Whaling

     So the email said,

     This message is to confirm that you have been selected to participate in a morale trip to assist with

   looking for whales to tag via helicopter!

     Morale trips, sometimes referred to as boondoggles or, in the case of the South Pole, sleigh rides, are randomly awarded.  The amount of time someone has spent on the Ice may have something to do with it.  Earlier this year I filled out my wish list with a sleigh ride as my one and only choice.  I didn't know about whaling.

     Tuesday evening I showed up at the helicopter terminal.  Another fellow and I were going out with the three-man whale tagging crew.  It was about a ten minute ride out to the sea ice edge.  That's not very far, even for this time of year.  I had envisioned open water beyond the edge.  Actually, it's a jumble of ice, in every shape and form.

     We cruised west along the ice edge for a while, spotting whales, seals and penguins.  Eventually, Bob, the lead researcher picked the area he wanted and we landed.



Several flocks of the locals showed up to welcome us.



Orca, the killer whale.  Or Shamu.



This is a minke whale.  It's actually larger than the orca, a lot longer especially.  As you can see, the dorsal fin is a lot smaller and a lot farther back on the body.

 

The pool is barely bigger than a backyard, not even a good size fishing hole.  Obviously big enough for a killer whale to bob around in, catching it's breath.

 

This one was spy hopping, checking us out.  They bob out of the water to get a look at what's going on.  Minke's will do it as well, but only the killers, the orcas, were doing it while we were there.



These are both females.  The males have much larger, taller dorsal fins.

The fin to the reat belongs to a male.  I don't know how many whales we saw.  I can't identify them by their fins and markings and such, although, Bob could.  He should; that's his business.  Not counting the ones we saw passing through the ice chucks way off, we still saw at least 15 to 20, killer and minke whales combined




How close were the whales?  Dan was standing maybe 4 or 5 feet from the ice edge when this minke surfaced.  Once, an orca came right along parallel to the edge.  I'd say we were within 10 or 12 feet at times.

This male killer whale is not far off the edge.  You can see how it compares to a man.  As Mark said, "They may be small as whales go, but they are still really big animals." 




This trip made the whole season worthwhile - not to mention the other trips I've taken.

      This is a rush job.  I took these photos two nights ago.  I was scheduled to leave day after tomorrow for WAIS Divide field camp, but yesterday they changed it to tomorrow.  We are already rushed, getting  paperwork done for the end of the season, about 7 weeks from now. 

     I'm going to be gone for the next 3 weeks.  If you have any comments on this, please hold off until, oh, say Groundhog's Day, the Super Bowl, whatever.  Until then, my Internet connection is going to be incredibly slow.  Somewhere I read that the whole camp only has the capacity of about 1/100th of a household connection.  I don't expect to be able to connect often or to be able to download much.  



     It's been a busy day, it's about midnight, but I wanted to get these out.  By the time I get back from WAIS I should have enough for a blog about that place.  But no wildlife. 

See ya next time . . .