Well everyone, the time has come for me to sign off on my trusty blog of my adventures in the Western Tropical Pacific. I enjoyed hearing from all of you, and hearing about your stories of life in Guam and these parts. The end of the cruise was pretty slow in terms of marine mammal and seabird sightings, and ended with a lot of bad weather. However, the scientific and boat based crew were all really fun, and I had a great 4+ months out here. I can't believe it's already over!
In the meantime since landing in port one last time in Guam on April 13, I traveled up to Saipan to check out the island on my own for a couple of days. The history on Saipan is amazing, much more moving than that on Guam (in my opinion). Saipan is where the American troops landed during WWII and all of the Japanese civilians and soldiers killed themselves by jumping off the cliffs on the northern end. Nowadays the island is pretty rundown in areas, but still very lush and jungle-like. The Japanese tourist market has shifted to Guam, so Saipan felt kinda like a ghost town. Not bad for me, though, everyone was so friendly, and much less people to deal with. The only issue I had was a GIGANTIC cockroach (size of my cell phone!) that decided to hangout in my room with me for two nights - usually in my bathroom towel! EEEEWWWW! Other than that, the beaches were beautiful and desolate, the views from the mountains amazing, and the sunsets so pretty...
The island just south of Saipan, called Tinian, is where the atomic bombs were loaded into planes that flew straight to Japan. Eerie. We flew over to and from Saipan, and I could see the abandoned US Military airport and runway...
After Saipan I returned to Guam on my way East, back to Hawaii. I spent 8 days relaxing and surfing in a genuine U.S. State (believe me, it's nice to be back, in some ways) with a friend on Oahu. It was so nice to have absolutely NOTHING to do except check the surf! It's going to be very hard to get back to work...and to watch my tan fade...=( Ah well!
I landed back in Seattle at 5:08 am today, to 55 degrees, overcast and drizzly skies. I love the Northwest! I'm here for another 1.5 days, then heading back to CA to resume my "normal" life in Santa Cruz.
I hope you all enjoyed my blog, and please stay in touch!
Ciao for now,
beth
Friday, April 27, 2007
Somewhere Over the Rainbow...
April 12, 2007
We set sail for the 4th and final leg of the MISTCS 2007 Research cruise on March 24th with high hopes. We were going back to the area we had surveyed during Leg 2 – North East and West of Guam – all around the Northern Marianas Islands. On Leg 2 we had great weather and lots of cool sightings, so we were hoping for the same. We also bid adieu to Chris, one of the observers, and welcomed on a **Real** Oceanographer to help us collect sea surface temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll samples (to look at productivity out here). It was nice to have the oceanographer – Jamie – with us to help look at the data. Julie, a representative from the Navy (and the main proponent and funder of the cruise) also joined us on Leg 4.
Well, shortly after departing it became apparent that we would not be enjoying the same weather we had on Leg 2. Big, bumpy seas and lots of wind...doesn’t make for good marine mammal sightings. We did see some cool seabirds riding the wind – Bonin petrels, Mottled petrels, Pomaraine and Long-tailed jaegers, Masked boobies, wedge-tailed shearwaters, terns, Tahiti petrel, frigatebirds.
As for the marine mammals, we saw a Bryde’s whale with a calf, pilot whales, spotted dolphins waaaay out in the distance, and that’s about it...pretty slow all in all,
BUT!!! I saw a SEA TURTLE! The ONLY sea turtle of the entire cruise (on effort)! It was a tiny little cute juvenile hawksbill turtle, that looked a lot like a paper bag til I looked a little closer – and it swam away!
The biggest excitement of this leg was the Typhoon that passed through the area – Kong Rae they called it. We had to run due West for 2 days to avoid the big swells and winds – turns out the storm hit the islands just north of Guam, but no one was too worried –they get about 5 per year anyway, so no big whoop to them. As for me, it was kinda cool! We never got any really scary weather, but definitely some crazy stuff. Like rain coming at you from all angles, dumping down and drenching everything, but then sun right above head. The clouds were soooo cool too – all swirly and jumbled up, just like you’d think they would look if 75 mph winds blew them in a big circle. Plus the seas were really confused, bouncing us all over the place...and really really humid – and hot...After running for 2 days we turned back north and caught the tail end of the storm, but missed the majority of it. We had to decide whether to go into port in Guam during the typhoon (well actually before it hit!) or stay out on the water. Normally you outrun the storm, if you can. As it turns out the Coast Guard had closed the harbors in Guam and Saipan anyways, so our choice was made for us! Apparently they’d rather have a boat sink at sea then in the port during a storm, to avoid the cleanup...or something like that...interesting...By the way, this was the same day that the tsunami hit the Solomon Islands, but totally unrelated...
All in all, this leg was pretty darn slow. 6 days straight with NO sightings....Makes it pretty boring on the flying bridge, and makes you wonder if you’re hallucinating when you see anything! By the end I think we were all ready to be back in port and heading off to new things...I did enjoy the earlier sunrises, in the end (although it was painful to get up in the beginning) – it’s always nice to start your day watching the sunrise over the ocean and having some seabirds circling around. Sipping coffee...not too bad...
We docked back in port April 13 and had a couple last rounds of drinks in Guam, one big debriefing meeting, and then we all parted ways. Some off the California, Washington, some to Mexico City, some to Cambodia (for fun travel). Me? I was off to Saipan for a couple days, and then Hawaii for a nice 8-day stopover on my way back to California...
The last survey hour of the last survey day Cornelia, Richard and I watched the sunset with Israel Kamakawiwo'ole playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the stereo, Hawaiian style...it was a good way to end a long and very eventful cruise, on a good note...with a rainbow to look over...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Rota - Tropical Paradise
Aaaaahhhhh....
I'm currently breathing in the smells of plumeria, bougainville, hibiscus, and all these other wonderul tropical flowers that are in bloom everywhere. Add in some birds chirping (sorry, I don't know all the land birds around here!), the sound of waves crashing 500 feet from my porch, and the absence of TV, phone, clock, cars, tourists, people...you get the idea. Paradise!
Rota is this tiny (well, 85 sq km) island north of Guam. It's part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which is US territory or something (you need a passport to come here). Anyways, Rota is the CNMI "Nature Island" and I see why. It's one of those places still unchanged, for the most part. Island lifestyle, four restaurants in the main town - called Songsong - so fitting! The rest of the island is volcanic reefs, sandy beaches, and steep rocky cliffs covered in tropical foliage - perfect for all of the endemic and native birds. I'm not that much of a birder, but I have already seen the local kingfisher, Mariana crow, brown ground dove, and lots of noddies, terns, and herons! Ah, paradise.
I came up here for 2 days/1 night to get away, and I wish I could stay. This is the place people should (but for some reason don't because they haven't discovered it) come to get married and honeymoon. There's literally no one here! Amazing. Secluded beaches, the swimming hole, all ours for the taking...We each rented our own little bungalow (see below) and I had the best sleep of the last 3 months. Aaahhh...Okay, sorry I know most of you can't be in the tropics withe me, so I'll stop. Anyways enjoy the photos...
Our own personal swimming hole, with the ocean crashing over the lavarock reefs and forming these mirror-like pools with little mini waterfalls...
The east side of the island - the main road over here is one lane, dirt road bumping over the cliffs...and no other cars to veer away from!!
Strangling fig vines that took over this HUGE Tree
My little bungalow, where I write to you from. Just outside on the porch you can see the palms and ocean inviting me over. We're at the Coconut Village, and I think there's one other family here...
