca project fieldwork this season. This blog post is about her experience over the first 2 weeks with us.</i></div>
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I am helping with field data collection on killer
whales in Vestmannayejar since two weeks. It has been a fantastic and interesting
experience so far. Sara and Filipa explained us during the first couple of days
how the material was working and how the data should be collected. </div>
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<span lang="EN-US">On the boat,
I am in charge of taking photo-identification data. Sara showed me during the
first two trips how the photo-ID data is collected in particular for social
structure analyses. The challenging but also exciting part is to get eye patches’
photos of the calves as they are fast and often stay behind their mother. It
greatly helps for their identification as their saddle patch is usually faint. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTKdM78awP2QlYGiD_YPSh8jivD-ZWj7HykHsSBJ3oLZPX3IlOP3jgCLyVoILpXKAMhlV15zlUtpDbJTPDLQGLbEkCZZ0eEtLiFU9pWjSTXXZDP4Q5NW6D1pi8bg6g6fRA3L_qf8zfb_Tf/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTKdM78awP2QlYGiD_YPSh8jivD-ZWj7HykHsSBJ3oLZPX3IlOP3jgCLyVoILpXKAMhlV15zlUtpDbJTPDLQGLbEkCZZ0eEtLiFU9pWjSTXXZDP4Q5NW6D1pi8bg6g6fRA3L_qf8zfb_Tf/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult male dorsal fin and saddle patch. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3brZU4HJZmTyaExQTsTkk9a_acZ0d5o6zXwc2hvJg-Hj4oUpwh-YvcuwIGkCdmb044izq6FTPQu2aA3tgyRndwexDRuFnIxE6qRrM1-GcfCJW9dlFicFNrIO4q3GrDJ80z5z4kx6qiYUj/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3brZU4HJZmTyaExQTsTkk9a_acZ0d5o6zXwc2hvJg-Hj4oUpwh-YvcuwIGkCdmb044izq6FTPQu2aA3tgyRndwexDRuFnIxE6qRrM1-GcfCJW9dlFicFNrIO4q3GrDJ80z5z4kx6qiYUj/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female and juvenile. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEZa0MIVzxgxRyGzR45UgtqEtazr__vU4cehD1JJzDuOZ93r1Jng65XIJ7ldWJnKfiSYRQTvB1eXuXN5smHJRFuexWBP6YpjxP1BrVbf5D8CAevBXhHUJ_qsxS5imis3MOobhmoWOoiTf/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEZa0MIVzxgxRyGzR45UgtqEtazr__vU4cehD1JJzDuOZ93r1Jng65XIJ7ldWJnKfiSYRQTvB1eXuXN5smHJRFuexWBP6YpjxP1BrVbf5D8CAevBXhHUJ_qsxS5imis3MOobhmoWOoiTf/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female, calf and juveniles. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">We
had really great encounters with the killer whales and good weather conditions.
We are re-sighting part of the same whales trip after trip, sometimes with
different associates. Some of the whales (as illustrated by the below photos of
the male with the floppy fin and the female with a big notch on the dorsal fin) are easy to recognize in the field. During the last trip, several groups of
whales were feeding and surrounded by lots of diving gannets. There was also a
humpback whale in the middle of the groups of killer whales. We sampled herring
from these feeding events; Filipa will use them for stable isotopes analyses to
better understand the feeding ecology of the killer whales. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG-TutuikBuwpQ4TrFFLgS5XD8gawMZuySn1BzZqlQqOG5JuWIgEkHEQ9NWu-vbYs6UB8gegd0g83HkKiIg9a1QxNwBJ28JFLevrPHnZBPSzFzC7NS_nMCYyqyxeyyLMMJhgEUlEZcUok/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG-TutuikBuwpQ4TrFFLgS5XD8gawMZuySn1BzZqlQqOG5JuWIgEkHEQ9NWu-vbYs6UB8gegd0g83HkKiIg9a1QxNwBJ28JFLevrPHnZBPSzFzC7NS_nMCYyqyxeyyLMMJhgEUlEZcUok/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humpback whale. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QkuFiSC6z3nrAJpRChgxUMDsDSUAaq4gOhACm8piSDZi8t6Oui_YPYXx-Mdrqg3cTQ-kic5XJGTkgSj00lSLfHfMjcTD7wb6FX23TRZTcEmXL8Rom-LDuy6G_gTFxe1dJA-CNcqYlfDe/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QkuFiSC6z3nrAJpRChgxUMDsDSUAaq4gOhACm8piSDZi8t6Oui_YPYXx-Mdrqg3cTQ-kic5XJGTkgSj00lSLfHfMjcTD7wb6FX23TRZTcEmXL8Rom-LDuy6G_gTFxe1dJA-CNcqYlfDe/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult male with a floppy fin. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggLgnGAQp6ePqKYzMEKyiNLPV3AFqn8FcJ6EGjqaCFx-2iEmzCvH6CS_PckgHgpBiJ2-x_7LXwklixz_JEg7qqkSGQvcYVUMvo3PEXlkhLDdKgSADoJDxBZ6EbAO4c7RgShufWgDoZ-4bN/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggLgnGAQp6ePqKYzMEKyiNLPV3AFqn8FcJ6EGjqaCFx-2iEmzCvH6CS_PckgHgpBiJ2-x_7LXwklixz_JEg7qqkSGQvcYVUMvo3PEXlkhLDdKgSADoJDxBZ6EbAO4c7RgShufWgDoZ-4bN/s320/6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An easily recognizable female with a big nick (IS035). Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">It was also very
interesting to see other parts of the data collection: acoustic recordings and
behavioral sampling, and tracking data collection from land using a theodolite.
I am very glad to be here, the Vestmannayejar is a very beautiful archipelago and
an amazing field site. It is also a paradise for seabirds and puffins-fans! Every evening we rotate to cook a nice meal
for everyone and learned new recipes including tasty vegan cakes. We have been
stuck on land due to a storm yesterday but tomorrow’s forecast is looking good.
