Not much going on in whale world on the water for us these days. I heard reports of 4 or 5 humpbacks hanging out between Vancouver Island and Texada Island but we’ve been quite busy working.
Last month was about books to curl up and hibernate with during the dark days of winter.This month it’s time for cultural celebrations. And what better way to celebrate than by watching films about whales and interspecies communication?
Youtube is full of close encounters between humans and cetaceans, which I love. The excitement of the humans is in their voices. Even adult voices become squeaky as they leap up 2 octaves when confronted by the awesome presence of a 30 tonne whale approaching their boat. It’s a palpable primal reaction.
But there is little to fear. SLOW DOWN, don’t crowd, make sure you know where they are and they know where you are. It’s best if they can hear you so a slow or idling engine is helpful. If they approach you? it is an experience you will never forget and a story you will retell hundreds of times. Maybe you’ll even make a video!
Back to the many wonderful films about whales:
Of course any of the BBC series like “The Blue Planet”, “Planet Earth”, “Life of Mammals”, “Nature’s Great Events” offer state of the art production values and thrilling footage. The “making of” shorts they made of how they got the footage are fascinating too, especially for budding filmmakers.
National Geographic has become quite sensationalist in their approach to nature films since being bought out by Rupert Murdoch but this is a good one .
“Ocean Voyager” Whale Documentary – The Biggest Sea Creatures || National Geographic 2015
Story of a humpback mother and calf. The video repeats at 51:16
https://youtu.be/DWv8JRRl1s8
“The Birthplace of the Giants” in Northwestern Australia – Nat Geo 2015
https://youtu.be/7Q6rKN4Bc6U
Some other smaller productions companies produce great ocean nature films too
Ocean Stories 3 – “Dolphins and Whales” NONA NATUREDOCX and SEALIFE PRODUCTIONS 2011
“The Giants of Rurutu” Humpback Whales of Tahiti: SOUND & VISION/CINEMARINE 2011
The French Godfather of all ocean nature documentaries – Jacques Cousteau made hundreds of films. Find them in Wikipedia and Search for them in Youtube.
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau – “Whales” rerecorded 1991
https://youtu.be/DlHDK-aq9vM
and “The Singing Whale” about Humpback whales rerecorded 1991
https://youtu.be/e7ZKdZaViFg
The English Godfather of nature films, David Attenborough is still making features for the BBC. Find his filmography on Wikipedia and Search the series “The Blue Planet”, “Planet Earth”, “Life of Mammals”, “Nature’s Great Events” among others on Youtube
Planet Earth about the Oceans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGdyezNZt20
The Life series about mammals includes cetaceans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv2oobRVeTk
Nature’s Great Events Series: Everyone feeds on Herring in the Pacific Ocean
https://youtu.be/QSiTumuzfeQ
and Feast of Sardines off the coast of southern Africa
https://youtu.be/UQGvhn1w65Y
Civil war in Sri Lanka protected a recovering population of Blue whales
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrWvkZjgrSk
Planet Ocean [UK]- by Yann Arthus-Bertrand & Michael Pitiot
Habitat of the Orca Killer Whales & Sea Creatures – Feodor Pitcairn Productions Ltd. 2000
https://youtu.be/rH5zO-EL5Fg
Intelligence and Communication in non-human species that may surprise you
https://youtu.be/Q-4w5xYLwiU?t=4s
And finally, humans who can communicate with other species:
“The Animal Communicator” with Anna Breytenbach and Jon Young by FOSTER BROTHERS FILM PRODUCTIONS for NHU AFRICA
https://youtu.be/S5vOgJAa6To
And how it might be possible
Halifax International Oceans Film Festival
Cuban Ocean Environmental Film Fest
Asia Ocean Film Festival (Hong Kong)
I’m climbing up to a moss and lichen bluff near the cabin. A flake-barked old fir and battle-scarred arbutus cling to the shattered rock which constitutes the geology of this cliff on the ridge above our bay. During these dark November days this is the only place I can be sure of catching some sun – only in the middle of the day – if there is any sun – which there hasn’t been.
