We woke early to a stunning sunrise and mirror calm sea - this would make whale spotting from the boat much easier. We were taking a whale-watching trip with other Baurs clients on a boat from the Paradise Beach Club in Mirissa, and hoping to see any whale, but particularly the world's largest creature, the blue whale. This is one of the better places in the world to see this species, but it can often take several trips before you get lucky. We had one shot at this.
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Sunrise at Paradise Beach Club |
We left the crowded harbour on our boat and dodged our way out to sea past fishing boats. they are essentially large hollowed out tree-trunks with a stabilising float and no space to sit down.
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Fishing boat off Mirissa |
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And another one |
It took less than an hour to reach the shelf break and ours and another couple of boats started to look around for signs of any whales or other marine mammals. We passed a green turtle, and a group of unidentified dolphins that none of us could get any ID features on. Then one of the boats peeled off to two smallish whales in the distance. As we approached, we could see a tall fin and lots of 'blowing' surely not, but they were killer whales. Not exactly top of the list of what I expected to see.
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Male killer whale - note how rounded the tip of the dorsal fin is |
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Male and female killer whales |
They seemed to be feeding on something, was it a square of blubber floating in the sea? I have since seen a photo showing the male with what looks like part of a green turtle's shell beside it floating in the water. I was a bit disturbed by how many boats had gathered around these orcas - there were seven whale-watching boats clustered around these two animals. If they tried to move away, a boat always seemed to be in the way. Thankfully, we eventually moved away, as did a couple of others, to at least give these animals a bit of peace.
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Great views for the punters |
We soon spotted a group of blue whales, and among them a Bryde's whale. It was obviously a big whale, had a distinct, upright, slightly decurved dorsal fin and a prominent blow-hole, but like a minke whale, didn't appear to blow. It lacked the obvious white jaw of a fin whale. It seemed not to have the powerful rolling action of fin whales I have seen, instead having a much flatter surfacing action showing the dorsal at the same time as the blowhole. I can't say I could see the three ridges on the snout, but there is a hint of this on one of my photos.
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Bryde's whale with blowhole showing at the same time as the dorsal fin |
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Bryde's whale - is that three ridges showing on the snout (just behind the blowholes in this photo)? |
We spent a bit of time with the Bryde's, but we knew there were blue whales around and we wanted to get a bit closer to them. There must have been a three, or more likely four. They were clearly very large, with a tall bushy blow and light bluey-grey skin colour. I got the sense of the size of these animals not so much looking at the back, but mostly from the thickness of the tail stock which it showed as it went through an elaborate fluking display before a deep dive. We spent a bit of time with a lone animal and an enormous mother and her calf. In the photos, there are clear signs of remoras (suckerfish) hanging off the tail flukes of two of the animals we saw.
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Blue whale fluking and remora just visible in the middle of the rear edge |
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Huge female at back with calf in front |
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Adult female blue whale - with these white markings on the tail flukes, this individual should be identifiable |
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A huge chunk of tail missing - again a feature for individual recognition |
We had done amazingly well on this trip, and to add to the trip, we passed a small group of spinner dolphins on our way home. They weren't up to much, although I since been told that they spin to dislodge remoras.
After a lunch back at the hotel and a rest, Pradeep and Kalinga kindly took us to Galle which has an old colonial fort next to the historic cricket ground. There was lots to see here, with ancient buildings, possibly the most attractive lighthouses I have ever seen. And boys playing cricket on every patch of ground.
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Galle lighthouse |
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"Anyone for cricket?" |
4 comments:
Dear Andy
My name is Georgie and I am the lead administrator for two public science, whale Photo Identification initiatives off Sri Lanka. One studies the Orcas (Killer whales) while the other the mighty Blue whales called Wild Blue and Orca Project Sri Lanka (OPSL). You were extremely privileged to encounter orcas on your trip, it must have been wonderful. We know these orcas as OM001 and OK008, they seem to visit each year. Sadly, I was not on the water the day they passed by, I had been shown phone footage of the encounter and recognised the pair. In order to confirm the ID I need still images, so I have been trying to track people who may have been out that day. Very little is known about Orcas in the Indian ocean and the project has gained much international interest. Please would you kindly assist us in our efforts to passively study the orcas seen off SL by sharing your images, with the project. Because orcas are seen so rarely, we rely heavily on public submissions of info. The photos are copyright tagged as well as any mention of the sighting being accredited to the observer. We individually thank everyone who has helped us in our efforts. Please see 2 articles here-
The WDC website - http://uk.whales.org/blog/roblott/2013/11/orcas-of-sri-lanka
and local press - http://colombogazette.com/2013/11/07/tracking-blue-whales-in-sri-lanka/
I would love to hear from you and answer any questions, please contact me at georgina.wildoceans@gmail.com
Here are the two project documents on google docs (please see how photographers are accredited)
OPSL -https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzRJAIq7VT1Ia3VJdm5wS3p5OGs/edit?usp=sharing
Wild Blue - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzRJAIq7VT1ILVVBaF91Sy1RYm8/edit?usp=sharing
I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best
Dear Andy
My name is Georgie and I am the lead administrator for 2 whale Photo ID studies off Sri Lanka, one for Killer whales (Orca Project Sri Lanka)and one for Blues (Wild Blue).
You were wonderfully privileged to see Killer whales on your trip, it must have been quite a surprise. The two orcas are known to us as OM001 and OK008, they seem to visit each year which is an exciting discovery. Very little is known about Indian ocean orcas and so the pioneering study has gained great international and local interest. Sadly, I wasn't on the water the day these two passed by but was shown phone footage and recognized the pair, though I need clear still images to confirm this officially. I have been trying to track down anyone who may have been present at the time.
Here are two articles on the projects
WDC website -
http://uk.whales.org/blog/roblott/2013/11/orcas-of-sri-lanka
and local press http://colombogazette.com/2013/11/07/tracking-blue-whales-in-sri-lanka/
As orcas are seen so rarely, we rely heavily on citizen-science. Images and info shared with us by the public to supplement our own field work. All images are copyrighted to the photographer and any mention of the sighting accredited to the observer. Please would you kindly assist us in our study by sharing your medium resolution images with our database.
We thank everyone who has helped us individually in the official project pdfs seen below.
You can also see all of the 9 orcas ID'd off Sri Lanka so far.
OPSL
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzRJAIq7VT1Ia3VJdm5wS3p5OGs/edit?usp=sharing
Wild Blue
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzRJAIq7VT1ILVVBaF91Sy1RYm8/edit?usp=sharing
I would love to hear from you and answer any questions, please contact me at georgina.wildoceans@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best
Hi Georgie,
thanks very much for getting in touch. A friend had mentioned that someone was doing photo-ID work on the cetaceans around Sri Lanka, so I was going to try and track you down.
No problem with sharing my photos - and I'll see if the others in our group are willing to do the same (I'm sure they will).
I'll be in touch
Best wishes
Andy
Great report and good to see that the photos of your encounters will be useful scientifically.
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