If you’ve been following my ramblings in recent months, it’s probably obvious that I’ve been spending an increasing proportion of my time with large cetaceans. My schedule for next year is no exception, with 12 to 13 weeks or so planned for sitting on a boat staring at the ocean hoping something will show up whale photography.

For those of you who are crazy enough to contemplate joining me on one of these adventures, I’ve set out basic trip descriptions below.

If you read on, you’ll no doubt notice that many of the trips are already booked. This is because I keep a list of people who contact me in advance, and I do my best to get in touch with anyone who’s expressed interest before announcing trips on my blog. I also send out an e-newsletter in advance of posting to this site.

If you’d like to get a heads-up for future trips, please contact me via my contact form, or sign up for my trip newsletter.

Please let me know if you’re interested, even if the itinerary you’re keen on is full, as I keep a wait list for each of the trips. Life happens sometimes, and people who’ve signed up end up needing to change their plans.

Blue Whales, Sperm Whales in Sri Lanka
Dates: March/ April 2012
Availability: Fully booked

This trip requires someone who is accustomed to less-than-ideal circumstances, can deal with frustration, and can accept the possibility of being totally and utterly skunked.

Sounds like fun, no?

To be a good fit for this adventure, you need to be very, very experienced in the water, be easy-going and cooperative, and have a stable, mature personality.

On the upside, there is the prospect of seeing scenes like the images below, as well as other potential surprises:

Sperm whale swimming upside-down to check me out with sonar

Blue whales(!) swimming in blue water

Minke Whales in Australia
Dates: 28 June to 7 July
Availability: One spot available
Location: Fly into/ out of Cairns, transfer to Port Douglas
Accommodation: Liveaboard trip

Minke whales have been on my to-do list for a long time. As far as baleen whales go, they’re relatively small, running six to ten metres in length. They’re inquisitive…as in, they’ll come right up to boats and people in the water given the right mood. They’re also reasonably easy to find…if you get the timing and location right.

For these reasons, I’ve planned a trip Down Under to spend some quality time with the minkes that congregate at the Great Barrier Reef.

We’re heading over during absolute peak minke whale season.

The plan is to get on a boat in Port Douglas on 28 June, cruise overnight to minke central and sit there until we leave on 6 July to head back. That’s eight full days with minkes, only minkes, and just minkes.

We’ll be in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, so we’ll be following the well-established guidelines for in-water interactions with the small cetaceans, letting the whales dictate the pace and proximity of interactions.

I specifically picked the timing for this trip based on advice from my friends John Rumney, who is one of the leading authorities on minkes Down Under, and Julia Sumerling, who has many years of minke experience under her belt from working as the video/ photo pro on Mike Ball’s boat.

To cut to the chase, our trip will be during peak, peak minke time.

For whatever reason, the minkes show up like clockwork at this time, and more importantly, they demonstrate the greatest level of interest in people around this period.

Incidentally, the minkes in this area are a subspecies known as dwarf minke whales, which were first described in 1986. From what I gather, there is still no population estimate for this subspecies, and no consensus on the taxonomy for minke whales in general.

For more information about the dwarf minkes, please see the excellent summary prepared by the CRC Reef Research Centre (PDF file).

Minkes are inquisitive, and some will approach really close.

Humpbacks Whales in Alaska
Dates: 22 to 31 July
Availability: Fully booked
Location: Trip begins and ends at Juneau, Alaska
Accommodation: Liveaboard

This is the Megaptera Mania! trip I’m running with Jon Cornforth.

I’m really excited about heading to Alaska for the first time. I’m not so keen on the fact that it’ll be colder than I normally like, but bubble-net feeding and dramatic, mountainous terrain in the background will hopefully make it worthwhile, and also worth a repeat visit in 2013.

Humpback whales bubble-feeding at sunset in Alaska

Humpback whale breaching in Alaska

Humpback Whales in Tonga
As soon as we wrap up in Alaska, I’ll be heading over to Tonga for my annual stay, and to continue my calf count project. After the record number of baby whales I ID-ed this year, I can’t wait to see what happens in 2012!

My schedule for Tonga is still evolving, but here’s how it looks at this time:

Trip 1: 21 to 28 August. This is the second part of the Megaptera Mania! trip. Fully booked.
Trip 2: 29 August to 06 September. Two spots available.
Trip 3: 08 to 17 September. Fully booked.
Trip 4: 25 September to 3 October. Four spots available.

Tahafa, calf #14 of the 2011 season, with mommy

Fluke of a humpback whale singer

A couple of places have opened up for one of the trips I’m leading to the Eastern Fields in PNG in association with Wetpixel. [Update 5 Jan: Spots filled]

The trip is for 10 to 20 January 2012, aboard MV Golden Dawn. We’ll be heading out to a submerged coral reef atoll system in the middle of the Coral Sea, where the corals are unspoiled and fish teeming, like this:

This is what my favourite dive site
in the Eastern Fields looks like when it’s rockin’

The photo above is from the most intense, fish-filled, absolutely insane reef dive I’ve ever done, at a site in the Eastern Fields called Carl’s Ultimate, named for my friend and mentor Carl Roessler. There’s so much action that you’ll want to go right back in (or, if you’re on rebreather like me, you’ll just stay in for three hours or so at a time, come up to scarf down cookies and chocolate cake, then drop in for another three hours).

