Obsession, thy name is “BLUE WHALE!!!”

It’s true.  I have a problem.  Simply put, it’s a severe case of Whales.

November has been a hectic month, seeing me flit back and forth from Perth to Dunsborough, trying to balance working at Scitech (i.e. having money to live on) and volunteering with whale research (i.e. living the dream).  But somehow it has all worked out!  The 2011 Geographe Bay whale season is now over.  This year was even better than our last season, with blue whales being sighted every couple of days in high numbers.  In 2010, the whales were out to trick us and had the peak of their migration in October – when, of course, our research season didn’t start until early November!  But this year the blue whales were much more cooperative, and we were able to monitor the animals during the peak of their migration down the coast.

Me, a Theodolite, and a Gorgeous View!

Like last year, we monitored the blue and humpback whales using a surveyors theodolite perched up on a hill overlooking Geographe Bay.  This required daily (sometimes bi-daily!) treks up and down the hill, transporting equipment (and ourselves) to the field site.  Whenever a whale was sighted, we were able to use the theodolite to track its movements through the bay and describe their various behaviours and group compositions.  Our research was complimented by a hydrophone deployed in the bay by Curtin University; this fantastic piece of technology acts like an underwater microphone, recording whale calls.  We are also supported by the work of the Dunsborough Coast and Land Care (D-CALC) volunteers, who record whale sightings from a point jutting out into the bay, and the boat-based efforts of Chris Burton (Western Whale Research, WWR) who collects photo-ID data from his vessel “Bluey”.

But not only have I been clambering around up hills for the sake of whales; the obsession has expanded online too.  For the last couple of weeks I have been working on a website for our research group SouWEST (South-western Whale Ecology Study).  It currently has a blog, some team biographies, and details on how we collect our data.  In the new year I’m also planning to add some info on the various different marine mammal species present in Geographe Bay, more about our research techniques, some educational activities, and generally update and fancy-ify the layout.  Work in progress!  If you’re interested, the check out the SouWEST website at: www.souwest.org  It even has its own facebook page and mailing list!

A glance at the SouWEST website

All this means I have been a nightmare in the field, because as soon as something happens I think “Ooooh, this will be great on the blog!”  or  “Must get a picture for the Facebook page!”.  Even when we are back in Perth, Phil has been resigned to switching the living room lights off to try and force me to stop playing with the website and go to bed.  Poor guy has been somewhat neglected recently, with all the travelling and whale obsessing!

But now we are settling down for our first hot Christmas!  Yesterday we went out and bought a Christmas tree, spent the afternoon decorating it, and now the flat is suitabley covered with small pieces of tinsel (much to Phil’s dismay).  We’re planning to celebrate the big day on the beach in true foreigners-in-Australia style.  Unless it gets above 35 deg, in which case I’ll probably spend Christmas sitting in a cold shower whimpering and reminiscing about snow storms.  Either way, as long as my Amazon orders turn up soon it’s all good!