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Friday, August 27
Update: Posted SAT Aug 28 - 1:00 pm ET
Journal Entry
Heather Edmunds
We are now in Les Mechins. Our day went pretty well and we spotted two blue whales in morning (when we left our anchorage). Luckily Sarah, Geoff and I were on watch first thing this morning so we spotted them. One of the whales we were able photo ID and then get a positive match in Richard's catalogue of 400 whales they have ID'ed over the past 26 years. Her name was Mantis, and she was first seen in the St. Lawrence in 1990 and has been spotted regularly ever since.
There were also other whales around, two finbacks (along with the blue whales) and there were at least 150 harbour porpoises. We haven't really seen anything much else all day because of the fog, but all in all at least we got to see what we did see. It was foggy (misty) pretty much all of the day which made it harder for us to spot the whales. While Sarah, Geoff and I were on watch the second time, Sarah and I had a visitor that happened to be a weird looking bug, we named him, Billy Joe Bug (his friend Billy Bob bug accidentally got stepped on by Jackson). He posed for our pictures and we wanted to put them on the website but Geoff didn't really seem to think it was a good idea to put our little weird friend on the web. I guess tomorrow if he shows up we can tell him that he isn't good looking enough to go on the web just yet. Hopefully we will have whales tomorrow so we won't have to be looking at bugs!!
We anchored here in Les Mechins so we could have a chance to spot more blue whales tomorrow on our way to Matane. We made the most of the evening by going into town to explore what was there. We walked around and hadn't found very much but an ice cream parlour (that's about it that was open) and BOYS. It wasn't very exciting but we were on land again, which doesn't seem to be very interesting anymore… When we returned to the SEDNA, Richard gave us a great Powerpoint presentation on Blue whales!
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Earlier entries below
Update: Posted 6:45 pm ET
Carol Francis, Chaperone
Whether the weather…
The big question traveling at sea is, whether the weather will cooperate with the expedition. This is much different than traveling on land, where you can follow a planned route easily. Here conditions can change daily, and the weather report can sound the same and be totally different than what you might imagine.
Two nights ago, I heard the weather report, winds for yesterday morning, increasing after noon, and figured, another day lost to whale watching. Wrong! Thankfully! I was lazy about getting up, only to hear the call, two blue whales together! And then I heard, you are going out in the zodiac. I hustled down to put on many layers anticipating a cold ride.
Wrong again, it was a beautiful day, calms seas, no real wind, and I was quickly shedding clothing. The pair went down several times, and suddenly they were close, and heading TOWARDS us! I kid you not! What a thrill, seeing the huge front ends and curved backs, coming our way! This happened several times. And the lighting was good, so Richard was able to quickly get photos of each side of each whale, for later identification.
Now for the tricky part! The whales aren't going to like this, and we have to do two biopsies, which means two separate sightings… The lead whale was probably the female, and larger, more settled, and this was the one to biopsy first. Geoff got in close with the Zodiac and Richard got a clean shot of the crossbow, which takes out a plug of skin and blubber, and then it was my job to point to the arrow until he retrieved it. I also gave the spot of the shot on the whale.
One biopsy done, and the lead whale dove right away, with the flank whale definitely reacting. We got to watch while Denise did the labels for the tubes, Lauren got the water temperature, and Richard did the tubes. Then we saw the whales surface, but far away, and they went back down quickly after only one breath. The good thing about whales is that they have to breathe at the surface, so they are going to come up. The bad thing is that blue whales are very fast, and can come up far away where you least expect them.
And then we got lucky, as they surfaced not far from us. We moved up beside the flank whale, between the two almost, and get a clear shot for the biopsy. The flank whale was probably a male, and staying with the female to get her used to them being a potential pair, for later mating. He was also smaller, and more nervous than the female, and he accelerated right before coming up to dive, making it thrilling to be next to him!
I finally got my great photos of whales! Lauren was tracking the second arrow, so I was right next to the flank whale with only the camera to worry about. Even I can get that shot! Boy, are they huge! And so blue and beautiful under water! I thought the images I had heard about would be wrong, but they are a beautiful pale blue, nearly luminescent!