To give you a better sense of the diving in the Eastern Fields, below is a video from my previous visit. I’ve posted this before, but in case you haven’t seen it, please take a quick look:

If you have time next January, this is an amazing trip that’s sure to knock your dive socks off.

Please get in touch with Dan Baldocchi for more information, or send me a message via my contact form.

…and hungry predators like this is why the small fish need to swim quickly

As I alluded to in my previous post, I’ve been working on a really special trip with my friend Jon Cornforth…a dual-hemisphere humpback whale extravaganza in the summer of 2012.

The basic idea is to travel with a small group of people to two prime humpback areas…Alaska in the northern hemisphere and Tonga in the southern hemisphere…to see these amazing animals up close, learn first-hand about their behaviours, and capture great photographs along the way. At the risk of sounding overenthusiastic…this will be an epic experience!

Jon and I have put in a lot of time in Alaska and Tonga, respectively, so by traveling with us, you’ll benefit from the lessons we’ve learned and wisdom(?) we’ve accumulated, thereby getting the most out of your time with the whales.

A trip outline follows below. Please contact either Jon or me if you’re interested.

Trip Name: Megaptera Mania!

Description: A unique opportunity to witness and photograph a comprehensive range of humpback whale behaviour in two hemispheres, led by guides Jon Cornforth and Tony Wu.

We’ll start with a 10-day trip in Southeast Alaska to photograph feeding and bubble-net behaviour. After a short break, we’ll reconvene for eight days of in-water encounters with humpback whales in the Kingdom of Tonga, where we’ll be looking for humpback mothers with babies, singing whales, heat runs and other mating/ calving-related activities.

Humpback whale mother and calf in Tonga

Jon and I have designed this unique trip with the goal of taking a small, exclusive group of six people to see and learn about a wide range of humpback whale behaviour, putting Jon’s five seasons of experience with humpbacks in Alaska and my ten whale seasons in Tonga to good use.

Given our photographic backgrounds, Jon and I will emphasize getting you to the best places and circumstances to take great photographs. Of course, you don’t have to be a photographer to enjoy this ultimate cetacean adventure, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better opportunity to capture eye-popping images of everything from the pandemonium of bubble-net feeding to the unmistakeable affection between a mother and baby whale. Instead of watching the action in a documentary, you can see and experience it live!

Humpback whales bubble-feeding at sunset in Alaska

Logistics: Our plan in Alaska is to be based on a comfortable 54-foot liveaboard and cruise from Juneau to prime humpback territory, where we’ll move around quietly on inflatables to position ourselves for front-row seats for whale action. Summer days are long up north, so we’ll go out and stay out so long as the weather, light and our stamina hold out. We will not be getting into the water in Alaska.

In Tonga, we’ll be based on land, going out each morning to look for whales, and returning in the afternoons to relax, share pictures and talk about the day’s experiences. We will be getting into the water when circumstances permit, so while you don’t have to be an expert swimmer, you should be comfortable swimming in open ocean with mask, snorkel and fins.

Three socialising humpback whales in Tonga

Target Dates: 23 July to 1 August 2012 in Alaska (10 days on the water). 21 to 28 August 2012 in Tonga (8 days on the water). We’re still ironing out logistics, so there is some possibility of dates shifting a little bit.

Participants: There are six places open for both trips (as of now there is one space available, for 1 single). Ideally, we’d like to share this unique north-south adventure with the same six people. Observing such a comprehensive set of humpback whale behaviours will give us a lot to talk about, and there will no doubt be many opportunities to compare notes relating to what we witness in the two locations. In addition, Jon and I will be able to provide perspective and context from our experiences during previous seasons.

Of course, we realise that there may be people who are interested in only one part of the trip. If you find yourself in this situation, please let me know. We will do what we can to accommodate individual circumstances.

Contact: If you’re interested, please get in touch with me via my Contact Form, or with Jon via his Contact Form.

Links for background information:
Jon Cornforth’s website
My Tonga 2010 season updates
My 2010 Humpback Whale Calf ID report

Humpback whale breaching in Alaska

It’s that time again! Time to plan next year’s schedule of trips to swim with humpback whales in Tonga.

Note: Before reading on, please take a moment to view this brief public service announcement (please refresh your browser or click here if you don’t see the video below):

Enough silliness. Here’s what my schedule looks like:
Trip 1: 9 to 14 August 2011fully booked
Trip 2: 21 to 30 August 2011 fully booked
Trip 3: 2 to 11 September 2011 fully booked
Trip 4: 13 to 18 September 2011 fully booked
Trip 5: 9 to 13 August 2011
Trip 6: 16 to 20 August 2011

Please read on for trip details.

