We were approached a few months ago by Dr. Michele Goldsmith about using some still shots from our video to prepare the attached Tedx Talk. Though her views are pretty negative on the aspects of ecotourism we support especially concerning the Mountain Gorillas, we thought it important to share her message for the sake of open an honest debate.
This is another beautiful Cape Cod secret for nature lovers, the Beech Forest out on the road to Race Point is especially beautiful in Spring. Check out some of the beautiful scenery and bird life we had on recent visits. Many migrating passerines get blown into the Cape landscapes on their way north in strong southerly winds (mostly at night) to summer mating areas in the Canadian forests. Due to blocking weather patterns the birds were a bit late in arriving this year. And since summer approaches it is especially special to enjoy Cape Cod’s quiet and often hidden landscapes and wildlife before we once again head back out on the water and the barrier beaches. It will late in the fall before we will again explore inland to any great extent.
As we have noted, and all Cape Codders know, Spring comes late to our little sand spit in the Atlantic. Looking for spring signs of returning migrants has been one of our most enjoyable pastimes the past couple of years as we patiently wait for the water to warm so we can get back out on the sea. We have ventured into some of the more remote parts of the Cape and recently discovered a treasure in our midst, Barnstable’s Sandy Neck and its adjoining Barnstable Marsh. To fully appreciate this Cape Cod wild wonderland one should commit to hiking out the entire neck…. a round trip commitment of 13 miles! Though quite a walk which also must be timed to account for tidal pools that obstruct the trails at higher tides, the experience is worth it and spectacularly beautiful – by far the “piece de resistance” of Cape Cod trekking.
Tree Swallows jockey for the right to a nesting box and a mate!
Little House on the Neck -100 years old.
Lighthouse and colony of cottages at the point
Entrance to Barnstable Harbor
Mockingbirds followed and fooled us along the trek
Putting a plug in for joining us for our presentation in Chatham at the Community Center this Saturday, April 20th, at 2:00PM. The event is sponsored by the fine people at Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary. The lecture will be appropriate for all ages (11 and up) so if you know of young people (and their teachers) who might like to get charged up about Cape Cod wildlife please pass the word. And a note for those who have heard John speak before – we will be presenting some exciting new images and stories behind our recent adventures.
See the link below for more details or call Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary – 508-349-2615
We are happy to back home on Cape Cod and over the past week have started to get back out in the field to see how the slow warming trends of spring here are signaling the changes and new wild visitors. Here are a few images we captured.
American Widgeon (male) in Ryders Cove
Eastern Bluebird returns! - Chatham
Common Eiders getting up and heading North
Very rare vagrant visits - a King Eider
Male Woodcock set to perform his amazing mating dance at dusk - Long Pasture Sanctuary
Northern Bobwhite pops out after a brief rain shower - Falmouth
Yellow Crowned Night Heron - looking for lunch - Sandwich
After leaving Dominica and our fantastic experiences swimming and observing Sperm whales we made the 1000 mile journey northward via Puerto Rico to join the team at Aquatic Adventures in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Since it is not easy traveling in the Caribbean our journey took several days travel but we finally climbed on board the Turks & Caicos Explorer, our live-aboard dive boat home for the next 6 days and headed out 80 miles to the NNE finding the Silver Bank. These grounds were made famous in colonial times when Spanish treasure ships came to grief on poorly charted coral reefs and deposited lots of treasure on the shallow banks in storms. This was a return trip for us having had the experience in March 2012 and been so moved by it that we vowed to come back for more. We were not disappointed.
Tender platform we used to track the humpbacks specially designed by Tom Conlin
Mom and calf in a fly by
Tail breach in process
Mother is looking for a wandering calf
Fading light distant breach
Calf exhibits "Spinning head breach"
Chin breach
Curious calf approaches JJK. Likely a yearling born last year due to size
Up close and personal with a large female
Very distinctive hump
Another close encounter
Massive Pectoral fins are used to communicate
Fluke headed down
Humpback whale Zen Master Tom Conlin (Photo by Diane Byrd)
Soft encounter with an adult female
Mother nurses her calf
Breacher with the Explorer in the background
Sea Turtle makes an appearance
Humpback female comes up for air about every 25 minutes when with a nursing calf
Our main objective in coming to Dominica was to observe sperm whales in the wild with the benefit and guidance of local researchers and guides. Because of its is unique Caribbean geography (and bathymetry) Dominica is one of the few places on Planet Earth that you can observe sperm whales in an ocean environment near land and in relatively protected and calm warm water. For much of the last decade researchers under the direction of Shane Gero and Hal Whitehead have been studying a resident population of about 20 family groups that live in the region. Sperm whales are highly social animals and, like elephants, form large family units made up principally of female family members with juveniles. Social units are required to share in the protection and rearing of young sperm whales as adult whales must dive to great depths to feed and youngsters cannot dive deeply for a number of years after birth. They are often accompanied by relatives who act as “care providers” at the surface while mom dives for food. Principally squid in the dark ocean depths.
We were very fortunate to acquire permits from the government of Dominica and get to sea with ground operators who have been part of The Sperm Whale Project team for a number of years. Most of the individual whales we observed were known to our guides and even had names and a family lineage which we learned. Male sperm whales come of age around their tenth birthday and at that point leave the family unit to join bachelor herds who travel the ocean mostly in northern climes nearer to the ice to feed and generally “learn” to be the man. Unlikely that male whales return to their home path in later life but studies of this are as yet unknown. Among the beautiful interactions we experienced we did connect with a near mature young male of 8 or 9 years who provided a spirited encounter (now posted) on YouTube on our channel – aleutiandream.
Whale Tale: Face to Face with Earth’s largest Predator.
Lady Atwood and her two daughters
A young male uses echolocation to determine JJK's intent
Objects appear farther away than they actually are. (Shot with Nikon D300 and Tokina 10-17 fisheye lens)
Massive male Sperm whale nomad who showed up one day. Estimated to be 50 ft in length and about 40 tons. He was double the size of any of the females we saw.
Mysterious oceanic shark. Possible Silky Shark however rarely seen in these waters.
A school of Short finned Pilot Whales!
Short finned Pilot Whales at the surface. They harass sperm whales and once they showed up the sperm whales were gone for the day.
The view from below. Sperm whales engage their binocular vision by turning belly up to engae both eyes on activity (like us) at the surface that seems unfamiliar
Pam takes it all in
The Team for our adventure
Mother with very young calf. < 1year
Females checking us out
Young male stops on the surface to further investigate the curious humans
Sperm Whales are identified by the distinctive markings on their flukes. These are always caused by interactions with orca, pilot whales or in some cases cookie cutter sharks. researchers use these fluke shots to keep track of who's who.
Rare glimpse of Pygmy killer whales
School of 40 - 50 Pygmy Killer whales appeared and caused the Sperms to disappear for 24 hours.
Up close and personal at the surface. Amazing!
Sperm whale "spyhop" to check us out.
Sperm whales stay on the surface for about 12 - 18 minutes then dive to the depths to feed for about 45 minutes. We spent a lot of time searching for spouts and listening for echolocating sounds at the bottome using hydo-phones
