From West to East

I've done it! After the better portion of the day spent travelling, I have finally arrived in the city of Halifax to begin the next chapter of my life. The trip from Vancouver to Calgary was rather uneventful and short. Since the day was clear, I was able to marvel at the beauty of the Rocky Mountains from many thousands of feet above them.

With only a few minutes to catch my connecting flight, I ran to the gate, boarded the plane, and found my seat. As the jet took off, I was able to see the flat farmland of Alberta stretching for miles to the east. The cloudless skies continued into Saskatchewan, but by the time we passed over Manitoba, I was catching only brief glimpses of Lake Winnipeg through the thickening clouds. That was all I saw until we landed in Halifax (where the cloud cover was so low that we couldn't see anything until we were almost on the ground). It was also raining... I have to say that this made me feel as though I wouldn't have such a hard time getting used to the climate here :)

I have yet to explore the city and visit the university, but for now I am settling in and adjusting to the four hour time difference. It is now time to get some rest and I will write more soon!

Fair Winds!

The road goes ever on and on...

       Despite the best of intentions to continue writing, I have not used this blog in a long time. Hopefully I can begin again, as I enter an new and exciting chapter of life... grad school! Finishing my undergraduate degree this coming spring, I have acquired a part time job of searching for programs and potential supervisors for next year. It has been a gruelling process and the cause of many sleepless nights. I know that it will somehow all workout. Until then I hope and pray that I am making the right choices.

      I suppose my new years resolution will be to keep everyone updated on this process and my adventures throughout grad school (whether hat be sailing the seas in search of whales, climbing remote islands to count seabird colonies, or sitting in front of a computer analyzing data). But for now, I must get back to schoolwork!

       Fair Winds

Of Days Long Gone

This summer ended on a rather crazy note. Shortly after orcalab, I headed off for an amazing voyage around the northwest coast of Vancouver Island on the Pacific Swift, a 111' wooden topsail schooner. It was a great time of fellowship and reconnection with the crew, who have had such a positive influence on me during the past seven years. By the third morning I was out on the deck in the rain, fully immersed in gutting fresh lingcod and snapper (aka rockfish). Being curious about all things biologically related, I was fascinated to find a whole, undigested, mini octopus in one of the large fish's stomach! It never ceases to amaze me how at home I feel on the rolling waves. My mom sometimes says she thinks I'm a "silkie" and that I belong by the ocean.





The highlight of the trip was Boat Sunday, and the amazing service under the stars in a place called Pretty Girl Cove. Afterwards, protected from open ocean, we watched the moon set and the stars fly across the heavens. The skipper was playing music; he is one of the best guitarists I have heard and makes instruments as well. It was a trip to remember, and I am so grateful for the friends and memories made while sailing the high seas.





Summer passed into fall, and fall into winter. Here I am in the middle of another semester. I've got great news! I'm volunteering again at the end of the summer on SALTS. I'm also going to Hawaii for a travel study in May so hopefully this blog will be updated on a regular basis in the future. I want to thank you all your prayers. These last few years have been full of learning, adventures, and awesome times. Yes, they have had their challenges, but these have been made small in the face of all the good things that have occurred.





Fair winds

The 18 Hour Shift

As many of you know, I have been upgraded from tent to shack for a little while. At the moment I am living at Orcalab’s CP observation station. Here there are underwater cameras to be set up, a beautiful view of Johnstone Strait all the way down to Robson Bight, and places where cetaceans pass meters from shore. Only a few days ago a humpback came up around 5 ft from the rocks about 20m up the coast from us (this was possible because the land drops off into the sea in a cliff-like manner). The small hut I’m staying in was built well and retains heat better than any place I’ve been to up here. It’s nice to be able to watch the orcas and listen to them at the same time!

CP is a decision point for the orcas as they chose either to head up Blackney Pass into Blackfish Sound or keep going down the Strait. Thus, I have had many close encounters with cetaceans even though I have only been here for just over a week. One of my favourites was early on in my stay with A46 (Kiakash). We were observing him and his brother along with A12 foraging around CP when he decided to take some interest in the strange humans watching him. Like a submarine he rose, pointed west, eye patch fully above the water to expose his eye beneath. Then slowly he turned about 90 degrees so he could see us and gave us a good long stare. Being satisfied after a while, he once again sank beneath the waves.

I have seen members of all the A and B pods now plus the odd transient. The Bs are a quirky group with both males having extremely wonky fins. Slingsby (B10) had a fin bent at a 45 degree angle which has since straightened into a very bubbly fin that wobbles significantly when he rises and disappears into the waves. B13 is my favourite from the group. His fin has collapsed entirely, giving him a slight hump. In fact, every time the Bs are around there are reports from fishermen in the area of a small, fast humpback playing with them! B13 looks very much like a humpback, part of the reason this pod is so easy to identify.

At CP there are 18 hours shifts! I start watch as it begins to get light enough to see (around 5am) and don’t stop until it is too dark to see anything well (at 11pm). They are long days, but I get the nights off :P

The other day I got the opportunity to go to the rubbing beaches inside the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve to switch batteries on a hydrophone. It is here that the orcas enjoy swimming along the bottom of smooth, worn stones. There are three beaches near the Bight, one a bit further north, and one that is 20m underwater! It was interesting because the beaches don’t look very large above the tide line, but are quite extensive underneath. One of OL’s hydrophones is positioned so that the rubs can be heard as they swim past the rock wall it is placed on.

I hear orcas on the CP hydrophone so it is time to go scan for them.

Fair Winds