Trip 1: 9 to 14 August 2011 (arrive 8 August, depart 15 August, six days on the water), staying on Mounu Island. Six people maximum. Note: This trip will be part of the official launch of Project Whalesong (working project name for the time being), an initiative I’m kick-starting to establish a consistent, long-term humpback whale acoustics data collection program in the waters around Vava’u.

I’ve enlisted the help of Dr. John Potter (a real, live PhD!) and several whale watch operators in Vava’u, so this will be a cooperative effort that I hope will produce a lot of interesting data and insight like my calf count project has.

Humpback whale singing in the classic head-down position

I’ll spell out more details about the project in a separate post. In the meantime, please read my first post from this season for background information about the inception of this project and also about John.

To be completely clear, just because I’m kicking off an acoustics project during this trip doesn’t mean we won’t look for other whales. Far from it! We will get in the water at every reasonable opportunity, because..well…there’s no way to keep me out.

Trip 2: 21 to 30 August 2011 (arrive 20 August, depart 31 August, 10 days on the water), staying in town. Fully booked. Believe it or not, a bunch of people who travelled to Tonga with me this year have decided to come back for more. Go figure.

Trip 3: 2 to 11 September 2011 (arrive 1 September, depart 12 September, 10 days on the water), staying in town. Six people maximum. Note: This trip is an official Underwater Fringe Event, in association with the Underwater Festival 2011 and the Oceania Dive Expo (ODEX), which is scheduled for 30 September to 2 October, 2011 in Brisbane.

What this means in practicality is that if you join this trip, you are automatically in the right place at the right time to try to capture outstanding images of humpback whales to enter in the 10-day shootout associated with ODEX.

I’m one of the judges for the Behaviour, Big Stuff and Super Macro categories, so let’s just state right here, right now for the record that I can’t be bought off with cheap drinks and gratuitous flattery during the trip. (Or can I?)

Of course, you don’t have to be interested in any of the event activities to join this trip. Our primary objectives, as always, are to have fun and learn what we can about the whales.

Trip 4: 13 to 18 September 2011 (arrive 12 September, depart 19 September, six days on the water), staying on Mounu Island. Fully booked.

Scenes like this qualify for contest category Big Stuff!

Trip 5: 9 to 13 August 2011 (board 9 August, get off the boat 13 August, four nights on the yacht) and Trip 6: 16 to 20 August 2011 (board 16 August, get off the boat 20 August, four nights on the yacht), both trips staying on board Jocara. Four people maximum per trip.

Dr John Potter will be leading these two trips aboard Jocara, the same yacht that we used this season to commence work on our acoustics project.

John will be in Vava’u to kick-off Project Whalesong (more details to come in an upcoming post), and we’ll be working together across different vessels with a variety of whale watch operators to cover as much area as possible looking for singing whales. The start of Trip 5 coincides with Trip 1 above (see how organised we are?). I’ll be on other boats during Trip 6, so we’ll be in continuous contact throughout.

If you’re interested in learning about humpback whale song (and marine acoustics in general) John is the go-to guy. I peppered him with questions and learned a lot this season. (Check out the way-cool video John put together, posted on this page.)

John talking on Jocara (while we patiently feign interest)

To give you a quick idea of what we’re looking for, listen to the following short snippets extracted from two recordings we made this year and see if you can tell the difference between them.

Here’s the first:

And the second:

Hear the difference? Its a bit easier with headphones and the high-resolution files (these are down-sampled mp3 files), but I’ll give you a hint/ riddle: Quality is often more important than quantity, but size also matters. I’ll explain in greater detail when I write more about Project Whalesong.

In any case, if you’re interested in finding singers, recording them, photographing and/ or video-ing them, helping to listen to and analyse the recordings thereafter, or even trying to sing like them, these two trips might be for you.

John and I have decided to work from separate boats next season in order to maximise the area we can cover in a given period of time, and also to take advantage of the relative strengths of a yacht (which John will be on) and a speedboat (that I’ll be on).

John will also give a talk(s) about humpback acoustics during the trips. His two public talks at the Aquarium Cafe this season were extremely popular (there’s no accounting for taste).

To wrap up…Please contact me if you’re interested in any of the above trips. If you’d like to travel during dates that are already booked, let me know. I keep a waitlist, because life can sometimes get in the way of fun, and people occasionally need to cancel (though usually regret it later!).

During all the trips, we will continue to gather data for the calf count project, so be prepared to help me look for baby whales!

Sitting on mommy’s head is a favourite calf activity

If you’re contemplating a dive adventure later this year, there are still a couple of spaces open for my trip to Ambon.

The trip, which I’m running jointly with Wetpixel and Eric Cheng, is scheduled for 7 to 16 November. We’ll be staying at the new Maluku Divers resort, situated right on the best muck sites in Ambon.

There are lots of Coleman shrimp on fire urchins in Ambon!