What a glorious day yesterday turned out to be! Today, we had a good weather report, and are socked in with fog with lousy visibility. Like I said, whether the weather…
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Journal Entry
Jeff Nochasak
Just Jeff
Hopedale Labrador
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I hate doing journals, but I am having a great trip. Finding some whales, having fun climbing the masts really high in the air. Playing some board games, and watching movies. Getting mad at the laptop when trying to type the words. Eating some Fudge O cookies. Going to sleep early, waking up early in the morning, and having breakfast. And I got no more to say.
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2:30 pm ET
GEOFF - by phone - perched half-way up SEDNA’s mast!!
Good afternoon everyone - just checking in to say that all is well ... and that following our successful morning start we have been somewhat hampered by fog - so we have have not been able to spot additional Blues since then.
We are heading west toward Les Mechins - where we will dock later this afternoon so that we can go hiking and exploring a bit on shore. The fog is starting to break - so we are confident in a new day tomorrow filled with whale research results!
Some additional pics ...
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6:00am (Posted 9:30 am ET)
Geoff
Another early start to the day. We anchored in Mont Louis last night after along and wonderful day. We saw 4 Blues and several other whales during our westward journey up the St. Lawrence. We were able to photo ID and biopsy three of the Blue whales, and each of the students has now been out in the Zodiac to participate in this exciting process.
The highlight for me was bringing the Zodiac up between two Blues and looking over to the portside to see the entire length of one of the Blues just under the water. The whales were quite relaxed and we cruised along side by side. It was amazing to be in that moment.
At the end of our long day, we sat around the mess table and had a great discussion about the expedition so far and the remaining days to come. We also talked about many of the environmental threats facing the St. Lawrence and the whales on a local scale, as well as our global ecosystem on a larger scale. These are complex problems and questions. But one thing that emerged as certain is that we need to be better stewards of our environment.
(Webmaster note: Armchair expeditioners, please take the time to visit: One-Tonne-Challenge - you can make a difference!!)
These magnificent whales can't do anything to clean up the toxins and other pollutants being pumped into the St. Lawrence. Only we can. The whales (and lets use them as a symbol for all other species we share this planet with) live with the consequences of our actions.
I often find that the beauty of the youth perspective on these issues is in their simplicity and passion. They have not yet become jaded or cynical, and they believe that things should change and be done because it is the right thing to do. They have not yet experienced the frustrating game of politics, bureaucracy, and competing interests that slows, compromises or even stops conservation and environmental protection measures from happening.
The Blue whale is an endangered species. This means it is in imminent danger of extinction. Yet here in the St. Lawrence River, our country's greatest river, there are still only meetings taking place with regards to implementing a recovery and protection plan. However, nothing concrete has really been done to implement this plan.
Surely we can protect our planet's largest inhabitant?! One of the outcomes of our discussion last night is that the students are going to produce a document expressing their feeling, impressions and ideas from this expedition. Perhaps, this will help in some small way to encourage the environmental ethic and culture of conservation which our planet desperately needs. Stay tuned…
Well, so far this morning we've traveled less that 2 miles and we've come across two Blue whales and two Fin whales! Another day with the whales as begun. How lucky we are…
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Journal Entry
Jeff Nochasak
Hopedale, Labrador
I'm really having a lot of fun out here. I got to meet really good friends on the boat. The boat is named Sedna 4. The friends I have met are really good friends. One of them is from the Mohawk people, and one more person is from Germany, she is a really nice person, and the rest of my friends are from Canada. That's all I have to say about the friends I've just met.
The other thing I have to say is I am having a lot of fun, seeing the whales, the type of whales I have seen were minkes, humpbacks, fins, harbor seals, well a lot of seals of course. And the last of course is the biggest whale on earth, the "Blue Whale". The whales are so great out here in Quebec, Canada, and we are seeing more whales than back home.
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