Prof. John MK Wong: Dancing with Sei and Sperm Whales, a Record of the 1998 Atlantic Expedition | Witnessing the 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake in the Azores | CBCGDF OceanWetlands Reports

Between July 6 and 13, 1998, I experienced an unforgettable and fun whale watching trip in the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. My son Haoyu and I set off from London, flew to Horta, an island in the Azores via Lisbon, Portugal, and then took a ferry to our destination, Pico Island, and stayed in a small fishing village about 20 minutes' drive from the pier.

A Frenchman in the fishing village founded a whale watching base in 1995. They mainly use the facilities and supplies left over from previous whaling operations to organize whale watching activities. Looking down at the ocean from the top of the mountain, you can see the movements within 25 nautical miles. Once a whale is spotted, the staff will notify the ship to send the whale watchers out to the sea. The base has two small rubber boats for whale watching, each of which can carry 7 to 8 people, and the other larger one can carry 12 people, usually used to transport supplies or larger whale watching groups.

At 9:30 that morning, I set out with another companion in one of the small boats to look for traces of whales. We were very lucky. On the first day of going out to sea, we saw three sei whales(Balaenoptera borealis), which were 15 meters, 10 meters and 7 meters long respectively. They were diving shallowly about five or six nautical miles from the shore, and their "footprints" (that is, the vortices formed when they swam underwater) could be clearly seen on the water surface.

Based on these footprints, we speculated on their next appearance location and instructed the captain to drive the boat to the predetermined location, turn off the engine, and wait quietly. As expected, they swam slowly towards us soon. When they approached, we gently slid into the water from the side of the boat, carefully avoiding making noises to alarm them. The captain who stayed on the boat continued to observe their whereabouts, gave us instructions at any time, and helped us catch the direction they swam from and prepare to take pictures. On one occasion, two whales passed by me within a few meters, and I was able to capture their heads clearly. The speed of the sei whales is so fast that humans cannot compete with them at all, so it is rare to capture such moments. After the whales swam away, we returned to the boat and continued to set off for the next destination to look for new opportunities.

We chased these whales all morning. In the afternoon, we encountered a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), one of which was a mother and child, but when we approached, they quickly dived vertically and disappeared without a trace. According to information, sperm whales can hold their breath underwater for more than an hour. Helplessly, we could only wait on the surface. Fortunately, a large male sperm whale finally couldn't help but swim towards me curiously. I immediately raised my camera and took pictures of its heroic figure from far to near, and I could even clearly see its eyes and teeth in its lower jaw. During the whole process, I felt its alertness, but it had no malice. It stopped not far away from me and then dived to the bottom of the sea 1,000 meters deep.

On the way back, we encountered a group of Pantropical Spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), who were playing in the waves in front of our boat. For an underwater photographer, such a fruitful day is rare.

During this multi-day trip, we witnessed no less than three species of whales, as well as short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus),  Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), turtles and sunfish. Some of our companions even saw fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens).

In the early morning of July 9, 1998, we felt a strong tremor that woke up the whole village. Later, we learned that a major earthquake of more than 6 on the Richter scale occurred on an island in the northeast, causing a large number of houses to collapse and causing casualties. After the earthquake, when we went out to sea again, we found that most animals became extremely frightened and fled at the slightest movement. We could no longer get close to them and could only observe their activities on the water from a distance. This time, I deeply felt the impact of earthquakes on animal behavior.

During the trip, I was also lucky enough to swim with more than 30 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in the sea and filmed their courtship activities. Pairs of dolphins touched each other, showing their gentle side.

Summarizing this experience, I think the eastern coast of Taiwan is similar to this whale watching base, and there are full conditions for developing similar marine whale watching activities. It is said that Taitung has irregular whale watching activities, and the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) ecotourism in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has a history of three or four years. I hope that in the near future, similar ecotourism can be popularized in China, bringing benefits to social and economic development, natural ecological protection and education, and ultimately improving people's quality of life.

Original article:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/t7hLRVrqBcNYazsPTK3bAQ

Translator: Daisy

Checked by Sara

Editor: Daisy

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