If you’re a fan of muck diving and observing amazing critter life in shallow water at close quarters without any other divers around(!), Ambon is worth considering.

Ambon hit the news recently because of the unusual new frogfish discovered there, but from personal experience, I can say that there’s a lot more to see than just the frogfish (sightings of which are unpredictable).

Tiny cuttlefish hunting in shallow water

With so few divers around + relatively easy diving conditions, it’s not difficult to spend quality time with animals that are considered rare or difficult-to-approach elsewhere.

In short…the conditions are ideal for observing and documenting marine life behaviour.

Our plan is to do a lot of night diving, which means that the chances of seeing predation, mating and other fun stuff increases significantly. Up to this point, it has been difficult to do extensive night diving in Ambon, because there was no dive resort near the muck sites!

Some sort of cardinalfish with a clutch of eggs

Take a look at my 2010 trip announcement and the trip summary on Wetpixel for more trip information.

Here’s a multimedia collage I put together after my first trip to Ambon a couple years back.

Contact Dan Baldocchi to join the adventure!

Since putting up my video of the amazing diving in the Eastern Fields of Papua New Guinea last week, I’ve been planning a series of new adventures with Craig on Golden Dawn. It’s taken a few emails and Skype conversations, but we’ve finally worked out the details.

I’m planning to visit Papua New Guinea twice in the coming months, first in June 2011 and second in January 2012.

Note: If you’d like advance notice of trips like this in the future, please sign up for my trip e-newsletter. I won’t spam you!

June 2011 Itinerary: Port Moresby to Milne Bay to Walindi
Some time ago, I received a brief email from Craig that went something like this: “Tony, Wow! You gotta see this!” Nothing more. No response to my: “See what???!!!” email for a few days. (This is normal behaviour for Craig.)

As it turned out, he had just dived some reefs on the Papuan Barrier Reef, not too far from Port Moresby, but far enough that no one dives there, at least not on a regular basis.

Now…Craig gets easily excited at times (picture a little boy with knee-socks getting a colourful candy lollipop), so I usually have to calm him down and ask pointed questions to figure out what’s what.

Fortunately, Bob Halstead was also on the boat at the time, so I was able to get independent confirmation for Craig’s enthusiasm.

Craig had stumbled upon some amazing reefs.

Most of the time when people tell me they’ve come across “amazing” such and such, I’m sceptical. But if there’s one thing Craig knows…it’s unspoiled reefs. Bob is no slouch either.

Craig later elaborated, telling me that of the sites he’s dived/ marked, one is a deep passage with a two-stepped wall that has a stunning vista comprising row after row of very large fans. He saw lots of large mobula and eagle rays, wobbegong sharks, silver tips and grey reefs.

Another location apparently has at least 20 bommies like Suzie’s. If you haven’t dived at Suzie’s, here’s a photo to give you an idea of what it’s like:

So basically, it’s a “Wow! You gotta see this!” kind of place.

[Update 19 June: Just received another update from Craig, who's out in this area right now: "Just wanted to let you know about a new discovery. We just finished a dive...and it's awesome!!! We had a large population of female grey reef sharks, 20 plus easily, a few species of grouper, including a giant grouper, 8 or 9 eagle rays flying in formation, mobula rays, many huge dogtooth tuna, some with mackeral and other species of jacks, rainbow runners galore, fusiliers and the list goes on...Truly spectacular!!!"]

We planned the June 2011 itinerary specifically so that we start in Port Moresby and explore the “Wow! You gotta see this!” reefs first. To date, Craig has dived the reefs twice, so there’s still plenty to explore and no doubt new things to discover. If you’re an adventurer at heart, this trip is for you!

Diving along the barrier reef will naturally takes us over to Milne Bay, which is, in my experience, some of the most amazing diving anywhere…critters like you wouldn’t believe, as well as beautiful corals and big stuff too (there’s a manta cleaning station). It’s been a few years since I’ve been to the area, not because I haven’t wanted to go, but because there aren’t many dive operators there now.

Back in the day…there were several liveaboard boats and a couple of land-based operations, so Milne Bay was relatively easy to dive. These days…not so much. Quite a shame, as it’s a world-class destination.

I filmed a documentary in Milne Bay several years ago with NHK of Japan, along with Dr Eugenie Clark, Bob Halstead and Rob Vanderloos. It was an absolutely amazing experience (to say the least!) with my only regret being that I wasn’t able to spend more time in the area.

From Milne Bay, we’ll head north to Kimbe Bay, ending up at Walindi Plantation Resort. Again, there are great reefs along the way that are almost never dived (see the common theme?), with lots of unspoiled marine habitat and no other people around…absolutely perfect for photography.

Of course, that’s a lot of territory to cover, so we’re dividing the trip into three sections:

1. Port Moresby to Milne Bay (31 May to 7 June)
2. Milne Bay (8 to 14 June)
3. Milne Bay to Walindi (16 to 26 June)

Here’s a map to make it easier to get a handle on the geography (click the markers for more details):

View PNG June 2011 in a larger map

Essentially, this makes it possible to get on or off the boat for any of the segments, or hop on board for two or even all three segments of the trip. (The international airport is in Port Moresby. Alotau airport is at Milne Bay. Hoskins airport is at Walindi. Good planning, no?)