The plane we flew from Guam to Rota on - I think it may be an old Army plane or something...very boxy and old. They bring people (about 7 on my flight), food, mail, etc all on this little plane! It's the kind of plane where you can't change seats because they ask your weight before you get on and put you in a specific place to balance it out! But, ironically, I got more food on this 30 minute flight than any flight to New York! Well, not really, but juices and snack packs (without the mandatory charge nowadays)...
I'm currently breathing in the smells of plumeria, bougainville, hibiscus, and all these other wonderul tropical flowers that are in bloom everywhere. Add in some birds chirping (sorry, I don't know all the land birds around here!), the sound of waves crashing 500 feet from my porch, and the absence of TV, phone, clock, cars, tourists, people...you get the idea. Paradise!
Rota is this tiny (well, 85 sq km) island north of Guam. It's part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which is US territory or something (you need a passport to come here). Anyways, Rota is the CNMI "Nature Island" and I see why. It's one of those places still unchanged, for the most part. Island lifestyle, four restaurants in the main town - called Songsong - so fitting! The rest of the island is volcanic reefs, sandy beaches, and steep rocky cliffs covered in tropical foliage - perfect for all of the endemic and native birds. I'm not that much of a birder, but I have already seen the local kingfisher, Mariana crow, brown ground dove, and lots of noddies, terns, and herons! Ah, paradise.
I came up here for 2 days/1 night to get away, and I wish I could stay. This is the place people should (but for some reason don't because they haven't discovered it) come to get married and honeymoon. There's literally no one here! Amazing. Secluded beaches, the swimming hole, all ours for the taking...We each rented our own little bungalow (see below) and I had the best sleep of the last 3 months. Aaahhh...Okay, sorry I know most of you can't be in the tropics withe me, so I'll stop. Anyways enjoy the photos...
Our own personal swimming hole, with the ocean crashing over the lavarock reefs and forming these mirror-like pools with little mini waterfalls...
The east side of the island - the main road over here is one lane, dirt road bumping over the cliffs...and no other cars to veer away from!!
Strangling fig vines that took over this HUGE Tree
My little bungalow, where I write to you from. Just outside on the porch you can see the palms and ocean inviting me over. We're at the Coconut Village, and I think there's one other family here...
The plane we flew from Guam to Rota on - I think it may be an old Army plane or something...very boxy and old. They bring people (about 7 on my flight), food, mail, etc all on this little plane! It's the kind of plane where you can't change seats because they ask your weight before you get on and put you in a specific place to balance it out! But, ironically, I got more food on this 30 minute flight than any flight to New York! Well, not really, but juices and snack packs (without the mandatory charge nowadays)...BAD Day...
BAD day...
3/7/07
You know when you have one of those days when it seems like everything in world is aligned to make your life collapse around you? Well, that was today for me. Nothing completely horrible happened to me, but everything that’s ever happened to me in the past that has been horrible came back to me today, as my life felt like it was crashing down. It felt (sort of) like the end of the world as I knew it...What really happened is that my computer died, mid-iTunes download. I decided to restart the whole computer, because it was being a little weird, and, well, it just never came back on again. Ever. Just gone, kaput, done-zo, dead. At first I was pretty mellow about it – I did like most girls would do in this situation, let my computer “rest” and went shopping for a couple hours. A hundred dollars later, and still my computer produced nothing but the gray screen of death upon my hopeful pressing of the “On” button. Still, nonplussed, I kept trying every couple minutes while sipping a smoothie at the internet café. Finally it dawned on me that something was wrong. And it was dire. Of course this was 5:00 pm, I was leaving to go back on the research cruise the following morning at 7:00 am, and the only computer store in Guam that services Macs was closing at 6:00 pm. Freaking out in the rental car in rush hour traffic in Guam (believe me, there is traffic here!), I finally made it to the store, where Andy the service tech told me, essentially, that my logic board was toast. Good news is that my hard drive was okay, bad news was that I couldn’t ever really access the hard drive again from my computer! Andy (service tech and savior), calmly told me that he’d keep the computer (currently in pieces on the counter) while I was on the third leg of my cruise and run through a couple tests to make sure it was the mother board. I just had to live computer-free for a couple weeks on a boat. No big whoop, right?
Fast forward 3 weeks, and we’re back in port again in Guam. As it turns out, living laptop-less is very, very nice. For the most part. There are some bummers, like not being able to update your iPod’s music or even charge your iPod (luckily I borrowed an old wall charger). And remembering that the computer that you left in pieces with Andy a couple weeks ago holds all the data, pictures, and final draft of your Master’s thesis on it’s apparently very vulnerable hard drive. Eh, details, right? In the interim, I read all I could about Mac issues, software, new laptops (why not??), backing up your files (should I repeat – backing up your files!) and other tidbits in the MacWorld magazines that had made it on board via another Mac user on the cruise. It all made me feel much better, and even though I no longer had my trusty iBook G4 with the Santa Cruz sticker on it, life as I knew it wasn’t over. Actually, my life was pretty nice. I found I had a lot more time to read books, write (with paper and pen), nap, and talk to people in person. It was still more difficult to write lengthy emails to people, but I knew most of the important people in my life know where I was and only needed the bare details in an email. And they knew I was computer-less. In short, it was an epiphany! Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but it was definitely a wake up call for me. To realize how many ties I have to the digital world, which is great, but then to realize how quickly they can go away. Forever. That said, I’ve written everyone’s phone numbers that are in my cell phone down on paper, email addresses are on paper, which will only go away in the event of a fire or really strong wind. Even water won’t ruin that backup! I know, some things are only digital, but you know what, most of it isn’t that important, in the end. And if it is, for God’s sake, back it up!!! I learned the hard way, that’s for sure...
So, with all of that, I’m actually typing this on my trusty old computer that almost gave up the ghost. It’s on it’s last leg, and I am very scared to turn it off (I just put it to sleep right now), but I picked it up from Andy yesterday, and he said it looks like a video card thing. Who knows, exactly, but while standing with him in the store I backed everything up to an external hard drive. I can’t get on the internet anymore, nor do I dare trying to do anything with big files, but at least I can type stuff, then transfer my writing to a computer with internet access. So there it is. I just had to share all this with you. No longer is my iBook my most trusty companion, but my notebook and pen, tucked safely in my cotton tote along with an old-fashioned book. I know, it’s cheesy, but true! And now I think I can really enjoy where I am a little more...that is until I buy the new MacBook Pro coming out this summer...(Hey I did come on this cruise to make money, which is meant to be used!).
3/7/07
You know when you have one of those days when it seems like everything in world is aligned to make your life collapse around you? Well, that was today for me. Nothing completely horrible happened to me, but everything that’s ever happened to me in the past that has been horrible came back to me today, as my life felt like it was crashing down. It felt (sort of) like the end of the world as I knew it...What really happened is that my computer died, mid-iTunes download. I decided to restart the whole computer, because it was being a little weird, and, well, it just never came back on again. Ever. Just gone, kaput, done-zo, dead. At first I was pretty mellow about it – I did like most girls would do in this situation, let my computer “rest” and went shopping for a couple hours. A hundred dollars later, and still my computer produced nothing but the gray screen of death upon my hopeful pressing of the “On” button. Still, nonplussed, I kept trying every couple minutes while sipping a smoothie at the internet café. Finally it dawned on me that something was wrong. And it was dire. Of course this was 5:00 pm, I was leaving to go back on the research cruise the following morning at 7:00 am, and the only computer store in Guam that services Macs was closing at 6:00 pm. Freaking out in the rental car in rush hour traffic in Guam (believe me, there is traffic here!), I finally made it to the store, where Andy the service tech told me, essentially, that my logic board was toast. Good news is that my hard drive was okay, bad news was that I couldn’t ever really access the hard drive again from my computer! Andy (service tech and savior), calmly told me that he’d keep the computer (currently in pieces on the counter) while I was on the third leg of my cruise and run through a couple tests to make sure it was the mother board. I just had to live computer-free for a couple weeks on a boat. No big whoop, right?
