As a first-timer here at the Lubec Field Station, I have a different
perspective on this mystifying season. My background includes 13 winter
(December to March) field seasons in the right whale calving grounds of the
Southeast U.S. (SEUS), observing right whales from the shoreline and from the air. As
program coordinator for the Marineland Right Whale Project, sponsored by
Associated Scientists at Woods Hole, I work with 200+ citizen scientist
volunteers who conduct shoreline surveys from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach in
NE Florida.
Marineland Right Whale Project scientists and volunteers follow a
right whale mother and calf
to collect data and photographs as they swim along
the shore near the Town of Marineland
Photo by: Sue Osborne, Marineland Right Whale Project
The
Project also uses an Air Cam for right whale aerial surveys. The completely
open cockpit, slow-flight characteristics, and quiet twin-engine operation make
it ideal for nearshore documentation of right whales and their calves. I was
hooked on my first flight in 2002 and earned my pilot's license that year, solely to fly
the Project's Air Cam. My aerial survey experience also
extends to three seasons of flights in the Northeast, from Long Island, NY to Halifax, Nova
Scotia, as an observer for the National Marine Fisheries Services' Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected
Species (AMAPPS).
The Air Cam flying a right whale survey off Flagler Beach , Florida
in back, both wearing
exposure/flotation suits to stay warm and for overwater safety.
Photo by: Jim
Hain, Associated Scientists at Woods Hole
Thus,
I arrived in Lubec at the beginning of August with lots of whale and dolphin
exposure, but very little of it from a boat. The prospect of encountering
dozens of right whales in a single day also figured to be a novel experience
for me. The section of Florida coastline we survey in the winter is in the
southern end of the SEUS right whale critical habitat, where we average 30+
right whale sightings for the entire season. Surveying for hours without
seeing right whales is a common occurrence. Rather than be disappointed with
the absence of right whales in the Bay of Fundy, I am thoroughly enjoying the
opportunity to absorb the beauty of this body of water at a leisurely 12 knots, Nereid survey speed. It's my
first time to see fin, humpback, and minke whales up close, to hear the
powerful whoosh of their blows, to watch fifty white-sided dolphins leaping and
splashing around us, and to meet scores of seabirds, including the iconic
puffin, who make this place their summer home.
Even
the wind, rain, and fog that have kept us in Lubec contain an upside, giving me
time in the office to improve my understanding of how right whales photographed all along the
Atlantic Coast are identified by matching them to whales already in the catalog using
the DIGITS program. Since I prepare and submit the data and photographs from
the Marineland Project's winter sightings, this gives me a much clearer
understanding of the process and the value of this remarkable, collaborative
database. Regardless of whether right whales appear in my remaining time here
or not, the six weeks I will have spent in this alluring part of the world will
benefit the collaboration between our programs and the data we share and, certainly, provide superb, lasting memories.
-Joy Hampp
-Joy Hampp
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