As a bonus(?), Bob Halstead will be joining us for the trips. Bob is one of the pioneers of diving in PNG, and in particular, he knows Milne Bay like no one else. Bob is articulate, well-spoken, knowledgeable, and perpetually struggling for a half-decent comeback when I insult him. He’s quite a fish expert, and even has a couple of fish named after him (small, nondescript ones of course). Even more amazing, he still uses a film camera. Well, he knows how to push the shutter release in any case.

All kidding aside, Bob is a treasure trove of information and experience, particularly with regard to the areas we’ll be visiting. I have the greatest respect for him, and it will be a pleasure and an honour to have him with us.

Pricing for the trips is as follows:
1. Port Moresby – Milne Bay (31 May to 7 June)
Cabin 1 US$2800/ person
Cabin 2 US$2625/ person
Cabin 3 US$2450/ person
Cabin 4 US$2800/ person
Cabin 5 US$2800/ person

2. Milne Bay (8 to 14 June)
Cabin 1 US$2400/ person
Cabin 2 US$2250/ person
Cabin 3 US$2100/ person
Cabin 4 US$2400/ person
Cabin 5 US$2400/ person

3. Milne Bay to Walindi (16 to 26 June)
Cabin 1 US$4000/ person
Cabin 2 US$3750/ person
Cabin 3 US$3500/ person
Cabin 4 US$4000/ person
Cabin 5 US$4000/ person

Click here to see the cabin layout on the Golden Dawn.

Please get in touch via my contact form if you’re interested.

January 2012 Itinerary: Eastern Fields
I probably don’t need to write too much about the Eastern Fields, as I can let Craig do the talking in the video I posted.

What I can add is that the Eastern Fields atoll system, like the areas I described above, is not over-dived, is not over-fished, and is not sitting next to areas suffering from over-development.

In case you haven’t noticed, I like travelling to unspoiled places. I don’t mean “unspoiled” in the over-Photoshopped-vacation-brochure sense. I mean truly unspoiled…as in, “almost no one has ever been there” and “you definitely won’t see anyone else underwater there” unspoiled.

The plan for January 2012 is to do two trips. On the first trip, we’ll visit several of the best sites around the Eastern Fields. Depending on how the weather and water look, we may dash over to another reef system called the Ashmore’s. The exact itinerary will be a judgement call based on prevailing conditions.

The second trip will concentrate on my personal favourite dive site in the area, Carl’s Ultimate…a site named after my friend and mentor Carl Roessler.

It’s a small bommie in the middle of a channel that gets swept by nutrient-filled currents. To say the marine life is “amazing” is like saying the Great Barrier Reef is “big”. It’s a major understatement.

Devoting most of an 8-day trip to a single dive site would normally be madness, but believe me, once you see this site, you’ll want to stay.

I’m co-organising the Eastern Fields trips with Eric Cheng and Wetpixel again, so there will no doubt be lots of photographers on board!

Prices and dates are as follows:

1. 10-20 January 2012, Eastern Fields
Cabin 1 US$4320/ person
Cabin 2 US$4050/ person
Cabin 3 US$3780/ person
Cabin 4 US$4320/ person
Cabin 5 US$4320/ person

2. 22-30 January 2012, Carl’s Ultimate
Cabin 1 US$3456/ person
Cabin 2 US$3240/ person
Cabin 3 US$3024/ person
Cabin 4 US$3456/ person
Cabin 5 US$3456/ person

Click here to email Dan Baldocchi, who is handling the bookings for these trips.

An overview of trip logistics from our previous excursion can be found here, and here is a trip report that Eric posted after our trip.

My trips videos from last year’s excursion are here and here.

Summary
Trips aboard Golden Dawn are always an adventure, with lots to see, terrific food, wonderful conversation and unforgettable experiences.

All of these trips will be dedicated to photography.

The waters of Papua New Guinea are teeming with marine life, and you can’t get to many of the places we’ll be visiting except on a liveaboard. Even better, at any given time, we will probably be the only people in the water!

If we find some place or thing that everyone wants to spend time on, we’ll adjust accordingly. Similarly, if we see that conditions aren’t right, we’ll move on and look for a more suitable location.

In other words, we’ll have a plan, but we’ll go with the flow to maximise fun, safety and photographic opportunities.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to sharing an adventure with you!