I am looking forward to see what the next two weeks will bring!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_0mypCSi02QzlSzIt66nf-5A2fL3rTUntp3AswexmcBGfnajOxCJeQ7qOc-InowQa8-oQ7bbBuOyyPpi-WQ6cG2js1N2ZN3vs9eowkqa7pAXsGVvwb_v4nJZXynRSM9AmsPJA6bSXwWV/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_0mypCSi02QzlSzIt66nf-5A2fL3rTUntp3AswexmcBGfnajOxCJeQ7qOc-InowQa8-oQ7bbBuOyyPpi-WQ6cG2js1N2ZN3vs9eowkqa7pAXsGVvwb_v4nJZXynRSM9AmsPJA6bSXwWV/s320/7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile killer whale. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQt33uer9zHFSgxSSB5GPb-WsCdjjVNbRnnxX76RC-F3vzFFT9nlMrfrfAE37d57W4VsEpJcjyT9fvot7mRt9RvEQlAfRJ9KPFC8EOhUJl3PgZE_12Wx2EWxczvMci8Gh2dqFquXqlSMup/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQt33uer9zHFSgxSSB5GPb-WsCdjjVNbRnnxX76RC-F3vzFFT9nlMrfrfAE37d57W4VsEpJcjyT9fvot7mRt9RvEQlAfRJ9KPFC8EOhUJl3PgZE_12Wx2EWxczvMci8Gh2dqFquXqlSMup/s320/8.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gannet rock in Vestmannaeyjar. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ocrz4pGxWeaYVS0EwAMVDZFoewiHVzMilUbM9zODKUntNWdyRVq7WGb87x8R4YTnEyA8icBWIBmSz1pr3Ze-DgMbjorVPTsyH8O6HozCiZC_vSBdzWFqyznQyWYkkzXA_PPvDMvLWvMh/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ocrz4pGxWeaYVS0EwAMVDZFoewiHVzMilUbM9zODKUntNWdyRVq7WGb87x8R4YTnEyA8icBWIBmSz1pr3Ze-DgMbjorVPTsyH8O6HozCiZC_vSBdzWFqyznQyWYkkzXA_PPvDMvLWvMh/s320/9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puffin. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgL6ezhmx6fY-Xr2Ov4xZmvjeNRVX1N9X1aLxzUoBG9lfR599cuuPArDq1Mna4QG7BoKq33xqLxK8-ee73cZYviCExV6bxbNkqd3IhDv1f158dx4uJgshj_Kauin9ouITQkxQsug9bKPD/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgL6ezhmx6fY-Xr2Ov4xZmvjeNRVX1N9X1aLxzUoBG9lfR599cuuPArDq1Mna4QG7BoKq33xqLxK8-ee73cZYviCExV6bxbNkqd3IhDv1f158dx4uJgshj_Kauin9ouITQkxQsug9bKPD/s320/10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the volcano that erupted in 1973. Photo by Marie Louis.</td></tr>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-80027893683204586742016-07-03T08:52:00.000-07:002016-07-03T08:52:14.958-07:00And we are starting!We are starting our 2016 fieldwork in Vestmannaeyjar of 1 month… This fieldwork will be a collaboration between the Marine Research Institute and the University of Cumbria. This last couple of days have been full of team members arriving and setting up equipment! We still have some work to do on land before we get on the boat… But just yesterday some killer whales were sighted close to the main island Heimaey where we are staying! So things look promising here and we are very excited to start! <br />
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This season we will be collecting photo-ID data, behavioural observations, sampling feeding events, biopsy samples, acoustic recordings and land-based observations. With this we investigate the distribution and movements, social and acoustic behaviour and foraging ecology of the Icelandic killer whale population. <br />
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We’ll keep you posted on the progress of the fieldwork through the next weeks! Here are some pictures from these first days from Marie Louis, who's joining us this year.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n74LK-C5r5zDKx5rNYD41Fk08gSnD_L7HLdr3MtzDIm8oFbqmPUJi5owYxDcDTVXChPyabBLN3edrJEfab7aSez85hBeuVxyzv3PYxsigltlQnA7EL9TPTRSkuNiGip7dfca_IJ5rsBK/s1600/IMG_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n74LK-C5r5zDKx5rNYD41Fk08gSnD_L7HLdr3MtzDIm8oFbqmPUJi5owYxDcDTVXChPyabBLN3edrJEfab7aSez85hBeuVxyzv3PYxsigltlQnA7EL9TPTRSkuNiGip7dfca_IJ5rsBK/s400/IMG_0095.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The view from Heimaey. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCTg3rghIqkmwmQCS8Jndm-Otd0MBAv8b_caUs7r_6w7xaW2whem4cIA9j6Pu0pCIeQ3jkpp0M3CQkBSUF6k5VKNAy_pUKRImt4iNQxwROWEHLAnxaP9yNB5LXNgcHZkmrjfIMc9YqSc5/s1600/IMG_0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCTg3rghIqkmwmQCS8Jndm-Otd0MBAv8b_caUs7r_6w7xaW2whem4cIA9j6Pu0pCIeQ3jkpp0M3CQkBSUF6k5VKNAy_pUKRImt4iNQxwROWEHLAnxaP9yNB5LXNgcHZkmrjfIMc9YqSc5/s400/IMG_0133.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Minke whale seen from land. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDypIe_2gd7Gk87LDTS3_dE9gep7JgL_n-IEq4nsHPLyRiGSfjSj9IsUaJMi45KOqtXTbxaqMVdL_vXpklRBxnQRKljEc34PvyAiNCMTo33XCsaqKo9Kvb0jPMVWh-P7fmu2HnBTpFYyR/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDypIe_2gd7Gk87LDTS3_dE9gep7JgL_n-IEq4nsHPLyRiGSfjSj9IsUaJMi45KOqtXTbxaqMVdL_vXpklRBxnQRKljEc34PvyAiNCMTo33XCsaqKo9Kvb0jPMVWh-P7fmu2HnBTpFYyR/s400/IMG_0172.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Killer whales seen from land. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcY7xl2Py1efKb9rTvyZjqtP-xqLlqxXvJJxQR3kRWdL9yL7AcMw5HAtzLVfIxx_LmVF1sUHxH5sf-ASLhu-Hmwd7Xco8YCJapU7pDVhuB6-Yea_QNiP2mlwasCM0OYTt9tmy3rjQTH03f/s400/IMG_0184.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Killer whales seen from land. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yqEiLUtJOLnGga2BXvudBLynRcnoeHFWacS20ch7ZaU1XHKFlvBwi5p6v7cNo1sDlLmGZ-AGB5DSQkHVN6hi9Gb7nUVWX764XjO-HIbfyxLEKkqHbpeHBRfKnPf1tAqfMcCSb2mdc98_/s1600/IMG_0243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yqEiLUtJOLnGga2BXvudBLynRcnoeHFWacS20ch7ZaU1XHKFlvBwi5p6v7cNo1sDlLmGZ-AGB5DSQkHVN6hi9Gb7nUVWX764XjO-HIbfyxLEKkqHbpeHBRfKnPf1tAqfMcCSb2mdc98_/s400/IMG_0243.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Team members scouting for whales! Photo by Marie Louis. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVK_iaxCpb3L1J4TjMilKco7b_4to7QFKKRmFZ9xRt7ubogwHtCecroW-MUYI0ZzjInaRzLEcg2A37ziI7nFsvfw2aVrmAS_qBSeLZ9Zc5eTVciNwRy_bY4fQTGPd_s1OdyG5XNGo2WMpB/s1600/IMG_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVK_iaxCpb3L1J4TjMilKco7b_4to7QFKKRmFZ9xRt7ubogwHtCecroW-MUYI0ZzjInaRzLEcg2A37ziI7nFsvfw2aVrmAS_qBSeLZ9Zc5eTVciNwRy_bY4fQTGPd_s1OdyG5XNGo2WMpB/s400/IMG_0250.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The midnight sun in Heimaye. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFdWd8K1PbfgdBwgdygbXV98JY5w4DiVf1wN8WUHSqCuHYBNiSfqL0iEzoPs8uba4Cdyn1tJVr4EIDgFGFjQnX0wNXkoV2KAS-tsfinjF2aAxz1XwXUqmiMx0AoKk6YjJ9sWZDZBABzYkX/s400/IMG_0199.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Killer whales seen from land. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxm3s1E4zLMJ5Gprd3VgkUXvSMiYytGPBAAbc64yPxnUN5uNXzSUcPTQJUoovE6lvZ6EpqdIDu09lQe6kbyckEAZUDxEnc2cbySHcettJTx8oALDpkg7NePncU6MSIhv4TGtJA2_gPnwl/s1600/IMG_0277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxm3s1E4zLMJ5Gprd3VgkUXvSMiYytGPBAAbc64yPxnUN5uNXzSUcPTQJUoovE6lvZ6EpqdIDu09lQe6kbyckEAZUDxEnc2cbySHcettJTx8oALDpkg7NePncU6MSIhv4TGtJA2_gPnwl/s400/IMG_0277.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Puffin. Photo by Marie Louis.</span></td></tr>
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Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-39898784908244792282016-06-14T05:02:00.000-07:002016-06-14T05:02:27.910-07:00DNA can say so much...<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Sara Tavares</span></i><br />
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The amazing work done for more than 20 years in British Columbia, photographing and identifying (all) killer whales, gave us unprecedented knowledge about this species. The detailed photographic dataset created in British Columbia is invaluable for the conservation and monitoring of the local populations.</div>
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But sometimes photographic identification is not enough and other kinds of information from the individuals becomes important, such as its specific genetic "fingerprint" - DNA.</div>
