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Field work is over!

10/1/2014

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It is that sad time of year again...we have officially ended our 2014 humpback whale field season in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama. We spent 35 days on the water collecting data from the end of July through mid-September and now it will take us months to go through all of the data! It’s not as much fun to look at the  computer screen as it is being on the ocean with the whales, but it is an important part of the process and we enjoy seeing the results all of our hard work unfold as we go through the photos and write our reports. We will try to post updates as we go through the data and will post some of our favorite pictures soon.

In the meantime we would like to thank EVERYONE who helped us this year: The Moore Charitable Foundation and private donors who helped to fund this work. Everyone at the Islas Secas who provided logistical support. And all of the interns and volunteers this year who were a HUGE help. See below for photos of most who helped. Thanks to all of you!

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The Chiriquí DREAM TEAM! Pulo, Betzi and Kristin
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Cole is the master of the hydrophone
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Chelina and Betzi ready with their cameras
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Our dear friend Marco getting the shot!
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Karly and Julie ready on the bow
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Gigi cleaning the Pacific one plastic bottle at a time, go Gigi!
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Chelina and Kelley collect ID photos
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Viviana ready with the camera
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Laura getting up close and personal with a "friendly" humpback whale
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Cole on camera duty
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Gigi doing yoga while looking for whales
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Kristin and Betzi with the hydrophone
Thanks to all who helped and to those who followed this blog!
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Community outreach day

9/17/2014

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Last weekend the Islas Secas arranged for a group of school children from a nearby community to spend a day with us whale watching and learning about marine life. We had a great time with these enthusiastic kids! We saw whales within just a few minutes of leaving the dock and judging from their oohs and aahs these kids were impressed with the four different groups of whales we saw on our way to the Secas. Then we had lunch together on the island and spent some time discussing marine mammals and what we can do to help marine life. It was a really fun day. Thanks Islas Secas for making this happen!
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Betzi keeps the kids entertained between whale sightings
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The kids listen to Betzi as she tells them about humpback whales
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We showed them how we use humpback whale tails to identify individual whales and gave them the chance to look for matching tails
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We also spent some time discussing recycling and how to reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in our oceans Reduce Reuse Recycle!
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COmpeting Males and Baby Whales, A Dangerous combination

9/13/2014

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The calm, shallow warm waters of the Chiriqui Gulf seem like the perfect place for humpback whale calves to be born.  We often see moms and babies lazing at the surface of the water or traveling slowly, everything peaceful and calm. However, this year we have seen several "competitive groups" that include a small calf. Competetive groups are when a group of males are competing to mate with a female, and involve agressive behavior between the males. It's a bit alarming to see very small calves amongst fully grown adults who are hurling their bodies at each other. 
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This calf throws its tail in the air with mom nearby. It was hard to see, but some of us in the boat thought the mom actually batted the calf, perhaps trying to get it out of the way of nearby agressive males.
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This mom and calf pair are trying to get away from several males in hot pursuit
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They kept swimming towards our boat, maybe seeking refuge
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Our favorite seabird species

9/10/2014

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Here are some photos of seabirds we commonly see during our surveys
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Immature Magnificent Frigate
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Adult and Juvenile Brown Pelicans
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Tropicbird
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Wedge Rumped Storm Petrel
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Brown Pelican
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Brown Booby
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Brown Noddy
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Another "friendly" Whale

9/7/2014

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For the second time this year we've had a “friendly” humpback whale approach our boat very closely and spend some time swimming underneath and around us. This time the whale actually surfaced right underneath our bow and was so close we could have touched it. What was so amazing was the control this huge animal had over its body. It never actually touched our boat although it was only inches away. 

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The head of the whale as it swims right towards us
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This is what happens when you have a zoom lens on your camera and a whale surfaces right next to your boat...this is the dorsal fin filling the entire frame of the photo
   We got some nice underwater footage of the whale "spy-hopping" near us. Keep in mind the wide-angle lens on our GoPro makes this whale look farther away than it actually was!
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Beach Cleanup

9/4/2014

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The other day it was too windy for us to look for whales, so we spent some time helping clean up one of the beaches at the Islas Secas. There was a total of 7 of us and we filled up 7 large garbage bags in about 30 min.     The garbage this year in the ocean and washing up on beaches has been truly staggering.
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Plastic and other garbage along the high tide line
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Karly, Viviana and Julie help clean up the beach
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It didn't take long to fill up 7 garbage bags!
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Bryde's Whales

9/1/2014

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PictureBryde's whale
We have been really excited this year to see a handful of Bryde's whales (pronounced "Brew-dus" and named for Johan Bryde, a Norwegian whaler). This is a large baleen whale which can be difficult to distinguish from a sei whale,  which is  similar in size and coloration. One of the distinguishing features of the Bryde's is the presence of three lateral ridges on the head. We have been able to get pictures of the head that show the ridges and confrim that we are seeing Bryde's whales. This year so far we have had five sightings of individuals (the shape of the dorsal fin can be used to identify individuals). We love our humpbacks, but it's always exciting to see different species!

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Here you can see the right lateral ridge next to the central ridge. The three lateral ridges on the head of a Bryde's whale are an identifying characteristic of this species
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The shapes and notches of dorsal fins can be used to identify individuals
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Love is in the air

8/28/2014

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By Cole Rachman

The team has been hearing a lot of whale songs in the field with the help of the hydrophone we have on board.  We have even been fortunate enough to hear a few singers without the assistance of the hydrophone because of how close these males have been approaching the boat and because of how loud they are projecting these “love calls”.  For the most part the sounds the whales make consist of creaks, groans and moans, however they can get pretty interesting and often have us giggling aboard.  Here is a short segment of a 20 minute recording that we got from a singer just outside of the Islas Secas!  
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BREACH!

8/25/2014

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This is something we NEVER get tired of seeing...
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Spotted Dolphins

8/21/2014

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Yesterday was a slow day for whales, so we spent some time with a group of spotted dolphins (we don't discriminate)! This group had 4 mother calf pairs in it.  Here's some underwater footage of them swimming alongside our boat. 
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  • Panacetacea
  • Who we are
    • Research Team
    • Students
    • Colleagues
    • Cooperation
    • Gallery
  • Blog
    • Humpback Whales Summer 2019
    • Humpback Whales Summer 2018
    • Humpback Whale Winter 2018
    • Humpback Whales 2017
    • Humpback Blog 2015
    • Humpback Blog 2014
    • BlogBocasDolphin 2014
    • Summer 2013 Blog
    • Summer 2012Blog
  • Programs
    • Monitoring Program >
      • Humpback Whale Project
      • Dolphins of Bocas del Toro Project
      • Dolphins of Changuinola & Gandoca Project
      • Dolphins of Gulf of Chiriqui Project
      • Cetaceans of Iguana Island Project
      • Central American Marine Biodiversity Acoustic Surveillance Network
      • Stranding and Rescue Network
    • Education and Outreach Program >
      • Education >
        • Internships
      • Outreach
    • Ocean Science Program >
      • Whale-Watching
      • Bocas Study Case
      • Research Permits and Whale-Watching Licenses
  • Donors & Grants
  • How to help
  • Documents
    • Peer Reviewed Publications
    • Documents for the Public
  • News
  • Store
  • Contact us