I just received the following photo from my friend Dr John Potter:

More interesting than the photo is John’s “explanation” of what this is:

“The picture is of a 30m long oil-filled tube containing an array of 4 state-of-the-art hydrophones with preamplifiers, spaced 2m apart (hence the aperture of the active part is 6m). The oil-filled tube allows the array to be neutrally buoyant and either towed or hung vertically in the water with the minimum pickup of flow noise. There is also a portable 96 kSa/s 4-channel recorder in the centre of the image that will record sounds up to 48 kHz from the array onto an SD card. Since the oil-filled tube is 30m long, we can deploy the 4 hydrophones at the depth of our choice up to about 20m below the surface. This will allow us to record humpback sound at close range, without disturbing the whales, with the highest quality and with the possibility to measure their range and source levels. Think of the 4 hydrophones as being able to record a kind of surround-sound, hyper-stereo, THX acoustic landscape.”

After reading this a couple of times, I think it means: “It’s a kick-a** hydrophone that we can send down to 20 metres and record really cool whale sounds.” though I’m not entirely certain.

Anyway, we’ll be using this high-tech gadget on the trips that John and I are running together in Tonga soon, with the objective of kicking off what we hope will be a long-running project to understand more about acoustic communication among humpback whales. (More explanation about our trip/ project here.)

There are still a couple of spots left on the first trip from 29 July to 4 August. Drop me a line if you’re interested in helping me decipher John-speak for a few days.

The Cove…a movie about the annual slaughter of dolphins in Japan…recently received the Oscar for Best Documentary of the year, along with a bunch of other awards.

I haven’t actually seen the film yet, as I’ve been on the road for the past six months, but it’s certainly on my list of things to do.

The reason I’m bringing this up is that one of my friends, Dr. John Potter, was interviewed in the movie. John is quite proud of his performance, so please try not to laugh when you watch the clip below:

Note: Excerpt from The Cove used with permission from Director Louie Psihoyos.

John is a marine acoustics expert (and he’s also a Kiwi [Correction: John just informed me that he's not a Kiwi, so I owe all you decent Kiwis an apology. John is from Essex in the UK.]…so please excuse the odd accent and crazed look in his eye).

We are kicking off a joint effort later this year to learn more about southern hemisphere humpback whales by studying the noises they make.

Specifically, we’ve organised a couple of itineraries (29 July to 2 August, and 3 to 7 August) on a liveaboard yacht to spend quality time with the humpback whales that visit the Kingdom of Tonga each year.

There are one or two places left, so if you’re interested in having a great time whale watching while also learning about humpback whale acoustics using cutting-edge instruments (i.e., toys!), please see my earlier post for additional trip details, and drop me a line via my contact form if you’d like to know more.

Incidentally, I will commence sending out trip updates via email soon (assuming I can figure out what I’m doing).

If you’d like to be on my email list to be first to hear about new trips, please use the form below, or click this link to sign up for the e-newsletter. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you, and you can unsubscribe at any time!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my Upcoming Trips page, largely because I’ve been travelling so much that it’s been difficult for me to hammer out logistical details and communicate with relevant counter-parties.

The year-end quiet period has given me some time to (just barely) catch up, so here’s a long overdue update of some of my trips for the near future, set out in chronological order. (I’m doing my best to keep my Upcoming Trips page updated, so bookmark that page if you want to check back later for more trips.)

The Night Safari Lembeh (27 Feb-6 Mar): I’ll be heading to Kasawari Lembeh Resort again soon, this time for the primary purpose of checking out the night life. As far as I know, this Night Safari trip is the first-ever organised effort to focus on diving at night in the Lembeh Strait. It’ll be fascinating(!) to see what happens late at night, when most (sane) people are asleep.

In addition to David and Sanah from Scubacam, Aey and Mean from FiNS will be on this trip…and Eric Cheng will be joining as well a few days into the trip. If you’re looking for advice about photography or how to prepare your images for print, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better-informed or nicer group of people.

There are still a few spots left for this trip, so click here to drop David and Sanah an email to sign up! More details here.

Humpback Whale Acoustic Research in Tonga (29 Jul – 7 Aug): In addition to the trips I have scheduled to swim with humpback whales in August this year, I’ve been working with a marine acoustics researcher friend of mine to try to set up a long-term study of humpback whale acoustics.

By way of background, my friend Dr. John Potter is a brilliant acoustics researcher who has studied underwater acoustics and marine mammals for over 20 years, pioneering techniques and a new understanding of how marine mammals use sound and how they’re affected by man-made sound in the ocean. John is a frequent consultant to sonar companies, navies, governments and NGOs concerned about the acoustic impact on the marine environment. Basically…he knows his stuff. In fact, he was the marine acoustics expert featured in the movie The Cove.

I first met John when he was the head of the Acoustic Research Laboratory at the National University of Singapore, which he started back in 1996. Among the interesting things he shared with me was an amazing video that he and other PhD friends put together showing the source, directionality and strength of humpback singer song in Hawaiian waters…a short sample of which is below:

Though it may not be immediately obvious, this is ground-breaking stuff. By using rebreathers, video cameras, audio recorders and distance measuring devices, John and the other researchers were able to construct this real-time representation of where a humpback’s sound comes from, how strong it is (in decibels) at various distances, and also the directionality of sound.

Cool, eh? (Actually, even more cool is the fact that John et al were the ones in the water on rebreathers gathering data first-hand!)