Fast forward 3 weeks, and we’re back in port again in Guam. As it turns out, living laptop-less is very, very nice. For the most part. There are some bummers, like not being able to update your iPod’s music or even charge your iPod (luckily I borrowed an old wall charger). And remembering that the computer that you left in pieces with Andy a couple weeks ago holds all the data, pictures, and final draft of your Master’s thesis on it’s apparently very vulnerable hard drive. Eh, details, right? In the interim, I read all I could about Mac issues, software, new laptops (why not??), backing up your files (should I repeat – backing up your files!) and other tidbits in the MacWorld magazines that had made it on board via another Mac user on the cruise. It all made me feel much better, and even though I no longer had my trusty iBook G4 with the Santa Cruz sticker on it, life as I knew it wasn’t over. Actually, my life was pretty nice. I found I had a lot more time to read books, write (with paper and pen), nap, and talk to people in person. It was still more difficult to write lengthy emails to people, but I knew most of the important people in my life know where I was and only needed the bare details in an email. And they knew I was computer-less. In short, it was an epiphany! Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but it was definitely a wake up call for me. To realize how many ties I have to the digital world, which is great, but then to realize how quickly they can go away. Forever. That said, I’ve written everyone’s phone numbers that are in my cell phone down on paper, email addresses are on paper, which will only go away in the event of a fire or really strong wind. Even water won’t ruin that backup! I know, some things are only digital, but you know what, most of it isn’t that important, in the end. And if it is, for God’s sake, back it up!!! I learned the hard way, that’s for sure...
So, with all of that, I’m actually typing this on my trusty old computer that almost gave up the ghost. It’s on it’s last leg, and I am very scared to turn it off (I just put it to sleep right now), but I picked it up from Andy yesterday, and he said it looks like a video card thing. Who knows, exactly, but while standing with him in the store I backed everything up to an external hard drive. I can’t get on the internet anymore, nor do I dare trying to do anything with big files, but at least I can type stuff, then transfer my writing to a computer with internet access. So there it is. I just had to share all this with you. No longer is my iBook my most trusty companion, but my notebook and pen, tucked safely in my cotton tote along with an old-fashioned book. I know, it’s cheesy, but true! And now I think I can really enjoy where I am a little more...that is until I buy the new MacBook Pro coming out this summer...(Hey I did come on this cruise to make money, which is meant to be used!).
Leg 3 - Take Two!
Cute little Melon-headed whale - with calf!
Melon-headed whales (peponocephala)
White tailed tropicbird coming to say hello!
Spotted dolphin checking me out (note white on beak)
Streaked shearwater in our wake3/8/07
We sailed back out of Apra Harbor from Guam once again, hopeful that the horrible weather we had seen 5 days before had passed through. We sailed the same route – up north around the west side of Guam, then cut east and then south. Right out of the harbor we came upon a big group of sperm whales, literally 8 miles from shore (out from Tumon Bay, no less, the most heavily populated area!). We were also greeted by lots of Streaked shearwaters “streaking” by us, flying to the north-northeast from their nesting areas. They’re cool birds, very big shearwaters, and mostly white (on the underside). The weather was interesting – really huge swell, riding the front of a storm, but the wind hadn’t caught up to us yet. So, the first couple days we had really calm conditions, but still huge swell. Then the wind arrived and it all turned to crap – we couldn’t even survey one day because of the danger of slipping!
The first week we saw striped dolphins, huge schools of skipjack tuna, bowriding Melon-headed whales – with cute little calves!, pseudorca, a Bryde’s whale, Sei whale, and some pomarine jaegers. Even though that sounds like a lot, spread that out over 7 days, and it gets pretty boring! One sighting per day, the rest of the time staring into a sea of emptiness...The most exciting thing was that we were joined by 1, then 2, then 4 Red-foot and Brown boobies! The front bow mast got too crowded after two boobies squeezed on and started squabbling, so the other two birds perched on the main mast above the flying bridge. Very fun to watch them swoop down and dive for flying fish, preen themselves, and just act like, well, boobs! They’re pretty silly birds – I picture them talking like surfers – “Hey dude, this is my perch, man...” and “Yo, did you check out that fish, man, it was huge!”...(Kinda like the turtles from Finding Nemo)...I know, I’m still a dork. Anyways, with the birds’ presence we were also blessed with, well, their bird poop! It’s dangerous when a bird is perched in front of you and there’s strong winds blowing towards you! I didn’t get pegged, but more than one of us did. Plus the whole front of the bow turned a lovely color of white over the course of two days. Luckily the big waves washed it all clear pretty quickly...
3/17/07
Oh man. Save the drama for your mama. That’s my new slogan. It’s becoming a bit like a soap opera out here – “As the Kahana Rolls” or “Days of Our Lives: At Sea”. Without going into all the details (those of you who really want to know will have to come visit me in Santa Cruz and buy me some beers), and without incriminating anyone, I’ll try to explain the last couple days...So much to tell! I think a lot of the drama is created by people who live on the same boat with each other for 3-4-5 months at a time. It’s also perpetuated by inherently dramatic (shall I say Drama Queen?) and egotistical people. Anyways, words like “idiot” (and worse) plus “usurption of power” have been used to people in charge of driving the boat, leading the cruise, making the decisions, etc. I can’t even believe some of it, but believe me there are going to be some good fireworks going off on the last leg – just in time for me to share with you when I return to CA! Lately, when I’m on watch on the flying bridge with Cornelia and Richard, we’ve taken to having “Gossip Hour” because it seems like daily (sometimes even hourly!) something new has happened that is pretty major. In the end it’s all pretty silly, as all gossip is, but I guess it adds to the experience out here...one I won’t forget for a while...
Other things we’ve seen so far is a mixed-species group of Pilot whales, Rough-toothed dolphins, and Bottlenose dolphins! Very cool to see...Also saw more sperm whales (no ramming this time around!) – with bottlenose dolphins playing around the sperm whale calf, spotted dolphins, more pilot whales...For the Bird nerds: saw long-tailed jaegers, Flesh-foot shearwaters, Mottled petrel (very cool bird), streaked shearwater in our wake, Matsudaira’s storm petrel, and little shearwater (very auk-like – and cute!)...
We cruised South all the way downswell to 10 degrees N of the equator, then bid adieu to summery weather and promptly turned around and headed back North into the wind and waves coming from Asia. We also ran into more smog from China – although they still say it was a volcanic explosion. Whatever it is, it’s pretty gross smelling and irritating to the throat, and pretty sad to see pollution in the middle of the ocean over the deepest trench in the world, with nothing within hundreds of miles to create the pollution. Just birds, mammals and fish absorbing it all...
We headed back into Guam, and I’ve been planning my trip to Rota, a quaint little island north of Guam. It should be nice to relax and get away, refresh for the grand finale of Leg 4...(!!!!).
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Leg 3 - False Start!
