Evening Boat Trip

We will miss the endless brightness of the midnight sun that embraces the Lofoten archipelago and the surroundings, it gave us a longer possibility to go out for field work at any time during the day (keeping in mind the weather conditions). Like you can see here above, calm waters and blue sky, characterized our evening/night boat trips.

We headed northward, hugging the coastline, and searching for marine mammals that populate these waters. That night, the weather conditions were just perfect, defined by excellent visibility, that offered us a stunning view. On our left we could enjoy the scenic mountain peaks of the mainland shoreline that was more than 80 km from where we were surveying, and on

the right side we could see in detail the Lofoten eastern seaside , with high mountains descending into Vestfjorden with small villages in between. We were able to capture amazing footage using our drone of the scenery and panoramic views.

Not too far from where we were filming, we saw something that doesn’t belong to the ocean… PLASTIC!

There would be a lot to say about this delicate and important topic, we firmly respect the ocean and nature. Unlike some other kinds of waste, plastic doesn't decompose. That means plastic can stick around indefinitely, becoming a threat for the whole marine life such as fish, seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals, that can ingest plastic debris, causing suffocation, starvation, and drowning.

Surprisingly we have picked up lots or trash at the surface during our boat trips. We actually found most of this trash in one day last year! (see photo above) In May we found 12 kg of trash during one day of various items including plastic (see photo below). 

“Ocean Sounds is dedicated to Science and Conservation of Marine Mammals and their marine ecosystem”; any action even the smallest can help to reduce plastic pollution that affects sea life throughout the Ocean is worth it. And even if it’s only one piece of the millions of tons of plastic that end up in our oceans every year, it a MUST be collected and we hope that more and more people will take action against the plastic pollution that harms animals and the environment.

Part of our research focuses on vocal communication of whales and dolphins, so we directed our fieldwork attention into deeper waters of Vestfjorden. When we reach waters at 100 m in depth or more, that allows us to obtain the most out of listening in deeper open basins. We try to keep our distance from other boats that could mask sounds of cetaceans’ vocalization with their noise, we stopped the boat engine and we deployed the hydrophone at 18 m, aiming to collect acoustic data of whales and dolphins.

We enjoyed a cup of tea to warm us up during the night, making us enjoy even more the spectacular scenery of the sun, which was slightly hidden behind the mountains, coloring the sky with pleasant and cosy colors.

Only dorsal fins, tail flukes and blows in the horizon could have made this evening just perfect, well for another day!