After several years of brainstorming and planning, we’re ready to try undertaking a new project in Tonga. We won’t be using rebreathers, but we will be pursuing new insights into the characteristics and behaviour of humpback whale singers.

The basic idea is to use a cross-disciplinary approach of combining data in the form of photos, video, high-frequency (i.e., whale-safe) ranging systems, and custom-designed hydrophone arrays to measure singer size, record their songs and other social sounds, and try to discern whether there are any meaningful correlations between songs and whales.

Our intention is to consider basic but as-yet unanswered questions such as whether bigger whales sing louder than smaller ones, whether some whales have deeper voices than others, what role if any age plays in song structure and singing behaviour, etc.

In other words, John and I would like to combine my knowledge of the whales in Tonga with his acoustics expertise to achieve something meaningful.

In order to undertake this project without having to beg for funds, we’re asking for help from people who’d like to take part in this research effort by joining us for a few days on the water, aboard John’s 52ft (on deck) yacht Jocara, which is now based in Tonga (yes, he relocated his boat to Tonga in 2007 in part as preparation for this), managed and operated by our mutual friend Christy.

We’re hoping to kick off this effort with two back-to-back trips in 2010:

Trip 1: 29 Jul – 2 Aug (4 nights aboard Jocara)
Trip 2: 3 Aug – 7 Aug (4 nights aboard Jocara)

To cover operating costs, we’re looking for four people on each of the trips, with cost/ person at US$1250. This includes everything while on the boat, as well as discussions that John will lead about marine mammal acoustics, and marine mammal photography advice/ discussions about humpbacks in Tonga from me (excludes accommodation, meals, etc. off the boat, and air travel).

While this isn’t going to be as intensive a photography-oriented trip as the others I have planned, we will get into the water at every opportunity, and we will be taking photos and recording video.

If you’re interested in learning more about humpback whales and helping out with cutting-edge acoustics study of whale song, please contact me via my contact form.

To be honest, this is a departure from the type of trip I usually do, but it’s something that I believe will be worthwhile over the long-run in expanding our knowledge about these graceful marine mammals.

As with the humpback whale calf-count that I started a couple of years ago, John and I will make every effort to share via the internet any insights we gather, and we look forward to feedback and contributions from all interested parties.

Sperm Whales, Ogasawara (early-mid October): Following on the incredible success of last year’s inaugural trip to Ogasawara, I’m planning another visit to Ogasawara in October this year.

Among the highlights of last year’s trip, we photographed and video-ed a group of female sperm whales eating a giant squid and possibly teaching the calf in the group how to hunt for squid (which means this year…we’ll have to photograph a giant squid engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a sperm whale!)

On a separate occasion, I swam down and recovered a 351cm segment of a giant squid feeding arm. We also found leftover deep-water octopus parts, swam with dolphins and encountered Bryde’s whales. Come to think of it, we were quite busy!

While in Ogasawara, I also realised that it’s possible to ID sperm whales by markings on their lower ventral areas, and I subsequently compiled a summary of nine individual whales that we encountered. I’m hoping to build on this ID catalog over time, working with the local whale watching authorities to see if we can document repeat visits to the area by these enigmatic cetaceans.

The exact trip dates depend on the ferry schedule between Tokyo and Ogasawara. Last year, the ferry schedule was only announced in July, and the trip was from 8 to 19 October (though I had a good idea of the probable schedule a few weeks prior to the official announcement).

Also, the exact cost depends upon the class of berth aboard the ferry, the number of people on the trip, and the number of days we’re out on the water…so participation in this trip requires a measure of flexibility. A reasonable estimate is Yen 600,000-700,000/ person for 8-9 days on the water.

Yes, I realise that’s not terribly specific…but that’s the nature of the situation, and it’s totally worth the effort and pain-in-the-rear factor when you’re face-to-face with sperm whales. Just ask any of the people who were with me this year!

If you’re interested in going to Ogasawara in early- to mid-October to look for sperm whales, please contact me via my contact form.

The Night Safari Ambon (7-16 Nov): Yes, yes…I’m obsessed with night life this year. After helping to plan the Night Safari Lembeh trip, I realised that the conditions in Ambon are ideal for a Night Safari type of excursion as well.

First, Maluku Divers have just recently opened their new resort, which is located right atop the best muck dive sites in Ambon. This means access to dive sites is easy…and night diving is possible/ practical in the area for the first time in many years.

Second, the new resort was designed and built by my good friend Yos, who coincidentally designed and built Kasawari-Lembeh Resort as well. Yos is a diver himself, and he has really good taste, so I have no doubt that the accommodations and facilities at the new resort in Ambon will be as nice and photographer-friendly as at Kasawari-Lembeh Resort.

And finally, the critter life in Ambon harbour is simply amazing! Need I say more?