Hello everyone,
Well, sad to say but we are back in port, 2 days after we sailed off with high hopes of seeing lots of cool stuff on Leg 3. Immediately after we left the harbor, we noticed some weird weather. First, there was this weird haze hanging around that made visibility really bad - plus it smelled and made my throat itchy. Apparently it came down from China and hung out over Guam for a couple days in a low pressure area...great, pollution from China for me to inhale...
Anyways, the ocean was weird, too. There was a huge swell - 18 feet! but no wind. So these huge rolling waves, but really calm (actually really pretty greenish water with no white caps). And hazy. Very eerie. Like the calm before the storm, literally -- as it turns out.
After turning the corner around the northern part of Guam to head East and then south towards the Mariana Trench, the weather got worse. At first it was nice, because the wind kicked up and blew the nasty Chinese smog out of the area, but then it kept blowing, and getting harder. Before we knew it the wind and waves had built up to a Beaufort 8 (Gale force!!) and we were clinging for our dear lives to the binoculars and anything else immobile. Believe it or not, we still surveyed part of the day. This is the worst weather I've ever been in at sea - really bad. Like the "Perfect Storm" but without all the drama and sinking ships. And not quite so big of waves, but you get the point! Ultimately, we decided to turn around and hide in the harbor in Guam until the storm passes. So, here we are, twiddling our thumbs and doing more emailing. It's dumping rain in Guam, and apparently this weather could develop into a Typhoon! There's actually three huge cargo ships also hiding in the harbor, anchored. One of the big cruise ships broke some of its lines while tied up at the dock next to ours because of the strong surge in the harbor. And...believe it or not, I'm wearing jeans AND a down vest!!! Now that is crazy. I'm in the tropics, man! But I am also a wimp when it comes to cold weather, even though I am from the great Northwest...
So anyways, that's the update for me, a whole lot of nothin...None of us got seasick on the boat, but I bet some of you landlubbers would have! I made a short video to really impress upon you what a Beaufort 8 feels like, crashing waves and rolling ship and all, stay tuned til I can figure out how to post it...
in the meantime, hope all is well for all you landlubbers - I'm amongst you now too! (well except I am still sleeping on the boat while tied at the dock...)...and I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a small island that is feeling smaller by the day and as the weather get worse...
beth
Well, sad to say but we are back in port, 2 days after we sailed off with high hopes of seeing lots of cool stuff on Leg 3. Immediately after we left the harbor, we noticed some weird weather. First, there was this weird haze hanging around that made visibility really bad - plus it smelled and made my throat itchy. Apparently it came down from China and hung out over Guam for a couple days in a low pressure area...great, pollution from China for me to inhale...
Anyways, the ocean was weird, too. There was a huge swell - 18 feet! but no wind. So these huge rolling waves, but really calm (actually really pretty greenish water with no white caps). And hazy. Very eerie. Like the calm before the storm, literally -- as it turns out.
After turning the corner around the northern part of Guam to head East and then south towards the Mariana Trench, the weather got worse. At first it was nice, because the wind kicked up and blew the nasty Chinese smog out of the area, but then it kept blowing, and getting harder. Before we knew it the wind and waves had built up to a Beaufort 8 (Gale force!!) and we were clinging for our dear lives to the binoculars and anything else immobile. Believe it or not, we still surveyed part of the day. This is the worst weather I've ever been in at sea - really bad. Like the "Perfect Storm" but without all the drama and sinking ships. And not quite so big of waves, but you get the point! Ultimately, we decided to turn around and hide in the harbor in Guam until the storm passes. So, here we are, twiddling our thumbs and doing more emailing. It's dumping rain in Guam, and apparently this weather could develop into a Typhoon! There's actually three huge cargo ships also hiding in the harbor, anchored. One of the big cruise ships broke some of its lines while tied up at the dock next to ours because of the strong surge in the harbor. And...believe it or not, I'm wearing jeans AND a down vest!!! Now that is crazy. I'm in the tropics, man! But I am also a wimp when it comes to cold weather, even though I am from the great Northwest...
So anyways, that's the update for me, a whole lot of nothin...None of us got seasick on the boat, but I bet some of you landlubbers would have! I made a short video to really impress upon you what a Beaufort 8 feels like, crashing waves and rolling ship and all, stay tuned til I can figure out how to post it...
in the meantime, hope all is well for all you landlubbers - I'm amongst you now too! (well except I am still sleeping on the boat while tied at the dock...)...and I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a small island that is feeling smaller by the day and as the weather get worse...
beth
Stormy weather...
Hazy Guam – before the storm...By the way that’s the sun at about 4 pm!!! The haze is apparently from China - it actually smells weird and makes my throat itchy...but other people say it's from a volcano on one of the N. Mariana Islands...whatever it is, it's weird!
Another shot of Guam in the haze (from China)
The waves kicked up on shore – 18-20 feet off shore, so just imagine!!! This is Asan Beach, site of the American led invasion of the Japanese in WWII in Guam three days ago
Another shot of Asan Beach, literally where the troops were (there’s a photo from 50 years ago at the same site!). The trees show the wind – 40 mph and getting worse!!!Monday, February 26, 2007
Leg 2 Update
Hello again my friends and family,I'm back in port for 3 days, once again doing the free wireless coffee shop thing, catching up on the blog and everything else wired.
We've been catching up on sleep, beachin it, sunbathing, and hangin out! I'm off to shop in a little bit here, then to see the movie "Letters from Iwo Jima" since it's pretty much set out here when I am. I'm also going to bone up on all of the war history, memorials, parks while I'm here.
I've posted a bunch of pics, stories, etc. The craziest thing that happened is that our ship got rammed by a massive Sperm whale! Quite an experience - one not many people have ever had. We have lots of pics and a video of the entire incident, so ask me about it later...(I wrote about in my random ramblings too).
Anyways, I love hearing from you, so stay in touch! (kahana@stratosnet.com or bethphilli@gmail.com)
Ciao for now!
beth
(PS This is "Ruby" the Red-foot booby who hung out with us for a couple days...)
Leg 2 - More Guam pics
Frolicking at the best beach in the world - Ritidian Point reserve, N. Guam
Coral sand, so soft, so fluffy, so niiiice....
Massive storm coming from Japan brought huge swells to the north part of Guam - 10-12 foot face - jacking up straight onto the exposed reef...the currents on the inside were at least 4 knots. I could barely stand up!
Paradise. (Note sea turtles nest here, none lately though). It is a USFWS reserve though, so no pollution, etc. Just beautiful beaches and peacefulness...Leg 2- Guam pics
The gang from Leg 1
Life is pretty tough...
The crew in port after Leg 2...L-R: Ally, me (cheers!), Corn-dog, Juan Carlos
Adam and friend Crystal.
Wish you were here! Ritidian Point, a Fish and Wildlife Service Reserve on the North part of GuamLeg 2 - Random ramblings...
8 February 2007
We bid adieu to Tom and Candy two days ago, and watched them waving goodbye on the dock – so sad. We also said goodbye to crew Corey and Bob – chief engineer. Bob will be back (quick visit to Seattle – his hometown), but Corey couldn’t hang with the seasickness, so he’s back to Hawaii. In their place we got Laura (working for Tom – acoustics) and Mark (working as oceanographer in Candy’s place) plus Tommy – chief engineer, and Mike – local HI guy as crew. It will be different without Candy’s chipper South African accent and craziness, and Tom’s voice on the radio (and no one for Jim and Richard to make fun of!). I think we’ll adjust though.
