May 31, 2014: Minke Approach

365 Project, Day 196

Here is my day 196 submission to my 365Project:

Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), in the NorthSea, approached vessel and swam briefly just inside of the survey equipment...which was turned off at the time. 

May 30, 2014: North Sea Minke Whale

365 Project, Day 195

Here is my day 195 submission to my 365Project:

It was another lovely day in the North Sea today! In fact it was one of our best days yet with 13 marine mammal sightings; 1 common seal sighting (harbour seal, phoca vitulina), five grey seal sightings (Halichoerus grypus), 2 harbour porpoise sightings (Phocoena phocoena), 4 minke whale sightings (Baleanoptera acutorostrata) and 1 white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) sighting. Today's photo is of one of the minke whales that passed quite close to the ship just as I was finishing my watch...fortunately I hadn't put my camera away yet and I snapped a few shots of it cruising by :)

An here are some shots of a leaping white-beaked dolphin, the sunrise and the second officer shooting off flares at a ship that was approaching us. Due to the multiple cables towed behind our vessel we are restricted in our ability to move and vessels must maintain a good distance from us. Finally, after trying to reach the ship for 45 minutes and setting off the flares the vessel responded and altered course! You just never know what's going to happen out here from day to day!

May 29, 2014: Gannet On The Move

365 Project, Day 194

Here is my day 194 submission to my 365Project:

Oh the gannets! There they are all day flying and fishing around the ship...my source of entertainment when there is little else to be seen :)

Here's a couple shots of one our most commonly observed bird species out here in the North Sea, a Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) in flight:

And a wonderful little poem, by Julian Dale, inspired by the gannet :)

THE GANNET

My favourite bird's the gannet:
It's the best bird on the planet.
It's better than knots
And guillemots
And beats razorbills by lots and lots.

Yes, my favourite bird's the gannet:
It just can't be beaten, can it?
It hatches on ledges,
Where it stays till it fledges
And grows a physique
With a fabulous beak.
Then it takes to the air
And soars way up there,
Till it reaches a summit,
Whence it dives in a plummet
And down with a S W I S H !
It catches a fish.

Yes, my favourite bird's the gannet
(Apart from my girlfriend, Janet!).

May 26, 2014: Collared Dove II

365 Project, Day 194

Here is my day 194 submission to my 365Project:

It was a fairly quiet day for me today (everyday isn't full of excitement out here ;) but I still appreciate the little things like this collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)  I photographed flying around the ship.

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) in flight

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) flying around the vessel

May 25, 2014: Scrutinising Swallow

365 Project, Day 193

Here is my day 193 submission to my 365Project:

This Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) was flying around the ship today and during a moment of rest on the bow I snapped photos of the little guy...and it appears that he noticed and I love this photo of him staring back at me with a scrutinizing gaze. 

A scrutinizing swallow...Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

There were also some small boat operations today and I took these photos of the workboat on it's return to be lifted up the side of the ship on the davit:

Here are some more photos of the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) hanging out on the bow:

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) wing stretch

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

May 24, 2014: Early Morning Dolphins

365 Project, Day 192

Here is my day 192 submission to my 365Project:

As we are approaching summer the days are getting longer and longer here meaning that our night time acoustic monitoring (using the PAM, passive acoustic monitor, system) are quite short and currently run from midnight until ~4 am. It was a gorgeous morning when I went up to the bridge and I had a very strong feeling I was going to spot something very soon. I even commented to the officer on watch that this morning was going to be a great morning and that we'd surely be seeing something soon. 

Well, my feeling was right because not 20 minutes into my visual watch did I spot a group of dolphins traveling quickly ahead of us. It was a group of four White-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) including one very young animal! They traveled very quickly crossing ahead of the bow about 800 m ahead of us which, until they crossed into the early morning glare, was a nice distance to get some photos...and here are 3 of the animals zipping along at full speed :)

Early morning dolphins...white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)...you can really make out the tall, distinctly falcate dorsal fin which is key characteristic for species ID

white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) heading into the glare

white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

Here are some action shots of a couple of juvenile gulls taking off...I love getting these photos and they're great for practicing frozen action shots :)

Juvenile gull

Juvenile gull take-off

Juvenile gull take-off

Juvenile gull take-off

May 19, 2014: Shiny Ship's Bell

365 Project, Day 191

Here is my day 191 submission to my 365Project:

These last few months the ship was getting extensive work done in the ship yard so it was a busy time for the ship's crew when they returned as the ship was badly in need of some love. Immediately after leaving port the crew busily got to work fixing the interior and exterior of the ship including organising all the equipment, cleaning inside and out and painting. 

Although it was not part of his job one of the seismic crew even took the initiative to take down the ship's bell and polish it for most of one of his shifts... until it looked shiny and new! Here's a photo of the freshly polished bell now hanging on the ship's bow :)

Proud of his handiwork :)

May 18, 2014: North Sea Jack-up Rig

365 Project, Day 190

Here is my day 190 submission to my 365Project:

Each day we have been passing closer and closer to one offshore installation in this North Sea prospect where we are conducting our surveys. Close passes are, obviously, more intense periods for the ship's crew as they have to careful to have good control of the vessel and the 6 km long cables towing behind us; today was our closest pass to this jackup rig and I snapped this photo on our approach (see photos of our barovane passing within a couple hundred metres below).

Here are some more photos from today's day at sea: a misty moon (with posterization...definitely going to be shooting raw in future shots of celestial objects, see more about this at this post :), another dove in flight and our close pass to the rig. 

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Another moon photo :) ...with posterization, grr!

Wood Pigeon (Columba Palumbus)

Wood Pigeon (Columba Palumbus)

On the approach...

Yikes...now that's close!