I’m arranging The Night Safari Ambon in conjunction with Eric Cheng and Wetpixel, so there will no doubt be lots of experienced underwater photographers on the trip with lots of stories and advice to share. If you’re interested in joining this adventure, please refer to the trip summary below:

Trip: The Night Safari Ambon

Trip Leaders: Eric Cheng and Tony Wu

Host: Maluku Divers

Dates/ Diving Schedule: Arrive 7 November 2010, depart on 16 November.

The planned diving schedule comprising 21 dives is:

7 November: Arrive/ set up cameras
8 -9 November: Normal day-diving schedule
10 November: Transition schedule: 14:30; 17:30; 20:30
11-13 November: Night schedule: 17:30; 20:30; 23:30
14 November: Transition schedule: 14:30; 17:30; 20:30
15 November: Off-gas/ Optional land tour (separate cost)
16 November: Depart

Diving Style: Ambon has a combination of reef and muck diving. For this trip, we will be concentrating on muck/ critter diving, and we will devote much of the trip to diving in the evening and night. Although the resort is situated at the best critter sites, we will dive from boats. The dive sites are located inside Ambon bay, and most of the time, we will be diving in relatively shallow water.

Because we will be diving a lot at night, you will need to bring adequate lighting. A minimum of two torches (three would be better) plus lots of batteries would be a good idea.

Also, while the muck sites are sheltered and shallow, there can be strong current at times. Our night dives will be concentrated during the period between new moon and first quarter moon, so in theory, the current will not be strong.

However, you never know with Mother Nature, so we’ll need to be flexible and adapt to prevailing conditions.

For a better idea of what Ambon is like, see:
http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/0b194b887

Also, this is a PDF of an article about Ambon. The text is in Japanese, but the photos will give you more of an idea of what kind of marine life to expect.
http://www.tonywublog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ambon.pdf

Finally, the dive sites we will be diving are where the newly described Maluku frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica) has been found. We will, of course, hope to see this elusive fish, but to date, only a handful of these animals have been spotted, so please manage your expectations accordingly.

Accommodation: Twin-share rooms at the newly completed Maluku Divers dive resort, which is located at the prime muck dive sites at Laha. All rooms have hot water and aircon, as well as two editing desks with charging stations for batteries. The resort is equipped with back-up generators, so we’ll be insulated from power outages on the island. There is no Nitrox available at this time.

Meals are Indonesian fare, primarily comprising fresh fish and seasonal vegetables. If you have any special dietary requirements, please inform us well in advance so the resort can try to accommodate. Please bear in mind that Ambon is a remote location and some things are not always readily available.

Cost/ Person: US$2,495

Deposit/ Person: US$1,000 to confirm

Balance: Balance of payment due 1 July 2010.

Contact Person for booking: Dan Baldocchi

Getting There: There are regular flights to Ambon from Bali, Manado and Jakarta on Lion Air and Batavia Air. While it is possible to make reservations yourself, it’s best to let the resort handle domestic flight reservations, coordinated through Dan Baldocchi. Domestic itineraries and prices generally firm up within three months of the date concerned, so expect that final itineraries will become clear around mid-August.

Power Supply: Power in Indonesia is 230V/ 50Hz. There are charging stations in the cabins and in the dedicated camera room. Plug shape is recessed two-prong, Type F on this page: http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm

Please note: 110V is not available.

I only had a chance to do one night dive during my stay in Lembeh. I could’ve done more, but I was too tired at the end of every day. Muscles aching, joints creaking, eyelids drooping…

Of course, the one day that I managed to do four dives, I saw a lot at night. There were many cephalopods on the prowl, like this little octopus that seemed truly surprised to see me:

and an adorable little bobtail squid…sound asleep until my strobes went off:

The cutest crustaceans I came across had to be this little crab couple. The one on the left encircling the one plunked down in the sand was always protective of the other crab, and literally “hugged” the other crab every time they moved.

I suspect the cuddler was a male, and the cuddlee a female. Perhaps I’m imagining things, but it sure seemed like the crab I thought to be the male kept communicating: “She’s mine! She’s mine!” every time I got anywhere close.

I didn’t know how to reassure him by saying: “Not interested” in crab-language though. In any case, they were adorable.

Diving at night presents some unique opportunities to observe and photograph the residents of Lembeh, as the critters active after dark tend to be different than the ones during the day. There’s also a lot of courtship and mating activity that takes place in the early part of the evening, which is always fun to watch.

I’m really looking forward to my next trip to Lembeh, which will be for The Night Safari planned for 27 February to 6 March 2010, when we’ll spend a large proportion of time diving at night. The resort will be on a night schedule, so we’ll have all the logistical support we need to have an enjoyable time…like having hot chocolate after dives!

While at Kasawari this trip, I also arranged to have big lights for us to hang during The Night Safari above the water to get squid (and perhaps other stuff?) to come close, so we can watch them hunt and hopefully get some cool images and video.

If you’re a muck, critter and night diving fan, consider joining us for this unique opportunity to party the night away…Lembeh style.

See this post, or contact Sanah or David at Scubacam for more details.