After a few days in port it was nice to be back on the ship, even though it was sad to say goodbye to good friends...We steamed out of Apra Harbor in Guam and headed north along the West side of Guam – we could see Guam (including Tumon Bay – the downtown area - on our starboard side all day. We also passed Rota, the island to the north of Guam, before sunset, and Saipan later that night. Rota is a pretty small island, but we could clearly make out a little village with colorful buildings and some sort of school with a baseball field behind it. Looked pretty cool, actually.
Immediately upon leaving the harbor we all remembered why we enjoyed being in port so much – pounding 10 foot seas, 25 knot winds and salt spray greeted us and stayed with us until this morning! There were a bunch of cool bird flocks as we steamed north to our first transect line, but it was so bumpy it was hard to keep the binoculars on the birds long enough to identify them...We surveyed the area as we steamed north, just because we could. We haven’t stopped working once yet due to high winds or sea state (Usually we stop search efforts around Beaufort 5-6 because the data is worthless and we generally don’t see much). However, this cruise is different because 1) we know there is no end in sight to the high winds this time of year and 2) we have a limited time to survey the entire area, so we do what we can. However, no bad weather (e.g. no work) days means I haven’t had time to do all my activities I’d planned! Like work on publishing my thesis, reading a ton of books, etc. Oh well...Mostly now I read a bit when I’m off for 2 hours, or nap, or eat or workout. That’s my typical day!
Anyhow the first day and yesterday at sea were definitely bumpy and unpleasant. And (no surprise here) we saw nothing but birds – lots of birds, but that’s it. Red-foot boobies, brown noddies, sooty and white terns...The usual. They came in close for some good looks though.
Movies watched: Poseidon (about a ship getting hit by a rogue wave and sinking) and The Guardian (about Coast Guard rescue swimmers in the Bering Sea)...not the typical selection I’d choose while actually sailing on a ship, but at least we now know what to do!
We’ve also had lots and lots of sashimi – and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. We caught 2 big onos (aka Wahoo) and 2 mahi mahi’s in one day! Actually you don’t really want mahi as sashimi, but fish nonetheless! Pretty good diet for me. Ed, our cook, is so good – lots of healthy food for a change...
This morning I awoke to gentle waves rolling me in my bunk – and knew we’d reached our waypoint and were finally heading slightly downswell – at least for the day. Our plan is to get as far north as possible then go south with the waves to minimize the pain. It seems to be working so far – we’ve already seen a sperm whale, unidentified large whale (too far to ID) and some dolphins! Not too bad! Later in the day we saw a group of sperm whales pretty close to the boat – and one was spyhopping (sticking it’s nose out of the water). As we were heading back to “course and speed” and leaving the whales behind, one started breaching behind us! Pretty cool to see a 50 ton animal launch out of the water...and hard to miss the splash it creates! The final topper to the day was a sighting of a short-tailed albatross – the first time I’ve ever seen one! These birds have wingspans up to 6 feet across – huge compared to most of the terns and little storm petrels we’ve been seeing. It actually come in close enough to get some photos, too – although I don’t have a very fast lens so they’re a bit blurry. Note the bubble gum bill...diagnostic...
9 February 2007
Last night I spent most of the evening playing with my digital photos on my computer and updating my iPod with new podcasts and music to play while on watch on the flying bridge. I tell ya, it takes a lot of time to organize photos and music! I need a “bad weather day” to catch up...Too bad that doesn’t look likely. Although last night it started raining pretty hard, didn’t let up til about 10:30 pm. We also changed course and are currently riding in one of the 3-4 different troughs in the ocean right now. The seas are so confused that no matter which way you go, you’ll be in some trough, which means a violent rocking back and forth of the ship, forcing you to cling to anything you can grab and make sure your coffee cup is secure (along with everything else). Add to that the rain and fog that’s returned, and it’s making for a “bad weather day”. Although it’s not official yet – we’re all on “standby” to see if the weather clears up and we can go back on watch...If not, it’s movie time!! My record is 6 movies in one day (on the David Starr Jordan in 2005 – CSCAPE cruise). I don’t think that will be broken anytime soon, plus I should work a little anyways...Ed’s making wonton soup for us for lunch...to warm us up.
I thought we were in the tropics, man! What’s with the rain and fog? At least I’m still in shorts, just added a rain jacket to the top. Plus, it is February, and we’re heading north (we’re about 18 degrees north right now – that’s 1000 miles north of the equator – each degree is 60 nautical miles.). That’s one thing I’m learning more of – and enjoying – is getting all the ship and nautical type stuff down. Plus my identification/observer skills...It’s fun!
We worked our way north along the Northern Mariana Island chain, and actually got to see some islands through the rain and fog! We came upon Guguan – an uninhabited island with an active volcano about 1/3 the size of Guam. It’s the 6th island north from Guam. Although uninhabited by humans, there were a lot of seabirds roosting on the tropical green foliage lining the volcanic rocks – red foot boobies, sooty terns, frigate birds, and tropicbirds. We also were greeted by about 10-15 rough-toothed dolphin (my first time seeing them!) as we moseyed along the western side of the island. They didn’t stick around, just passed under the bow and were on their way. As we continued north the next island, Alamagan, came into view – much smaller, but also rocky coastline. There were tons of bird flocks feeding off the island on schools of flying fish and other types of fish. I even saw a frigatebird (“pirates of the sea”) knock a fish out of a brown booby’s claws mid-air and grab it and eat it! Pretty cool...Next up came Pagan Island – the one with the largest active volcano – I looked for smoke but it was too foggy.
14 February 2007
The last couple days have seen “winter-like” weather – rainy and foggy, but still wearing shorts (just with rain jacket on top). Crossed over a stationary front with lots of fish breezers, birds, and some mammals...We had one day of nice weather – Beaufort 4 and sunny, but mostly big squalls, big waves, and strong winds. Still lots of birds – frigatebirds, Bonin petrels, Matsudaira storm petrels, streaked shearwater, Herald petrel, terns (sooty, white), and boobies galore! Red-foots, brown, and masked boobies – they’re pretty cool birds. Plunge dive for flying fish, soaring over the waves...I even saw two boobies flying together – synchronized boobies (although that just doesn’t sound quite right...). The sightings have been pretty slow – some pilot whales, striped dolphins, beaked whales (that I never saw), sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins bowriding for about 5 seconds. All the sightings have been pretty quick, and nothing spectacular, since it’s been such bad weather...ah well...Interestingly enough, the acoustics team has been hearing sperm whale clicks, humpback songs, and navy sonar all at the same time...weird...
We are now on the northeast side of the Mariana Island chain – we have Saipan and Tinian Islands in sight off the port side – lots of history out here on the islands – Japanese occupation, American invasion, etc. I’m learning about it all as I see them and ask questions. Also, apparently Saipan is where a lot of “designer” clothes are made – American brands – check your labels in the back of that Gap shirt – very interesting – it’s such a small island. I think I’m going to head up there and check it out on a port call – plus Rota as well, two “laid back islands”. Why not?!
Other than that still enjoying my daily ono sashimi intake and plenty of cheesy movies – “Dukes of Hazzard”, “Welcome to Mooseport” , “Dr. Strangelove”, “Sideways”, and “Alien” to name a few.
20 February 2007
Ah, sitting here sipping rum and juice after another nice sunny day. Couldn’t be better! Well...
