This is a mother and baby photo I took in 2005, in one of the inner passages among the islands of Vava’u. The water was murky, but the female whale brought the baby right up to me, and the sun was kind enough to provide beautiful fill light.

Humpback whale mother and calf

Tonga one Pa’anga note featuring humpback whale

According to friends who live there, the whales showed up a couple/ few weeks ago, and at least one baby was spotted last weekend. Hurray! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good season.

There are many things I’m looking forward to, including of course seeing friends, learning more about the whales, and hopefully getting lots of nice humpback images.

New for this year will be the humpback whale acoustics research project I’m starting with my friend Dr. John Potter, an endeavour that I hope we’ll be able to continue for an extended period of time.

I’ll also be continuing with my humpback whale calf ID/ count project, which has proven to be incredibly rewarding in terms of what I’ve learned and also the friends I’ve been able to make.

Input from several people last year, for example, took my verified humpback whale calf count for the 2009 season from 26 to 31, a substantial increase over what I was able to establish myself. (Thank you Paul/ Karen, Alexis/ Nathalie, Carol, Nonie, Hugh!)

Speaking of which…if you happen to visit Vava’u this year and want to consider helping with my calf count, please take a look at this PDF summary I prepared to explain my objectives and the information I need.

Actually, if you’re anywhere in Tonga and happen to get suitable ID photographs for humpback whale mother and calf pairs, please let me know. It would be interesting to document patterns of movement for whales among the various island groups in Tonga.

For those of you who are joining me in Vava’u…see you soon! The whales are waiting.

Female humpback whale making eye contact with me, while a male cruises below

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.

Like most stories worth telling, there is a point. Several, in fact.

The Tragedy
On 11 August 2009, I and a bunch of friends from Japan encountered an injured humpback whale in the waters of Vava’u in the Kingdom of Tonga.

It was just the sort of day for a tragedy. The skies were grey and overcast; the seas a drab, murky mess; visibility both in and out of the water low; the prevailing mood “depressed”.

Sighting whales was, of course, the reason we were out and about, so finding a pair of approachable whales was a good thing. Or so it seemed.

Not long after entering the water, we noticed that something was wrong. With poor visibility, it was difficult at first to pinpoint precisely what that “something” was, but once the whales passed within close proximity, it was obvious.

One of the whales was hog-tied. Its pectoral fins were bound to its side, and the rope or netting had sliced into the animal’s body. The injured cetacean was weak. It couldn’t swim properly. It was covered with parasites. And there were sharks circling…waiting, no doubt, for an easy meal. The scene was heart-wrenching.

Despite my desire to stick with the whales, I pulled everyone out of the water in short order. Several large bronze whaler sharks shot up at high speed from the murky depths and buzzed us. The conditions were ideal for sharks on the prowl, not so good for land-lubbers flopping around at the surface.

Back on the boat, we followed for some time, long enough to see that the uninjured whale stayed with the injured one, perhaps protecting it, perhaps hoping for a miracle. Difficult to know for sure.

The injured whale was a female. It was, without question, about to die.

The Drama
As shocking and depressing as our experience had been, the real story took place after we got back on land.

News of our encounter spread quickly through the community. By the time we washed up and went to dinner, many people in town had heard about the encounter, though…as is often the case…the specific details of our experience seemed to become more distorted with each re-telling of the tale.

Several people, expats who live and/ or work in Vava’u, informed us that they knew who was responsible for the doomed whale’s plight.

To elaborate, they told us that it was the practice of some villages in the area to use nets to catch sea turtles for food.

They further informed us that many of the expats had been trying to teach the locals about why turtle nets are a no-no.

Slaughtering endangered sea turtles and ruining reefs was bad enough, but now…it was obvious that someone’s turtle net had killed a humpback whale! This, of course, was an unforgiveable transgression.

Person after person agreed, and a bit of a mob mentality developed. Emotions escalated. Indignation permeated. Within short order, several people asked us to give them copies of our photos so that they could use the images to educate the locals.

Actually, “asked” doesn’t convey the correct connotation. “Demanded” is more accurate.

There were, of course, some polite requests, but one woman (a person we hadn’t previously spoke with) in particular became quite agitated. She insisted that we hand over our photos because, well…it was for a “non-profit” cause. Emphasising repeatedly that her demands were for a “non-profit” purpose, she produced a USB memory device and stuck it in one of my friend’s faces saying “Put the files on this” in an emphatic tone.

Yes…she stuck a memory device in his face and demanded that he give his photos to her. That very instant. Or else. She pouted and stammered a few times to underscore how serious she was.

Given that we hadn’t even had time to look at the images ourselves and were still trying to process what exactly we had witnessed, I didn’t think it appropriate to hand anything over, and I particularly didn’t think that we should be “educating” the locals quite just yet.

We declined the requests several times in a graceful manner, until that particularly demanding woman became so obnoxious and unbearable that I set aside all pretence of polite social discourse and put an abrupt, unambiguous stop to the insanity. The audience dispersed.

In the ensuing days, I had time to examine the photos closely. I went out of my way to ask about turtle nets. I tried, in vain, to set up a meeting to see an actual turtle net (seems like they’re not that common). I showed fishermen (both local and expat) the photos and asked their opinions.

Eventually, I concluded that the net was not a net. It was a longline. At 100% magnification, the metal clips characteristic of longline fishing were obvious in many of the photographs. The fishermen I consulted agreed.