After the thrills of October it’s not going to be much of a month for whale watching. I’m off to Ontario for a few weeks leaving Terry to hold the home front and video the jellyfish invasion of our bay.
It’s a month for whale research though. I’m reading a lot about cetacean communication. There’s a wealth of information from biologists, naturalists, writers – basically cetacean lovers of all ages and backgrounds. There are books for children too.
I thought it might be useful to list some books with links to the websites of their authors.
In no particular order:
Dolphin Diaries by Denise Hertzing: She wanted to be the “Jane Goodall” of the dolphin world and she is. Diane has been studying the Spotted Dolphins in one shallow bay in the Bahamas. the book chronicles the first 25 years of her work. Lots of information about communication and dolphin society. http://wilddolphinproject.org/
Among Whales by Roger Payne: Inspiring and devastating. The idyllic life of a family living alongside magnificent right whales and the sadistic blood lust of whalers mad with greed. An eye opening expose of the International Whaling Commission. http://www.whale.org/
The Moon by Whalelight by Diane Ackerman: poetic writing informed by Roger Payne’s (‘Among Whales’) research into Humpback whale songs, behaviour and emotions. http://www.dianeackerman.com/
Dolphin Dreamtime, The Art and Science of Interspecies Communication by Jim Nollman: Back in the 1960s, before it became trendy, Jim Nollman was playing music with whales, wolves, wild turkeys and buffalo exploring their cultures and communications. Check out his articles in back issues of Orion magazine.
http://www.interspecies.com/pages/audio%20main%20page.html
Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us by Alexandra Morton: Alelxandra Morton is a British Columbia hero. Before her campaign to save wild pacific salmon from the diseases brought in by Norwegian fish farms and denied by Canada’s dysfunctional Department of Fisheries and Oceans she wrote this book about her first loves – Orcas. http://www.alexandramorton.ca/
Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest by Sy Montgomery: weaves together ancient myth and modern science to tell the story of one woman’s journeys searching for the elusive “boto” dolphin of the Amazon River.
Among Giants: A Life with Whales by Charles “Flip” Nicklin: “Flip is equal parts photographer, adventurer, self-trained scientist, and raconteur, and Among Giants reflects all those sides, matching breathtaking images to firsthand accounts of their making, and highlighting throughout the importance of conservation and new advances in our understanding of whale behavior.” from ‘Whale Trust’ http://www.whaletrust.org/
Hawaii’s Humpbacks: Unveiling the Mysteries by Jim Darling (author), Susan W. Barnes (illustrator) and Flip Nicklin (photographer) “ideal for both novice and experienced whale watchers – answers all of your questions and tells you exactly what researchers know and have yet to learn about the humpbacks that gather annually on the Hawaiian breeding grounds.” from ‘Whale Trust’
Mind in the waters: A book to celebrate the consciousness of whales and dolphins by Joana McIntyre Varawa: fascinating comparison of human motor controls, which are in varied areas of our brains, with cetacean motor controls, which overlap and apparently cross-stimulate in their brains. We can only imagine how whales and dolphins perceive the world! A collection of science and intuition which appeals to the imagination and heart as well as the scientific mind.
The Delicate Art of Whale Watching: by Joana McIntyre Varawa: “swimming with porpoises, fishing, learning to hunt with bow and arrow; a quiet quest for harmony with nature, especially with the sea”
The Whale Rider by Ihimaera Witi: a wonderful coming of age and rescuing whales story for adults and children. The movie is a must-see too.
Eye of the Whale: Epic Passage From Baja To Siberia by Dick Russell: a combination of science, history and travel writing about gray whales and how their relationship with humans transformed from “devil fish” to family friendly. Lots of historical information.
Eye of the Whale: there are at least 5 more books with this title. Obviously looking into the eye of a whale does something profound to a human being.
So does reading about it. Try it.
Terry, Jamie and I are perched together on rocks as far out as we can get at low tide waiting for the whales to come around to our side of the inlet. Jamie, who knows their routine, is sure they will make their usual circle and cruise by our campsite. It is dusk already. We can see 2 or 3 whales out in the middle of the inlet. Some of the resident sea lions seem to be playing around them but the light is fading.