So around February 16 or so there was a significant change in the weather – for the better! Not that it’s glassy and no wind, clear skies, but definitely nicer, with a gentler breeze (which means less white caps) and sunny skies. We’ve actually had two days now with Beaufort 2 conditions (around 5-7 knots of wind, which is nothin’!!). Most days it’s more like Beaufort 4 with some rolling still on the boat, but at least I don’t have to cling for dear life (most of the time) to anything attached to the boat!
We’ve seen some more animals now, including False killer whales (Pseudorca)!!! Or, as we like to call some people on the boat – rather than “true orcas” (killer whales), we switched it to “Truedorca”. That applies to most of the people on board, since deep down we’re all pretty much true dorks (as opposed to pseu-dorks). Okay now I’m really establishing myself as a dork. But if you’ve read this far you already know that!
So anyways, the Pseduorcas (talking about the animals now!) are very cool – they came up and were bowriding – and they’re big! Up to 17 feet long! They look like killer whales except without any white markings, and not the tall dorsal fins on the males (actually more like pilot whales). Very cool! Since our first sighting we’ve seen them off and on in small groups – and one time even came upon a group feeding on some big fish (we’re guessing Mahi mahi)!!
On Feb 17th we came very close to the island of Saipan – and found a big group of sperm whales (with some calves) offshore of Garapan (the main town on Saipan). As the sun set we watched the lights on west side of Saipan, played some music on the back deck, and drifted all night. It was very cool. The acoustics team spent the night recording and tracking humpback whales that we’ve been hearing in the area. All the observers slept soundly while they were up all night doing all the work. When we awoke refreshed in the morning all the acoustics girls had to do was direct us to where they thought the humpback whales were...and, lo and behold – there they were! Very good job for the a-team (acoustics team that is). We spent most of the day with the whales, which it turned out were a couple of groups of males chasing a female. Thus, there were some good visual displays as the males jostled for position with the female (lots of breaching, spyhopping, and all around excitement!). After most of the day spent photographing the whales and watching their behavior, we set out to survey the east side of Saipan. We wrapped around the north end of the island, passed a lot of beautiful cliffs – one area named Banzai Cliffs because it’s the site (sadly) where many Japanese soldiers and families jumped to their deaths to avoid being captured by American troops in WWII. There were a lot of crosses and markers, memorials along the shoreline. The east side of Saipan looked like more of the “local” side with quaint small Mediterranean style villages and beautiful empty white sand beaches. Can’t wait to go back there and explore. We cruised down the east side of Saipan and then cut through the channel separating Saipan from the island south – Tinian. The channel isn’t very wide, and we got some good looks at the lava rocks making up the islands, and the natural “blowholes” produced by the swell hitting the lava. We had a surprise visit from some spotted dolphins briefly under the bow, then headed west to check out Esmerelda Banks and called it a night.
We briefly celebrated Fat Tuesday, but we’re all so wiped out that it wasn’t much of a party (I tend to go to sleep around 10 at the latest out here!). Anyways, the jam sessions still occur now and then, plus lots of good movies, reading, and talking. Some recent movies include “50 First Dates” and “Failure to Launch” as well as “Alien II”. I’m really starting to appreciate all those action flicks I missed or ignored growing up --- they’re good! I can’t wait for Alien III and IV!!! What will happen? Who will die??
21 February 2007
Reunited with Moby:
Today was one of those crazy days that you will never forget for the rest of your life. Where do I even begin? I know I’ve told some of you already, but essentially we got rammed – yes, I said RAMMED!!! – by a sperm whale today! I mean, like the boat shuddered with the impact, the whale pooped when it hit us, seriously hit!
So here’s the story:
We spotted a group of sperm whales out in the distance and started heading over to them to get photo id’s and count how many there were (standard procedure). I was watching them in the big eyes and could see a lot of splashing, spyhopping, etc going on. As we got closer I spotted a big male – I started calling him Big Poppa – plus some others further off in the distance – including a cute little calf! Anyways, Big Poppa and all the rest of the whales (about 10 in total) turned to face away from us (butts to us). Then BP promptly turned around and started swimming straight for our boat – and veered around the bow – we got some good looks at him – he was HUGE and had all these scars on his head. Anyways, he just swam by, and we kept moving slowing towards the rest of the group. Then we noticed two other big males in that group and I said something to the effect of “Wow we’ve reunited with Moby’s kin”. Then, before I could process what was happening, the other two big males started swimming full speed at our boat – I just said “Uh oh” and watched dumbfounded as the whale swam straight for our bow and got maximum propulsion from it’s flukes (tail) to hit us! It was a big thud and then the whale pooped and swam under the boat. Seriously, all I could see was whale, no water! Then the other big whale looked like he was going to do the same thing, but missed and dove under. Meanwhile, the calf and the rest were waiting off in the distance, peacefully. We have tons of pictures and video of it – you can hear me going “Uh, what’s going on?” and then all of go “Holy sh#$!! The whale just hit us!”. I think the whale still has a headache from that one...Anyways, it’s the first time that anyone has ever heard of a research vessel being struck by a sperm whale (obviously it’s happened to whaling boats in the past). Quite an experience! Check out the pics...
26 February 2007
So we’re back in port again – in Guam – catching up on sleep and drinking. Oh and other stuff too – emailing, etc. The last couple days at sea were really nice – pleasant weather, lots of good sightings (including a Bryde’s whale cow and calf!), tons of streaked and wedge-tailed shearwaters streaming by us to the Northwest, and more spotted, striped and spinner dolphins. Plus we had “Ruby” the Red foot booby hanging out with us for over 24 hours, just hitching a ride on the bowmast. Occasionally she’d swoop down and scoop up a flying fish, then promptly return to the boat to digest (and poop on us). Thanks Ruby...
Anyhow, it’s nice to relax and swim in the warm water here, hang out on the coral sand beaches and decompress...Until next time!
We bid adieu to Tom and Candy two days ago, and watched them waving goodbye on the dock – so sad. We also said goodbye to crew Corey and Bob – chief engineer. Bob will be back (quick visit to Seattle – his hometown), but Corey couldn’t hang with the seasickness, so he’s back to Hawaii. In their place we got Laura (working for Tom – acoustics) and Mark (working as oceanographer in Candy’s place) plus Tommy – chief engineer, and Mike – local HI guy as crew. It will be different without Candy’s chipper South African accent and craziness, and Tom’s voice on the radio (and no one for Jim and Richard to make fun of!). I think we’ll adjust though.
After a few days in port it was nice to be back on the ship, even though it was sad to say goodbye to good friends...We steamed out of Apra Harbor in Guam and headed north along the West side of Guam – we could see Guam (including Tumon Bay – the downtown area - on our starboard side all day. We also passed Rota, the island to the north of Guam, before sunset, and Saipan later that night. Rota is a pretty small island, but we could clearly make out a little village with colorful buildings and some sort of school with a baseball field behind it. Looked pretty cool, actually.
Immediately upon leaving the harbor we all remembered why we enjoyed being in port so much – pounding 10 foot seas, 25 knot winds and salt spray greeted us and stayed with us until this morning! There were a bunch of cool bird flocks as we steamed north to our first transect line, but it was so bumpy it was hard to keep the binoculars on the birds long enough to identify them...We surveyed the area as we steamed north, just because we could. We haven’t stopped working once yet due to high winds or sea state (Usually we stop search efforts around Beaufort 5-6 because the data is worthless and we generally don’t see much). However, this cruise is different because 1) we know there is no end in sight to the high winds this time of year and 2) we have a limited time to survey the entire area, so we do what we can. However, no bad weather (e.g. no work) days means I haven’t had time to do all my activities I’d planned! Like work on publishing my thesis, reading a ton of books, etc. Oh well...Mostly now I read a bit when I’m off for 2 hours, or nap, or eat or workout. That’s my typical day!