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This <a href="http://www.aquablog.ca/2016/04/dna-never-lies/"><span style="color: blue;">blog post by Dr. Carla Crossman</span></a>, molecular and marine biologist with the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre’s Coastal Ocean Research Institute, is a great example of how invaluable genetics studies are when working with wild populations. Last April, 2 dead individuals washed out in British Columbia in a state of decomposition that did not permit identification based on appearance. But using existent knowledge of the genetic variation across populations, the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre’s Coastal Ocean Research Institute discovered to which population the individuals belonged to by their genetic code. Working long hours to get this information as soon as possible, the molecular biologists in the Institutes’ Conservation Genetics Lab were able to tell that both whales belonged to the fish-eating resident population and more specifically to the southern community! Amazing, right? This was possible due to previous studies by Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, currently senior marine mammal scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre’s Coastal Ocean Research Institute, that discovered which variations in the genetic code distinguished the killer whale populations.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaiWLfEbZdTmzgCv1AfFsQ3pGveMRRTcS_pMnwzmew5foiqJbcY4OWjM8zaHhOkz137NLyygz2GMSQ87WicgXhkxTPtcZUIhMB6RUeltnz9RQu8QzwYujS28Cpb_4ScaaPYpMBLeL_RyVm/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-15-16-13-37_IMG_1047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaiWLfEbZdTmzgCv1AfFsQ3pGveMRRTcS_pMnwzmew5foiqJbcY4OWjM8zaHhOkz137NLyygz2GMSQ87WicgXhkxTPtcZUIhMB6RUeltnz9RQu8QzwYujS28Cpb_4ScaaPYpMBLeL_RyVm/s400/IS_ST_2014-07-15-16-13-37_IMG_1047.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">3 males </span><span style="font-size: small;">traveling together. Are they from the same family and therefore genetically related? Uncovering this is one of the goals of the Icelandic Orca </span><span style="font-size: small;">project.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We are currently working on building up this kind of genetic knowledge on the Icelandic killer whale population to help us monitor the status of the population. One of the goals of our project is to map the genetic relatedness among individuals and understand the genetic variability within the population. It will be some years until we uncovered all this but during the last 2 years we made great progress collecting small biopsy samples of skin from photo-identified individuals. Lately, we have been trying to find the best genetic markers to use on this population (because the variations in the genetic code are not the same among populations) so that we can start uncovering this vital information about the animals.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But, as Carla Crossman so well shows on her <a href="http://www.aquablog.ca/2016/04/dna-never-lies/"><span style="color: blue;">blog post</span></a>, genetic analysis can be a slow process... Even just extracting DNA from a small piece of skin from a single individual whales takes several days! And extracting DNA is just the very first step! Then you need to test different genetic markers, optimise protocols and only once all that is complete can you start going through all the small skin biopsies to start gathering information from different individuals. So it can usually be many months until this type of analysis is complete. We will keep you posted about new developments on the very exciting genetic studies being conducted!</div>
</div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-44956013948053802542016-01-28T09:20:00.000-08:002016-01-28T09:20:23.449-08:00My Icelandic orcas' experience<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;">Commentary by Julie Beesau</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><i>Julie Beesau spent 2
fieldseasons volunteering with us at the
Icelandic Orca project in 2013 and 2014. This blog post is about her own
experience working with Icelandic orcas.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I have spent two months in Iceland, in </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Grundarfjörður,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> during winter fieldwork twice (in 2013
and 2014) with all the Icelandic Orcas' team. It was such a great experience
for me. I've always wanted to see orcas in the wild and study them. I learned
many things on their social and feeding behavior, and I could also enjoy the
magic of their acoustic communication.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I was in charge of taking pictures and
acoustic recordings on the whale watching boat. It was also nice to discuss and
explain to tourists what kind of studies we can do on orcas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I remember one day we encountered more
than 100 orcas in the fjord, it was just unbelievable. I think this day was my
favorite and will be engraved in my memory forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZG_f-cFkvoFIMH02LiObsZKhe39MCd0vdYpHtK-IxjEnW0EpSWl8jL6DAJhiC4UcPLhGjw8b_K0SPsBQQzW9u3qqNOMDyDXUjWFaSHieWSF1iJouW5agYC2SxP-FYMN8T_nhQzr235HE/s1600/IS_JB_13-03-23-12-04-54_IMG_4888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZG_f-cFkvoFIMH02LiObsZKhe39MCd0vdYpHtK-IxjEnW0EpSWl8jL6DAJhiC4UcPLhGjw8b_K0SPsBQQzW9u3qqNOMDyDXUjWFaSHieWSF1iJouW5agYC2SxP-FYMN8T_nhQzr235HE/s400/IS_JB_13-03-23-12-04-54_IMG_4888.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Male orca. Photo by Julie Beesau.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: justify;">Every
day after the trip on the whale watching boat I would meet the rest of the team
in our house where we shared our sightings and experiences on the boat and also
a great meal.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrv0DhU78dGG4MsrTfa_2KKT4JNqXN170LCO-A3g_-5R9pstiKxPv4fDlEFP6EXVtFsuCp9WCCpAByztFBMubmnVqm6ZuQUVHrJkPlUygUvb7OAQhKU01B694QdsotR6jouxwy9q6o2AO/s1600/DSC_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrv0DhU78dGG4MsrTfa_2KKT4JNqXN170LCO-A3g_-5R9pstiKxPv4fDlEFP6EXVtFsuCp9WCCpAByztFBMubmnVqm6ZuQUVHrJkPlUygUvb7OAQhKU01B694QdsotR6jouxwy9q6o2AO/s320/DSC_0022.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Landscape of <span style="text-align: start;">Grundarfjörður</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: start;">. Photo by Julie Beesau.</span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I could also appreciate the magical
landscapes of Iceland and sometimes the capricious weather.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It was a unique experience, rich in animal
sightings but also rich in human contact. I met some absolutely lovely and very
helpful people there (Icelandic, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Scottish, Dutch,
German people). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Thank you to all the Icelandic Orcas’ team
and also to Láki Tours, especially captain Gísli.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-91801096261242318262016-01-20T10:03:00.000-08:002016-01-20T10:03:53.106-08:00Do whales have culture?<div lang="pt" style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Commentary</i></span><i style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> by Sara Tavares</span></i></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="pt" style="margin: 0in;">
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">What is
culture? Is culture something that makes us, humans, special?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">This was the theme of the last </span><a href="http://www.cafescientifique.org/" style="color: #3d85c6;" target="_blank">Café Scientifique</a> meeting I attended, a monthly evening public meeting in a café/bar where scientists are invited to talk about their work or another interesting topic. In the last one I attended in St Andrews, <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Luke Rendell talked about his latest book, co-authored with </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Hal Whitehead, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo12789830.html" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11pt;">"The
cultural lives of whales and dolphins"</a>,</span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">on the theme of culture in cetaceans.</span></div>
</div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So, what is
culture? </div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
How to define culture has been one of the biggest academic discussions.