These dark cloudy nights aren’t the best for transcendent visions of whales breaching in the moonlight. We can’t conjure a 3D CGI humpback bursting from the ocean in fountains of phosphorescence like the scene in “Life of Pi”. So I sit on the rocks in the light drizzle and wait, one arm extending an umbrella over the microphone I’ve wedged between rocks, the other arm draped in mic cable, listening to the waves in my headphones.
Now! Out of the blackness, Pooooooocccchhhhhh! tyuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUuuuuuu! Through headphones the sound is electrifying! The whales could be almost on top of me! Thrills shoot up my back and hairs shoot out my neck. I’ve been plugged into a live electric socket. Their outbreath is a gale-force gust and their inbreath bugles like a herd of bull elk. They aren’t even singing, just breathing and the music is awesome. We sit erect, enthralled by oceans of whale breath across eons of time. The whole universe is whales.
Sound of whale blow and “bugle” inbreath. Increase ||||||| for more volume
The next morning we are in citizen science mode. Who are the whales we are seeing and hearing? As many as five humpbacks have been feeding and frolicking in the waters between Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. It would be useful to researchers if we could identify them. The best way to do this is to photograph their tail flukes.
Tail fluke patterns are unique to every individual whale, like human fingerprints. There is a catalog of tail fluke photos that researchers have been compiling for decades. If we can get clear enough photos to identify the whales we are seeing we can find them in the catalog. This is easier said than done. Tails don’t pose for photos before disappearing after a diving whale body.
Being positioned at a good angle while close enough to capture detail is a challenge. However, if we can identify our whales, we might be able to find them again at their southern migration points in Mexico, Hawaii or even Japan.
Blissful visions of snorkeling in warm, clear waters surrounded by relaxed mother humpbacks with curious calves while upside down males saturate the water with reverberating song temporarily transport me. I forget the cold rain dribbling down my neck and dream of tropical whale paradises.
There has been exciting news: a Mom and a calf have been in the area. A friend who was fishing while drifting in his little runabout, had to bang on its gunwhales to ensure the Mom and calf noticed he was there when they surfaced right beside him.
We are sending out psychic invitations to the whales to come around and visit us when we spot 2 whales heading up our side of the inlet. They aren’t wasting any time so we launch our 9ft. inflatable, row out from shore, and drift. Here they come! passing about 30m in front of us. I hold the dinghy in a good position while Terry wrestles the camera from the dry bag. He manages to capture some video as they cruise past.
It’s a good day.
We’re still living out of boxes and up to our eyeballs in organizing stuff after the move. But the ocean is calling. And it’s WARM! The biting bugs have begun to abate and there is a bounty of bedazzling beasts basking on our narrow bay’s beach.
Canada Day, July 1st we were blessed by a beast indeed – an adolescent male elephant seal snoozing, snoring and belching on the beach at low tide. Terry (aka “The Amphibiographer”) and I walked slowly and carefully close to him to film and record his sonorous noises.
You can see the elephant seal videos and more on his website. [see end of post]
There are other enigmatic critters in the bay. A pipe fish family (or maybe several families) is inhabiting clumps of seaweed under a mooring buoy. Pipefish are relatives of Sea Horses and look exactly like them except that their bodies are straight not curled. Adults are about 12in [30cm] long. It’s easy to miss the 2in(5cm) babies twined inside the weed under the buoy.
The mooring buoy is owned by a local oyster leaseholder who carpets our beach with the ornately sculpted and delicious mollusks. The sharp points of their frilled shells are the reason we have cleared a path for our boats – all of which happen to be inflatables – not the best water craft to drag across an oyster beach!
Speaking of mooring buoys, we are going to sink a concrete block and bring the Parrot ship to moor in the bay so she will be immediately accessible when we have some time to look for whales.
Transient Orcas have been patrolling the area and one humpback whale was seen at a point near the mouth of our bay. The channels and bays between Lund and Desolation Sound have been good places to find humpback whales in the summer so we are hoping to get out in August to sail with a whale.
LINKS to websites mentioned in Post
amphibiographer.tv short videos Scroll down the page to find the Elephant Seal clips.