Anyhow the first day and yesterday at sea were definitely bumpy and unpleasant. And (no surprise here) we saw nothing but birds – lots of birds, but that’s it. Red-foot boobies, brown noddies, sooty and white terns...The usual. They came in close for some good looks though.
Movies watched: Poseidon (about a ship getting hit by a rogue wave and sinking) and The Guardian (about Coast Guard rescue swimmers in the Bering Sea)...not the typical selection I’d choose while actually sailing on a ship, but at least we now know what to do!
We’ve also had lots and lots of sashimi – and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. We caught 2 big onos (aka Wahoo) and 2 mahi mahi’s in one day! Actually you don’t really want mahi as sashimi, but fish nonetheless! Pretty good diet for me. Ed, our cook, is so good – lots of healthy food for a change...
This morning I awoke to gentle waves rolling me in my bunk – and knew we’d reached our waypoint and were finally heading slightly downswell – at least for the day. Our plan is to get as far north as possible then go south with the waves to minimize the pain. It seems to be working so far – we’ve already seen a sperm whale, unidentified large whale (too far to ID) and some dolphins! Not too bad! Later in the day we saw a group of sperm whales pretty close to the boat – and one was spyhopping (sticking it’s nose out of the water). As we were heading back to “course and speed” and leaving the whales behind, one started breaching behind us! Pretty cool to see a 50 ton animal launch out of the water...and hard to miss the splash it creates! The final topper to the day was a sighting of a short-tailed albatross – the first time I’ve ever seen one! These birds have wingspans up to 6 feet across – huge compared to most of the terns and little storm petrels we’ve been seeing. It actually come in close enough to get some photos, too – although I don’t have a very fast lens so they’re a bit blurry. Note the bubble gum bill...diagnostic...
9 February 2007
Last night I spent most of the evening playing with my digital photos on my computer and updating my iPod with new podcasts and music to play while on watch on the flying bridge. I tell ya, it takes a lot of time to organize photos and music! I need a “bad weather day” to catch up...Too bad that doesn’t look likely. Although last night it started raining pretty hard, didn’t let up til about 10:30 pm. We also changed course and are currently riding in one of the 3-4 different troughs in the ocean right now. The seas are so confused that no matter which way you go, you’ll be in some trough, which means a violent rocking back and forth of the ship, forcing you to cling to anything you can grab and make sure your coffee cup is secure (along with everything else). Add to that the rain and fog that’s returned, and it’s making for a “bad weather day”. Although it’s not official yet – we’re all on “standby” to see if the weather clears up and we can go back on watch...If not, it’s movie time!! My record is 6 movies in one day (on the David Starr Jordan in 2005 – CSCAPE cruise). I don’t think that will be broken anytime soon, plus I should work a little anyways...Ed’s making wonton soup for us for lunch...to warm us up.
I thought we were in the tropics, man! What’s with the rain and fog? At least I’m still in shorts, just added a rain jacket to the top. Plus, it is February, and we’re heading north (we’re about 18 degrees north right now – that’s 1000 miles north of the equator – each degree is 60 nautical miles.). That’s one thing I’m learning more of – and enjoying – is getting all the ship and nautical type stuff down. Plus my identification/observer skills...It’s fun!
We worked our way north along the Northern Mariana Island chain, and actually got to see some islands through the rain and fog! We came upon Guguan – an uninhabited island with an active volcano about 1/3 the size of Guam. It’s the 6th island north from Guam. Although uninhabited by humans, there were a lot of seabirds roosting on the tropical green foliage lining the volcanic rocks – red foot boobies, sooty terns, frigate birds, and tropicbirds. We also were greeted by about 10-15 rough-toothed dolphin (my first time seeing them!) as we moseyed along the western side of the island. They didn’t stick around, just passed under the bow and were on their way. As we continued north the next island, Alamagan, came into view – much smaller, but also rocky coastline. There were tons of bird flocks feeding off the island on schools of flying fish and other types of fish. I even saw a frigatebird (“pirates of the sea”) knock a fish out of a brown booby’s claws mid-air and grab it and eat it! Pretty cool...Next up came Pagan Island – the one with the largest active volcano – I looked for smoke but it was too foggy.
14 February 2007
The last couple days have seen “winter-like” weather – rainy and foggy, but still wearing shorts (just with rain jacket on top). Crossed over a stationary front with lots of fish breezers, birds, and some mammals...We had one day of nice weather – Beaufort 4 and sunny, but mostly big squalls, big waves, and strong winds. Still lots of birds – frigatebirds, Bonin petrels, Matsudaira storm petrels, streaked shearwater, Herald petrel, terns (sooty, white), and boobies galore! Red-foots, brown, and masked boobies – they’re pretty cool birds. Plunge dive for flying fish, soaring over the waves...I even saw two boobies flying together – synchronized boobies (although that just doesn’t sound quite right...). The sightings have been pretty slow – some pilot whales, striped dolphins, beaked whales (that I never saw), sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins bowriding for about 5 seconds. All the sightings have been pretty quick, and nothing spectacular, since it’s been such bad weather...ah well...Interestingly enough, the acoustics team has been hearing sperm whale clicks, humpback songs, and navy sonar all at the same time...weird...
We are now on the northeast side of the Mariana Island chain – we have Saipan and Tinian Islands in sight off the port side – lots of history out here on the islands – Japanese occupation, American invasion, etc. I’m learning about it all as I see them and ask questions. Also, apparently Saipan is where a lot of “designer” clothes are made – American brands – check your labels in the back of that Gap shirt – very interesting – it’s such a small island. I think I’m going to head up there and check it out on a port call – plus Rota as well, two “laid back islands”. Why not?!
Other than that still enjoying my daily ono sashimi intake and plenty of cheesy movies – “Dukes of Hazzard”, “Welcome to Mooseport” , “Dr. Strangelove”, “Sideways”, and “Alien” to name a few.
20 February 2007
Ah, sitting here sipping rum and juice after another nice sunny day. Couldn’t be better! Well...
So around February 16 or so there was a significant change in the weather – for the better! Not that it’s glassy and no wind, clear skies, but definitely nicer, with a gentler breeze (which means less white caps) and sunny skies. We’ve actually had two days now with Beaufort 2 conditions (around 5-7 knots of wind, which is nothin’!!). Most days it’s more like Beaufort 4 with some rolling still on the boat, but at least I don’t have to cling for dear life (most of the time) to anything attached to the boat!
We’ve seen some more animals now, including False killer whales (Pseudorca)!!! Or, as we like to call some people on the boat – rather than “true orcas” (killer whales), we switched it to “Truedorca”. That applies to most of the people on board, since deep down we’re all pretty much true dorks (as opposed to pseu-dorks). Okay now I’m really establishing myself as a dork. But if you’ve read this far you already know that!
So anyways, the Pseduorcas (talking about the animals now!) are very cool – they came up and were bowriding – and they’re big! Up to 17 feet long! They look like killer whales except without any white markings, and not the tall dorsal fins on the males (actually more like pilot whales). Very cool! Since our first sighting we’ve seen them off and on in small groups – and one time even came upon a group feeding on some big fish (we’re guessing Mahi mahi)!!