Culture is not genetic, is not in the DNA. Broadly, culture is the accumulation
of knowledge that is passed across generations over time.</div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Different
sperm whale populations have different codas (stereotyped pattern of clicks)
and in the Pacific <a href="http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/hw/rendell&whitehead%20animal%20behaviour_2004.pdf"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">different
social groups make different codas</span></a> and some groups <a href="http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/lr/vocal%20clans%20in%20sperm%20whales.pdf"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">share
the same dialect</span></a> and temporarily spend time together. This is part of the
cultural identity of these whales and is not genetically transmitted, since
genetic studies showed a mix of genes between groups that <a href="http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/hw/Rendell_et_al_Behavior_Genetics.pdf" style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">mismatch
the dialect pattern</span></a>.</div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
This is just
one example for one species that shows the existence of culture in cetaceans.
Culture is probably vital for highly social animals such as cetaceans.<span style="background-color: white;"> One of the stories presented in the Café Scientifique meeting as </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white;">an interesting example of the importance</span> of cultural identity in whales was t</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">he story of
Keiko, the Icelandic killer whale. Keiko was captured when he was around 2 years old and kept for many years on his own in
a small tank. </span></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><img height="214" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/KeikoOrcaFreeWillyDec98.jpg" width="320" /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-GB">The killer whale Keiko, star of the film</span><span lang="pt"> </span><span lang="pt" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-style: italic;">Free Willy (source: Wikipedia)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
When adult,
Keiko was gradually freed in Vestmannaeyjar (where we conduct our fieldwork in
the summer), first kept in a sea pen for habituation. In one occasion, when
Keiko was accompanied by a boat with people involved in his re-introduction ,
he was approached by one killer whale that tried to interact with him going
"belly to belly", a common social behaviour among whales . However,
Keiko quickly swam away from the whale and "hid" behind the boat,
possibly scared by that unfamiliar behaviour.
After full release, Keiko eventually swam to Norway where he was adopted
by a fishing village and fed by humans, until he eventually died, probably from
pneumonia.</div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Keiko
couldn't be re-introduced in the Icelandic killer whale society because, after
being apart from these whales since a very young age, he didn't know the
culture.</div>
<br />
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Although
this is just one single story of only one whale it can still suggest to us how
important culture might be for cetaceans. So maybe the question shouldn't be
how to define culture but how many forms of culture there are. Because human
culture and whale culture are not the same, but they both exist and they are
both unique.<br />
<br />
Café Scientifique <span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">is currently active in more than 40 towns across the UK and in some cities in other countries. </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Check out on<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span>their </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://www.cafescientifique.org/index.php?option=com_iyosismaps&view=map&id=1&Itemid=477" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">website</span></a> </span>where and when is the next meeting in your town and join the discussions!</span></div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-44874889874066222742016-01-11T04:02:00.000-08:002016-01-11T04:02:53.897-08:00Goodbye 2015... Hello 2016!<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another year has passed... And what a year for the Icelandic Orca project. We had some amazing fieldseasons this last year, interesting findings about this unique population (you can get a full list of our project's publications to date <a href="http://www.icelandic-orcas.com/#publications" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">here</span></a>) and lots of new cool stuff for the project (new website, new logo and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/orcaoriginals/photos/pb.828323747195039.-2207520000.1452094948./1112986892062055/?type=3&theater" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Mousa</span></a>).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As "a picture is worth a thousand words" we selected some photos to share with you of moments to remember from 2015. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We want to thank everyone who collaborated with and supported the project and that was involved in making 2015 a year full of great developments!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thank you for the support during the past year. We are looking forward for a 2016 full of new discoveries about Icelandic orcas and to share them with you all!<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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c.parentNode.insertBefore(cp, c); })(); </script><noscript>Powered by Cincopa <a href='http://www.cincopa.com/video-hosting'>Video Cloud for Business</a> solution.</noscript>Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-85277730436692503742015-12-28T10:17:00.000-08:002015-12-29T02:33:19.160-08:00My 2015 SMM conference experience report<div style="font-size: 7.5pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: calibri; font-style: italic;">Commentary</span><span lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-style: italic;"> by Sara Tavares</span></div>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="https://www.marinemammalscience.org/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Society for Marine Mammalogy</span></a>
</span></span>(SMM) held its <a href="https://www.marinemammalscience.org/conference/conference-schedule/program-highlights-and-special-events/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">21<span style="vertical-align: super;">st </span>Biennial Conference on the Biology of
Marine Mammals</span></a> 1 week ago in San Francisco, California (USA). The theme of
the conference was "Bridging the past with the future", focusing on
the past and future of marine mammal science in a changing world. This SMM
conference was the biggest so far, with 1,536 abstracts submitted and over
2,200 registrants!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
There were
workshops, oral and poster presentations on a great variety of themes:
conservation, distribution and abundance, behaviour, polar ecology, health,
population assessment, ecology, climate change, acoustics, physiology, foraging
ecology, human dimensions, population biology, genetics, biology, anatomy,
evolution and education and communication. All the invited plenary talks were
brilliant and very inspiring. Also, during the whole conference week there were
a variety of art work in exhibit and special events to join.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh78_ZAcwxtzb9_o-HfmGA6Ru-LCTfqNrEULDsHK5LdaNxW42ys0Gh3yV1FVr0oxgctX45cw-7Td9Vy7lI2Ru1GPHq7JJi99tx5c5r2GWOIJRiIEu_MLh-QbaWnkbLWjFW7JNTx_ZobrEW/s1600/12391102_793767537418307_5019026148702535874_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh78_ZAcwxtzb9_o-HfmGA6Ru-LCTfqNrEULDsHK5LdaNxW42ys0Gh3yV1FVr0oxgctX45cw-7Td9Vy7lI2Ru1GPHq7JJi99tx5c5r2GWOIJRiIEu_MLh-QbaWnkbLWjFW7JNTx_ZobrEW/s400/12391102_793767537418307_5019026148702535874_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: start;">SMM San Francisco City Hall birthday celebration (photo by Tomoko Narazaki)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB">Personally,