This, of course, made much more sense. Humpback whales travel long, long distances in the open ocean. Fishing fleets set longlines in the open ocean. Villagers, to the extent they use turtle nets, wouldn’t be using them in open ocean. They would more likely use them in coastal waters.

The chances of a whale getting entangled in an industrial-strength, open-ocean longline are much greater than in a handmade net set near the coast.

The Lessons
Everyone was upset about the tragic, pointless death of the whale. Rightly so.

The people who became distraught and unreasonable were good people who just got carried away. It happens.

But I learned some things about human nature and behaviour from the experience. Things I wanted to jot down so I don’t forget, and also to guide my own conduct if I should ever again find myself in a similar situation.

1. Don’t ever assume anything. Get the facts. Think things through. Then draw conclusions.

The expats in this story assumed, with zero evidence, that local villagers were responsible for the death of a humpback whale. They were, in effect, ready to lynch the locals for killing the animal.

The problem is that they formed their views based on emotion, not fact.

Longline fishing is the practice of rich, industrialised countries. So if someone were looking to assign blame, it would be the expats and tourists (me included) from rich industrialised countries who were more closely associated with the whale’s death than the local villagers.

Discouraging the use of turtle nets might be a valid issue. But it had nothing…absolutely nothing…to do with the plight of the poor humpback whale we encountered.

2. Always avoid mobs.

Person after person piled on and agreed that local villagers were responsible for the death of an innocent whale. The thing is, of the people tossing around accusations, none…not a one…had seen the whale in question.

Herd mentality is bad, and it’s much too easy to get swept away in the moment if you cede self-control and good judgement to a mob.

3. Using the term “non-profit” does not mean you can demand anything you want.

The woman who was so indignant that we didn’t immediatley hand over all our photos as soon as she mentioned the term “non-profit” was clearly under the impression that using the term “non-profit” gives you a license to steal.

Yes, demanding property that isn’t yours is theft.

I encounter this mentality with disturbing regularity. Many people seem to believe that simply being a non-profit entity, or worse, just stating an intention to undertake something in a “non-profit” manner entitles you to demand stuff for free…especially photographs.

The woman in question owns a yacht, along with her husband. Had I demanded the unconditional and immediate use of her yacht for “non-profit” research, I’m sure she would have balked at the suggestion.

And yet, she was, and perhaps may still be, entirely convinced of her right to appropriate other people’s property simply by labelling her demand as “non-profit”.

That, in my book, is a “non-starter”.

First, a baby humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae):

…and second, a baby sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus):

Hugh Ross sent me the photos and other details for the ID late last year, but I wasn’t able to review the information before heading out for the hectic travel schedule that I’ve had for the past six months or so.

In any case, now that I’ve had a bit of time to catch up, I looked through the images, and with Hugh’s help, put together an updated humpback whale calf summary file.

It’s a 42-page, 14.5MB PDF file, so it might take a while to download, depending on your connection. This is version 5 of this file. If you want to see the version history or read more background, click here.

I also updated the Google Map that I assembled of all the calf IDs to include Haib:

View Calf IDs Tonga 2009 in a larger map

Incidentally, Hugh named the baby whale Haib in honour of the guide on his boat, and he also named the mom Moa in honour of the boat captain.

According to Hugh: “Haib was extremely playful, Moa was somewhat reserved.” He had five encounters with Haib and mom between the 13th and 20th of October, 2009, and during the first two encounters, there was an escort with mom and baby.

So that’s 31 individually ID-ed baby humpback whale calfs for the 2009 season in Vava’u. Amazing, isn’t it?

If anyone has any more, send ‘em over!

And if you happen to visit Tonga this year, please remember to get good ID photos of any baby whales, their moms and any escorts for me. And please note down the time and place (with GPS coordinates if possible) of your encounters.

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!

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.

Nonie named the calf “Kiran”, which means “ray of light” in Hindi/ Sanskrit.

The good news is…there is more calf information coming in, with at least two that look to be baby whales that are not in the PDF file yet.

The bad news is…it’s a lot of work(!) to go through all the information, verify IDs, prepare images, update and upload the file. Since I’m leaving for my Eastern Fields trip soon, I probably won’t have another opportunity to update until I’m back at the end of the year.

Click to download the Summary of humpback whale calfs: 2009, v4.

View Calf IDs Tonga 2009 in a larger map

The female humpback (whom we named Lilo) is the mother of Scratches (calf #1/ 2008) and Stitches (calf #4/ 2009) (details here).

Thanks to help from two people (Nonie Silver and Karen Stone), there is a second example of this!

Here is a photograph of Chibi-chan (calf #16/ 2008) and mom, which I took on 12 September 2008:

As is apparent from this image, the adult whale has an easily identifiable pattern on her body.

Karen Stone sent me images of this same female with a calf earlier this month, making this calf #29 for 2009. Karen named the calf “Floppy” for its penchant for flopping around on its mother’s head and back.

Subsequently, sharp-eyed Nonie Silver, who also photographed this whale with a calf this season, found the match to Chibi-chan’s mother in my 2008 file.

So…

Scratches (calf #1/ 2008) and Stitches (calf #4/ 2009) have the same mom.
Chibi-chan (calf #16/ 2008) and Floppy (calf #29/ 2009) have the same mom.

Amazing what we can learn with a bit of hard work and cooperation. Thank you Nonie and Karen!

I’ve updated my calf PDF file to include Floppy, and my 2008 summary is here.