On Feb 17th we came very close to the island of Saipan – and found a big group of sperm whales (with some calves) offshore of Garapan (the main town on Saipan). As the sun set we watched the lights on west side of Saipan, played some music on the back deck, and drifted all night. It was very cool. The acoustics team spent the night recording and tracking humpback whales that we’ve been hearing in the area. All the observers slept soundly while they were up all night doing all the work. When we awoke refreshed in the morning all the acoustics girls had to do was direct us to where they thought the humpback whales were...and, lo and behold – there they were! Very good job for the a-team (acoustics team that is). We spent most of the day with the whales, which it turned out were a couple of groups of males chasing a female. Thus, there were some good visual displays as the males jostled for position with the female (lots of breaching, spyhopping, and all around excitement!). After most of the day spent photographing the whales and watching their behavior, we set out to survey the east side of Saipan. We wrapped around the north end of the island, passed a lot of beautiful cliffs – one area named Banzai Cliffs because it’s the site (sadly) where many Japanese soldiers and families jumped to their deaths to avoid being captured by American troops in WWII. There were a lot of crosses and markers, memorials along the shoreline. The east side of Saipan looked like more of the “local” side with quaint small Mediterranean style villages and beautiful empty white sand beaches. Can’t wait to go back there and explore. We cruised down the east side of Saipan and then cut through the channel separating Saipan from the island south – Tinian. The channel isn’t very wide, and we got some good looks at the lava rocks making up the islands, and the natural “blowholes” produced by the swell hitting the lava. We had a surprise visit from some spotted dolphins briefly under the bow, then headed west to check out Esmerelda Banks and called it a night.
We briefly celebrated Fat Tuesday, but we’re all so wiped out that it wasn’t much of a party (I tend to go to sleep around 10 at the latest out here!). Anyways, the jam sessions still occur now and then, plus lots of good movies, reading, and talking. Some recent movies include “50 First Dates” and “Failure to Launch” as well as “Alien II”. I’m really starting to appreciate all those action flicks I missed or ignored growing up --- they’re good! I can’t wait for Alien III and IV!!! What will happen? Who will die??
21 February 2007
Reunited with Moby:
Today was one of those crazy days that you will never forget for the rest of your life. Where do I even begin? I know I’ve told some of you already, but essentially we got rammed – yes, I said RAMMED!!! – by a sperm whale today! I mean, like the boat shuddered with the impact, the whale pooped when it hit us, seriously hit!
So here’s the story:
We spotted a group of sperm whales out in the distance and started heading over to them to get photo id’s and count how many there were (standard procedure). I was watching them in the big eyes and could see a lot of splashing, spyhopping, etc going on. As we got closer I spotted a big male – I started calling him Big Poppa – plus some others further off in the distance – including a cute little calf! Anyways, Big Poppa and all the rest of the whales (about 10 in total) turned to face away from us (butts to us). Then BP promptly turned around and started swimming straight for our boat – and veered around the bow – we got some good looks at him – he was HUGE and had all these scars on his head. Anyways, he just swam by, and we kept moving slowing towards the rest of the group. Then we noticed two other big males in that group and I said something to the effect of “Wow we’ve reunited with Moby’s kin”. Then, before I could process what was happening, the other two big males started swimming full speed at our boat – I just said “Uh oh” and watched dumbfounded as the whale swam straight for our bow and got maximum propulsion from it’s flukes (tail) to hit us! It was a big thud and then the whale pooped and swam under the boat. Seriously, all I could see was whale, no water! Then the other big whale looked like he was going to do the same thing, but missed and dove under. Meanwhile, the calf and the rest were waiting off in the distance, peacefully. We have tons of pictures and video of it – you can hear me going “Uh, what’s going on?” and then all of go “Holy sh#$!! The whale just hit us!”. I think the whale still has a headache from that one...Anyways, it’s the first time that anyone has ever heard of a research vessel being struck by a sperm whale (obviously it’s happened to whaling boats in the past). Quite an experience! Check out the pics...
26 February 2007
So we’re back in port again – in Guam – catching up on sleep and drinking. Oh and other stuff too – emailing, etc. The last couple days at sea were really nice – pleasant weather, lots of good sightings (including a Bryde’s whale cow and calf!), tons of streaked and wedge-tailed shearwaters streaming by us to the Northwest, and more spotted, striped and spinner dolphins. Plus we had “Ruby” the Red foot booby hanging out with us for over 24 hours, just hitching a ride on the bowmast. Occasionally she’d swoop down and scoop up a flying fish, then promptly return to the boat to digest (and poop on us). Thanks Ruby...
Anyhow, it’s nice to relax and swim in the warm water here, hang out on the coral sand beaches and decompress...Until next time!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Leg 2 - Animals
****NOTE: All pictures property of the US Navy****
"Ruby" the red-foot booby (I named her). She hung out on the bow mast for 24+ hours!
"Ruby" the red-foot booby (I named her). She hung out on the bow mast for 24+ hours!
Ruby the booby at sunset (still there)!
Striped dolphins!!! Yahoo! (I always have to say that when they start jumping - or running)...
Humpback whale spyhopping!
Massive bird flock - note white terns, sooty terns, and black noddies in the mix (you birders)
Sperm whale mom, calf (to the right) and escort. These are NOT the whales that rammed us!
Bryde's whale mom and calf (calf is underwater in front of the mom, blowing) - so cute!
Bryde's whale calf surfacing (only about 15 feet long - they can get to 45-50 feet long!). Note the three prominent ridges on the rostrum - head - that's how we identified this species...
Short-tailed albatross! One of the rarest seabird species! And huge!!!
Great frigatebird soaring high in the sky - they're pirates of the sea - stealing fish from other birds like poor Ruby the Booby
A white-tailed tropicbird taking off the sea surface - note long white tail, black on wings
Spinner dolphins underwater - they were bowriding with us for a bit!
Matsudaira's storm petrel - one of the most common storm petrel's we're seeing out here...thanks to Richard for helping me learn my bird identifications!Leg 2 - People pics
Cornelia hiding in the big eyes cover during a rainstorm...
Mark and a nice big ol mahi mahi (we ate it for dinner) - aren't the colors pretty?
Jim!!! Don't eat it! A random pteropod (jelly-like animal that I have no idea what group of animals it falls into - it has eye spots and a gut, even this weird fin thing...). Jim caught it during night-time dipnetting for flying fish.
Jim Cotton - professional photographer...?
What? There's a whale out there? Where?
Dr. Greg Fulling, our illustrious cruise leader, hard at work.
Pulling another fish on board - Mike, Mark and Nalu hard at work (on their tans)Leg 2 - Random cruise pics
View of the East side of Saipan
Just another sunset shot...
One good thing about squalls out here is that there's a lot of pretty rainbows to look at! So far no pots of gold (or dolphins) at the end...
Another beautiful day coming to and end...
Look closely - this is our data program - Beaufort 2, 5 knots of wind, and a smiling face! FINALLY!!!
The island of Guguan, 6th island north of Guam in the Northern Mariana Islands chain - shrouded in rain and fog. It's uninhabited (mostly because it's one big lava rock I think) and tons of birds nest on it...
Just as we came around the west side of Guguan the rain cleared. You can see the lava rock running straight into the ocean (there's an active volcano on the island) and the lush tropical foliage...
I know, I know, another sunset shot. Just couldn't resist now that the weather has improved!!!
The island of Saipan looking at the northern end - the cliffs are called Banzai cliffs - where a lot of Japanese jumped to their deaths when the Americans arrived during WWII. Now there's a memorial and park there...We also saw the humpbacks here!
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