it was my first SMM conference and I absolutely enjoyed it. It was overwhelming
the size of the conference, with so many people attending and so many
presentation sessions at the same time. But it was also great opportunity to
see friends and colleagues, meet so many interesting scientist and discuss your
work with others. We had the chance to choose which presentations to attend from
a variety of highly appealing options </span><span lang="pt">of topics, species
and locations around the world</span><span lang="en-GB">. </span><span lang="pt">We
got to see fascinating research about orcas in various subjects from acoustics
to interactions with fisheries and genetics. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="pt"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcql2bjY8o3sF_0DORoK9v8O80XuW3YWsT_gETOSkbh5T8x6DPyeFWDak7vJbrthvMWYFBVmfLfetpCMii9PDCI5RFp8yLMeuqevAqFyAWaKh6Q_WAXxT0k_-CuQFHMKCb8jSWkSx7rFmO/s1600/12342675_792404910887903_1795351753701896982_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcql2bjY8o3sF_0DORoK9v8O80XuW3YWsT_gETOSkbh5T8x6DPyeFWDak7vJbrthvMWYFBVmfLfetpCMii9PDCI5RFp8yLMeuqevAqFyAWaKh6Q_WAXxT0k_-CuQFHMKCb8jSWkSx7rFmO/s400/12342675_792404910887903_1795351753701896982_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: start;">Sara Tavares's oral presentation "The social structure of the Icelandic killer whale (</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; text-align: start;">Orcinus orca</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: start;">) population" at the 2015 SMM conference</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">It
was very gratifying to be able to present part of my PhD study on the social
structure of the Icelandic orca population. </span><span lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Thank you to
the SMM organizers for making this such a great meeting of </span><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">marine mammal scientists</span><span lang="pt" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">This was an amazing
and fruitful experience that I hope I
can repeat in 2 years again!</span></div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-14723657210133528382015-03-11T11:56:00.000-07:002015-03-11T11:56:10.920-07:00The herringTo better understand the orcas we also have to understand their environment and, specifically, what they are feeding upon. And in most places where we study them their main prey is an abundant silver fish: herring.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Filipa Samarra</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Herring is the unsung hero of this ecosystem. It supports the whales; in groups the whales encircle schools of herring and using their tails they slap a bunch of herring that gets stunned allowing the whales to feed on it one by one. But not all the stunned herring is eaten by the whales, so when the whales are feeding some uneaten herring floats to the surface. Seagulls and fullmars are quick to catch these and take advantage of the whales' work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NrXuDkwELg2V0YqZ9T1g_duJIkGiT5axtxghFc6P9MtMKKAF1m0OUSkAiOSuW46Hto8F3zOnYbfmcGzug3Ap9lukvOBr7XR9QLsXpRRPacjwXuGp8aXKbmRYa0aHGeOQKsBGGsCj2QrA/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-15-20-16_IMG_5755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1NrXuDkwELg2V0YqZ9T1g_duJIkGiT5axtxghFc6P9MtMKKAF1m0OUSkAiOSuW46Hto8F3zOnYbfmcGzug3Ap9lukvOBr7XR9QLsXpRRPacjwXuGp8aXKbmRYa0aHGeOQKsBGGsCj2QrA/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-15-20-16_IMG_5755.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Sara Tavares</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then there are the beautiful gannets. They wait until the whales have rounded up a nice ball of herring and then plunge the water in pursuit of some fish too. It is an incredible sound hearing a group of gannets simultaneously diving into the water. And we always wonder how they don't hit the whales and well...sometimes they do!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwbQRdUbW0NYYa2I63eg-JZf0rW37kP7kEruU7q7KR228ymalXRFMk1TFNvaNOroQaTetdHJWQMlCLBRAaZ_kV_d9PPsIjYZckWK6iLajAV-aYYD_EkHl1awNJ_WgQHMZ21Uo3Gy7hYhb/s1600/IS_ST_2014-02-05-11-30-09_IMG_6132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwbQRdUbW0NYYa2I63eg-JZf0rW37kP7kEruU7q7KR228ymalXRFMk1TFNvaNOroQaTetdHJWQMlCLBRAaZ_kV_d9PPsIjYZckWK6iLajAV-aYYD_EkHl1awNJ_WgQHMZ21Uo3Gy7hYhb/s1600/IS_ST_2014-02-05-11-30-09_IMG_6132.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Sara Tavares</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And of course there are also the sea eagles we see in the winter and the skuas we see in the summer. But it's not just birds, we also see white-beaked dolphins and seals in the area, which are probably also getting their fare share of the silver prey. And there's also all the unseen fish, like cod, preying on herring.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59_yrT-NMCH5dGcF2uPu1y2pxG4vUqpkv2lRueGAV1gfxvNhLT6GX0UQIb1QnNeZXceMvxQKL0Mti32qOPQt3JpxuKVThabFcrNbUfDa3hVvMtsFhsQj_LsLroIuEi11bI0hlcaREP9rI/s1600/IS_LLKG_2014-07-24-17-21-43_DSC_0088.jpg" height="248" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Leticiaà Legat</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89AqY9ke_HimwHQgjt9e6vym88bJVM0PeJ5xi82OY79jx11lCHQstPyCB_oXC7b45OoJIvnv0rMty5lL_vYewy29EuoZJ3xv_Q3Q6BlpZKDYs-YfCX1bGs9LBNy4PT67z3au8It3vyWuC/s1600/IS_MN_2015-03-01-15-34-38_IMG_1008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89AqY9ke_HimwHQgjt9e6vym88bJVM0PeJ5xi82OY79jx11lCHQstPyCB_oXC7b45OoJIvnv0rMty5lL_vYewy29EuoZJ3xv_Q3Q6BlpZKDYs-YfCX1bGs9LBNy4PT67z3au8It3vyWuC/s1600/IS_MN_2015-03-01-15-34-38_IMG_1008.JPG" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Miguel Neves</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2xK4mZdjqG8LctvAGpsI9zu_cfOStbuhdNnnOr_MHgU_t2iXlq8DuhDc8dz13oY1fTovqqz1JMdX9lBgGMeRALvjWttjIVQvAUQWdnR-iPaCf1fFJmf2TRR5hsYoUjpPtO0yFEPl7hjo/s1600/IS_MR_13-03-26-15-04-39_IMG_5792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2xK4mZdjqG8LctvAGpsI9zu_cfOStbuhdNnnOr_MHgU_t2iXlq8DuhDc8dz13oY1fTovqqz1JMdX9lBgGMeRALvjWttjIVQvAUQWdnR-iPaCf1fFJmf2TRR5hsYoUjpPtO0yFEPl7hjo/s1600/IS_MR_13-03-26-15-04-39_IMG_5792.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Marjoleine Roos</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLMgqrIAu2M_VV8JIKLVwiXqlBqr_r5Hfl8XaWT9FpgaQytP-J-mawXictI40fpV8UTxSTv9JDO0LRUo7bAMHGr5CaZ53Q9DqVRo9cZ4Bcifs7Q95a9fE3EDxvAEYdLwavz19MUibfVb8/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-07-12-25-47_IMG_7467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLMgqrIAu2M_VV8JIKLVwiXqlBqr_r5Hfl8XaWT9FpgaQytP-J-mawXictI40fpV8UTxSTv9JDO0LRUo7bAMHGr5CaZ53Q9DqVRo9cZ4Bcifs7Q95a9fE3EDxvAEYdLwavz19MUibfVb8/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-07-12-25-47_IMG_7467.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Sara Tavares</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although many different species can depend on herring, the herring itself is a tricky prey and this year we have seen how the herring distribution can quickly change. Up until 2014, there was a huge amount of herring overwintering in the fjords of<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Grundarfjörður and Kolgrafafjörður</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But this year although the herring stock estimates indicate it is still quite a healthy stock, the amount of herring present in this area is much smaller. This is because the majority of the stock is spending the winter in the offshore waters further West. In fact the herring only started coming to this area in large numbers in 2006, following yet another shift in its distribution (see <a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/66/8/1762" target="_blank">this study</a> for more information). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is quite a mystery exactly why herring shifts its overwintering location. During winter, herring doesn't feed and it is mainly trying to avoid spending energy or being predated, and it often chooses coastal areas to do so. It is not possible to predict how long the herring will remain offshore or even what proportion of the stock will do so. It could be that in the winter of 2016, a large proportion of the stock once again travels to the fjords to overwinter, as it did in the last few years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Interestingly, it seems that it is during winter that the herring aggregates in higher numbers in relatively small areas. Throughout the rest of the year, the stock can be much more dispersed. And with the herring come the whales, so it is no surprise that it is in the winter months that we can see the largest aggregations of whales too. In fact, it is only in winter that some individuals can be seen around Iceland, as it seems that during summer they go elsewhere (see <a href="http://icelandic-orcas.blogspot.com/2014/05/from-iceland-to-scotland.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">our post about matches to Scotland</span></a>). So there is a lot that can be learnt about orcas by having the herring in accessible locations during winter, as only then can we follow the lives of some whales. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So we keep our fingers crossed that this has been an odd winter, and that next year the herring return to familiar shores!</span>Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-32656449174650231832014-08-29T12:46:00.002-07:002014-08-29T12:47:08.282-07:00A whale not seen for 20 years!We were amazed this summer when we photographed an adult male we didn't recognise and after some searching realised he had last been seen in 1994! Yes, 20 years ago! 9459 is the code it was assigned when first seen and added to the catalogue of Icelandic killer whales existing at the time. Since then it had never been seen again until our first day out in the water this summer. There he was, in a large aggregation of whales just off Geirfuglasker in Vestmannaeyjar.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h9OxlDSN3rrXsVHuIM3deVBITmJv-Y0QBTQfuKWYYwgH5_Y8vSYFfcPG2heVUDtMyTkpYhXcfDl8RI6VfltSQ7elmQMbcTQQS9soUyZNnrPV5tHWC2Cwb3yPUNAOmSxildAXxRT0cWmR/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-13-04-59_IMG_4830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h9OxlDSN3rrXsVHuIM3deVBITmJv-Y0QBTQfuKWYYwgH5_Y8vSYFfcPG2heVUDtMyTkpYhXcfDl8RI6VfltSQ7elmQMbcTQQS9soUyZNnrPV5tHWC2Cwb3yPUNAOmSxildAXxRT0cWmR/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-13-04-59_IMG_4830.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">9459 seen in Vestmannaeyjar.</td></tr>
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This incredible sighting shows us some interesting things. First, it tells us he is an old male! Most likely he is at least in his 40s, since he was already a fully grown adult male when first identified in 1994. Second, it shows how little we still know about this population. Unlike populations in other parts of the world, there haven't been dedicated long-term efforts following Icelandic killer whales. Studies first started in the 1980s by the Marine Research Institute, but much of what has been studied about these animals since then has come from opportunistic studies or short-term studies, with dedicated effort for a few years.<br />
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Much of the difficulty of studying killer whales in Iceland comes with unpredictable changes in their distribution as they follow their herring prey which changes its location throughout the year and between years. And of course, many locations where whales occur are difficult to access or exposed to weather making working conditions, well, unworkable! This is why it is so important to have as much help as possible! Sighting reports from anyone out at sea that comes across killer whales makes it possible to understand which whales go where. <br />
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Of course some animals may be only occasional visitors in Iceland and so will not be seen for long periods of time simply because they are elsewhere. But we don't know if this is the case! Long-term studies and wide coverage make it possible to have an idea of the residency patterns of whales in Icelandic coastal waters that help us answer questions such as that. <br />
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And it is not just knowing the whereabouts of whales. By regularly following who is around we can better understand birth rates, mortality rates and we can even estimate how many whales are likely to live in Icelandic coastal waters. All this information help us understand if the population is doing well or is facing any threats. As top predators, these whales play a very important role in the food chain so knowing more about them is crucial to our understanding of the whole ecosystem.<br />
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Find out below how you can help!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_1rF00GmkUeLFCjhcdux3ToEdObmR-5N2CploUtaFhMy1Py7KWGiqPn_G3fsyk-BisASv8y5KyLuciTu4B8bqacHOXSc7qs3Nggk5ulruroY8mA_BAacc6MpdP6uPTDeaQ7HjpQ0rL3g/s1600/poster+photoID+public.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_1rF00GmkUeLFCjhcdux3ToEdObmR-5N2CploUtaFhMy1Py7KWGiqPn_G3fsyk-BisASv8y5KyLuciTu4B8bqacHOXSc7qs3Nggk5ulruroY8mA_BAacc6MpdP6uPTDeaQ7HjpQ0rL3g/s1600/poster+photoID+public.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-2601497265935081382014-08-10T03:24:00.001-07:002014-08-10T03:43:49.196-07:00Thank you team!This summer we went back to the beautiful Westman islands. For most the weather was terrible in the Southwest of Iceland, but somehow on 'killer whale land' things seemed to work out! We had beautiful weather to start and to end our season but a variety of weather conditions in between. Yet luckily the whales changed their distribution throughout July and came ever closer to Heimaey, the island where we were living. In the last two days the whales were just hugging Heimaey's west coast (we could see them from the window of the house) and made for a spectacular sight to all the locals that went out to see it. It is not often you get such calm waters in Vestmannaeyjar as we had in our last couple of days (see video), what a nice way to say goodbye to this wonderful place.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxsPuhZEWchPrjtWPS18WJsFUQsxSieCQ8z1MPWe7XfwYYofeZTZjfs2do3WHp41H7bMwLiMGW5KPa4x9x9pQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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The slow change in the location where whales were found made it possible for us to make use of short weather windows to go out in the water. Key to this was searching from Heimaey's weather station. This is the highest point on the island and it has incredible views over the southern part of the archipelago. It allowed us to check what the sea state looked like in different parts of the archipelago and, most importantly, spot where the whales might be! In fact going to the weather station to spot for whales was a daily routine and helped us make sure we could quickly get to where the whales were. Time was of the essence when high winds were fast approaching!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiue77N-keexwbnMd1zvneg-ODBb3gMs0aRJA9Kt0hiShE5kYQ2aWxocPLOQ67fat9rIGdOyEL-lQ8XlFpMib5CND7UfFpoH7_D_KCOch8STLsnTxoKTRAD3IfIATtuMVyQr7E4Z-nCDzYz/s1600/scoping.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiue77N-keexwbnMd1zvneg-ODBb3gMs0aRJA9Kt0hiShE5kYQ2aWxocPLOQ67fat9rIGdOyEL-lQ8XlFpMib5CND7UfFpoH7_D_KCOch8STLsnTxoKTRAD3IfIATtuMVyQr7E4Z-nCDzYz/s1600/scoping.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The team (David, Filipa, <span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gaëtan,</span></span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span>Katy, Leticiaà, Paul, Sara and Volker) at the weather station looking at a passing humpback whale. A great place to see all the islands and spot whales!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Courses/SubjectAreas/ForestryOutdoor/Meetthestaff/VolkerDeecke.aspx" target="_blank">Dr. Volker Deecke</a> and PhD student <a href="http://cumbria.ac.uk/Courses/SubjectAreas/ForestryOutdoor/Meetthestaff/Leticia%C3%A0Legat.aspx" target="_blank">Leticiaà Legat</a> from the University of Cumbria joined us this summer and with them brought a towed hydrophone array. With this we were ready to multitask! We could use the towed array to make acoustic recordings while on the move following whales to get photographs for photo-id. Whenever possible we also attempted to collect skin samples which will be used for studies on the whales' diet, genetics and pollutant levels. The only thing the short weather windows did not allow us to attempt was tagging. This was because the tag, attached with suction cups, stays on the whale for a few hours during which we follow the whale to then recover the tag once it comes off and floats at the surface. But getting the tag on is anything but easy and so requires a longer day out in the water.<br />
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Despite the weather we managed to collect enough data to end with a very happy smile in our faces. But none of this would have been possible without the rest of the team: Katy Gavrilchuck, David Gaspard and Gaëtan Richard. Katy and David were the skilled skippers and Gaëtan helped with everything from acoustics to biopsy sampling. The next few months will be spent analysing all the precious information we collected and we will keep you posted on our findings. But in our memories will remain the good times we spent in Heimaey with a great bunch of people!<br />
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Thank you everyone for making this a fantastic field season!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSWTINBfrim7KsSqwaQWy4HkitjxC8DxYp1REdu6p60Skl1UtoTdD0QqziEmzDxUjMD7Srnn__dixpEipN4SRWbRiZwoMkL7Q6H-2xNKv0w0XrhB2gT6frayZeIiRMTY4-mVuFjU0lLvh/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-26-13-32-34_IMG_8107+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSWTINBfrim7KsSqwaQWy4HkitjxC8DxYp1REdu6p60Skl1UtoTdD0QqziEmzDxUjMD7Srnn__dixpEipN4SRWbRiZwoMkL7Q6H-2xNKv0w0XrhB2gT6frayZeIiRMTY4-mVuFjU0lLvh/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-26-13-32-34_IMG_8107+copy.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult male surfaces with Heimaey in the background (photo by Sara Tavares).</td></tr>
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<br />Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-16193542713280619562014-07-20T09:58:00.002-07:002014-07-20T09:58:48.773-07:00We are on Facebook!We have just started our Facebook page! You can visit it <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Icelandic-Orcas/527377800723950?ref=hl" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-27069336839333192162014-07-09T09:33:00.001-07:002014-07-09T09:33:25.988-07:00Week 1It's been one week since we arrived in Vestmannaeyjar to start the summer field season of 2014. We arrived to stormy days but as we needed a few days to work on the equipment and Tango this gave us the time to be ready for the good weather when it arrived. And Sunday was the day! Beautiful weather, the kind you rarely get in this part of the world. Flat seas, blue skies, sun shining and no wind. Perfect!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtw_jyWUNOhhTClUjz-ZN9Erjz_zuxYcqBZA25hFOH0xGayCfKqLmQcxOJ6ydVLvX2_6Hw55HrsutgcA926JEsjOISu3vTruLxBrsLXDjXK0WisXuqf5uQSD1GjDFzEl2mMrha31R9ShV/s1600/IMG_0266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtw_jyWUNOhhTClUjz-ZN9Erjz_zuxYcqBZA25hFOH0xGayCfKqLmQcxOJ6ydVLvX2_6Hw55HrsutgcA926JEsjOISu3vTruLxBrsLXDjXK0WisXuqf5uQSD1GjDFzEl2mMrha31R9ShV/s1600/IMG_0266.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back in the beautiful Westman islands. The view from the top of Eldfell on Heimaey island, showing most of the other islands of the archipelago in the distance.</td></tr>
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We started heading West to where we had seen killer whales in previous years while the land team was searching the area southwest of Heimaey, all the way to Surtsey, where we know the whales are seen regularly too. This way we covered most of the area where we were likely to find them. After about 2 hours of sailing and searching we get the call from the land team: whales near Geirfuglasker. We were close so it was perfect timing!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp6q-ySuQ3ymGBkzOLmumgdwKXgrIo8S8aooa4Jqooiw2b1ccMGdgrVxS_dbl_CxIbvnNBxYKNFs4dcX2WMObqA7EYfWVzE8jRsNO_gN0NLRLm3V1hJlgHl7YJOYmEnH_fWii5mXREU8V/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-15-20-16_IMG_5755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp6q-ySuQ3ymGBkzOLmumgdwKXgrIo8S8aooa4Jqooiw2b1ccMGdgrVxS_dbl_CxIbvnNBxYKNFs4dcX2WMObqA7EYfWVzE8jRsNO_gN0NLRLm3V1hJlgHl7YJOYmEnH_fWii5mXREU8V/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-15-20-16_IMG_5755.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herring laying at the surface of the water (after being stunned by the whales tail slaps) is snatched up by the many seabirds flying above feeding whales.</td></tr>
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When we arrived we saw this was a large aggregation of whales and we stayed in the area the whole day. We recognised some individuals right away and particularly one whale which we knew only from a picture donated to us by one of the tour guides of the <a href="http://vikingtours.is/" target="_blank">Viking Tours</a> boat. Sighted in 2010, the whale we numbered IS118 was easily recognisable due to the shape of its dorsal fin. It was like seeing someone you know but haven't seen in a really long time although we had actually never seen him ourselves! What an amazing sight!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTCkbNWF3WM4zJwVLaFhiJL7W0CW-r_MGEyLK2DWO0W-b0LKC_hf3zW7o06WhsFC6-BZflrnrS5VWeo6W5E0IEpb1s0OQdt6Yx6nUqFMqGG8_q1lWOcmqsxiGZ3lRL4YOEPhBtFKO8K6D/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTCkbNWF3WM4zJwVLaFhiJL7W0CW-r_MGEyLK2DWO0W-b0LKC_hf3zW7o06WhsFC6-BZflrnrS5VWeo6W5E0IEpb1s0OQdt6Yx6nUqFMqGG8_q1lWOcmqsxiGZ3lRL4YOEPhBtFKO8K6D/s1600/Untitled.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IS118 seen in Vestmannaeyjar.</td></tr>
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It was a perfect day that ended with an unexpected sighting of pilot whales! We had never seen pilot whales in these waters and talking to some of the locals they had neither, so it was quite a rare event. We saw a group of about 12-15 individuals swimming fast, but the report of one of the <a href="http://www.ribsafari.is/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">Ribsafari</a> boats suggested there was another group also swimming fast nearer to Surtsey so there may have been different groups in the area. We didn't stay for long as we had to start heading home but we still managed to grab some pictures of this unusual sighting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGN3kzdyZrAz7iNviM_-p3XuWT7H44pDUGLwZA384OBJo7ui2Ka_8r8tJguqWRnDuRiGFAMmeObRfNGHbuPfG7oJR_0yid2WtGSJcPp0gNXwM3Ba_zNa1UjvjxmLL0Jbap39w1FUypkY9a/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-17-29-48_IMG_7090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGN3kzdyZrAz7iNviM_-p3XuWT7H44pDUGLwZA384OBJo7ui2Ka_8r8tJguqWRnDuRiGFAMmeObRfNGHbuPfG7oJR_0yid2WtGSJcPp0gNXwM3Ba_zNa1UjvjxmLL0Jbap39w1FUypkY9a/s1600/IS_ST_2014-07-06-17-29-48_IMG_7090.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Over the next 2 days the weather got progressively worse but we still managed to work for half a day on both days. The whales have been consistently in the same general area and it looks like it has been mostly the same groups that are around. Week 1 has been eventful and we have been extremely lucky to find so many whales and get so much done already. We will keep you posted how the rest of the month progresses and in the meantime keep our fingers crossed for good weather and plenty of whales!Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-6808593693556652562014-06-21T12:16:00.000-07:002014-06-21T12:16:43.221-07:00Keeping an EAR on the whalesIn the last winter season sometimes it really felt like the whales were playing tricks on us! One day we went early in the morning for our daily morning check to see what the weather looked like and whether there were any whales in the fjord. As soon as we arrive at the viewpoint, perched high above the inner part of Kolgrafafjordur, we spot the whales! The weather however is not good so we can't go out, but at least we can try to photograph them if they come close to shore, for example to go under the Kolgrafafjordur bridge. We come back home to tell the rest of the team what the plan is, fetch the photo-id camera and head back to the fjord. The whole round trip must have taken 15 minutes, we go back and the whales are gone! This happened not just once but on a few occasions. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1aQsmd_xji47awjBMQ0EX4iOZ1Es78Q9WWqiN-owHzbNbF1OFBAFGx5tH6uQXlJfeSCoChIMqbOnywyEx8dA4DuAWQoovdFsFZh5FWjBnf4PpTocQLWpmXIoOSxNkJ8CuIXPGvR95o4p/s1600/IMG_3109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1aQsmd_xji47awjBMQ0EX4iOZ1Es78Q9WWqiN-owHzbNbF1OFBAFGx5tH6uQXlJfeSCoChIMqbOnywyEx8dA4DuAWQoovdFsFZh5FWjBnf4PpTocQLWpmXIoOSxNkJ8CuIXPGvR95o4p/s1600/IMG_3109.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from Kolgrafafjordur viewpoint. In the centre you can see the bridge separating the inner fjord from the outer part of the fjord. A great place to spot the whales!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHcwBV-BT5XK1zxfOFUKdjlR0IYDX8pOGBrqG0G5dT5Ec-5s9R2_cF3E6agYbUBSIrMx8sQhEYsFc1hfbmL8MOUG0uq5MGAyokiCU9Q-H5BZmGZW7KcPXWHpZuJOXsfG763UQ83wCMWZa/s1600/IS_FIPS_2014-03-01-16-17-31_IMG_1774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHcwBV-BT5XK1zxfOFUKdjlR0IYDX8pOGBrqG0G5dT5Ec-5s9R2_cF3E6agYbUBSIrMx8sQhEYsFc1hfbmL8MOUG0uq5MGAyokiCU9Q-H5BZmGZW7KcPXWHpZuJOXsfG763UQ83wCMWZa/s1600/IS_FIPS_2014-03-01-16-17-31_IMG_1774.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A common sight last winter: people waiting at the bridge for the whales to go under. It did make for a spectacular show particularly when the whales had to cross against the strong current.</td></tr>
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Luckily this year some of the hard work was done for us. Better yet, we could keep track of the whales for 24 hours a day and even in stormy weather! We had an autonomous acoustic recorder called the <a href="http://www.oceanwidescience.org/docs/EAR.htm" target="_blank">EAR (Ecological Acoustic Recorder)</a>. Thanks to Dr. Marc Lammers, from the <a href="http://www.oceanwidescience.org/" target="_blank">Oceanwide Science Institute</a>, we deployed an EAR in late February on the inner part of the fjord where the whales spent most of their time. It stayed in the fjord for more than one month, recording the sounds in the environment for 5 minutes every 10 minutes. This meant that by the end of the season we had more than 400 hours of recordings to go through! But because the EAR was there for such a long time it provided us valuable information about when whales were present in the inner part of the fjord, as long as they were producing sounds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMZ_hUWuLUgrH48n8BhQNyta9zWvtKtXfmSOcvKuGdQZH7j_rm8BND9oWE4TNW9j1uqw2-6oa4t0xqdLvxGBHaxw-2lIx21BrdZhX5yVI5Ao04QMqLDE8VRMzUQgjam7nUxCnMMW1yTlz/s1600/IMG_3084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMZ_hUWuLUgrH48n8BhQNyta9zWvtKtXfmSOcvKuGdQZH7j_rm8BND9oWE4TNW9j1uqw2-6oa4t0xqdLvxGBHaxw-2lIx21BrdZhX5yVI5Ao04QMqLDE8VRMzUQgjam7nUxCnMMW1yTlz/s1600/IMG_3084.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deploying the EAR buoy</td></tr>
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400 hours may sound like a lot, but going through all these recordings has been fascinating. We have learned that the whales came to the fjord to feed often during the night! This type of information would have been impossible for us to gather with our usual methods, as we cannot work during hours of darkness.<br />
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But it is not like the whales were only feeding at night. Or for that matter it's not even like they would be there every night. So what is it that determines their choice of when to go feeding in a particular area or when to leave? Our photographic records seem to suggest that the whales may come to the fjords for a few days but then leave and only come back a few days (or weeks) later. Where they go in the meantime is unknown. But it certainly looks like they are constantly on the move!<br />
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It is not uncommon for killer whales to move around. <a href="http://icelandic-orcas.blogspot.com/2014/05/from-iceland-to-scotland.html">Our recent post</a> about the movements between Iceland and Scotland is a testament to just that and long movements are known also in other populations. But we are still far from understanding the finer details of what drives killer whales to move between areas or to temporarily leave what seem to be good feeding grounds, as they do in Iceland. Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-31998433878369540962014-06-10T09:49:00.002-07:002014-06-10T09:49:38.828-07:00Get updatedGet the most recent information about Icelandic orcas by following our blog by email. Just fill in your email on the box on the right and you will automatically receive on your inbox the latest blog posts. Make sure you don't miss a thing!Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-19900545027200402662014-05-22T09:40:00.000-07:002014-05-22T09:40:00.282-07:00Update on IF-4Since the last post we have received new pictures of the sighting of IF-4 in Caithness and the news is not good...it is now possible to see that she looks very emaciated, that is, in poor nutrition condition which indicates she hasn't been getting enough food for a while...<br />
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This could be a result of having made the long journey from Iceland to Scotland and feeding little during the journey, but if she has reached this state of poor condition the prospects for the future of this 'old lady' are not good...on the other hand, if she finds a regular and plentiful supply of food in Scotland she might just recover! Our knowledge of how these whales cope with periods of low food supply is limited, to say the least, but going through these periods may actually be more regular than we think.<br />
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It just goes to show how much we can learn from the pictures you take and provide to our research. We will keep an even sharper eye next winter and hope to see the familiar fin of IF-4 breaking the waters of Kolgrafafjordur, but in the meantime if you have any sightings of her or any other whales near you do please get in touch!Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3675002756616585954.post-35244052089128906892014-05-16T04:43:00.000-07:002014-05-16T04:43:20.945-07:00From Iceland to Scotland!We have just heard the breaking news! IF-4, one of the old timers of Iceland, first identified in the 1980's, has been seen off Caithness, in the North of Scotland by the <a href="http://www.caithness-seacoast.co.uk/" target="_blank">Caithness Seacoast</a> tour company just a few days ago. But here's where it gets interesting, just a few months ago we were sailing the waters of Kolgrafafjordur following this female up in Iceland! So this is exciting stuff, these whales do go far for a bit of food. Check out their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/caithnessseawatching" target="_blank">facebook</a> page where you can see a picture of the right side of this female and look below - see if you can spot the similarities!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIdMtNUL_Rt7bAlzAX62zPrXbutUxYqUweGQNwVyt60NulovDQxEKJvWPmf1xCL52NTanO7Ix1XL4fnQferS3BRZBhcARm-kW0HNP_eKgRxf_wnVw62tGzCTuYsOzoyWkjq11hMhhyphenhyphenjMq/s1600/IF-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIdMtNUL_Rt7bAlzAX62zPrXbutUxYqUweGQNwVyt60NulovDQxEKJvWPmf1xCL52NTanO7Ix1XL4fnQferS3BRZBhcARm-kW0HNP_eKgRxf_wnVw62tGzCTuYsOzoyWkjq11hMhhyphenhyphenjMq/s1600/IF-4.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left side of IF-4</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAm_rX3cvcBt7P0n5NpGsWRHlNlCBS4P-mVY6pNHtzbYOoiEzxBcIDGDFBdmHwgBH4T61DAceOYBXvoQDZ48LhasmFhD-_ugvnzuntigrpi0Z8zyq9xgQhdBQoqGeJPKnl2B9uznhMW3h/s1600/IF-4+RHS.jpg" height="145" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right side of IF-4</td></tr>
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We are conducting a study gathering all our years of photographs from Iceland to look at the movements of orcas around these waters, and relating it to other locations where they might be found, such as Scotland. So contributions from local tour operators and the public are crucial to our understanding of where these whales go throughout the year. So if you see whales near you get in touch. </div>
Icelandic Orcashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05604348629700877170noreply@blogger.com0