Dolphins – Page 5 – Learn to Dive Today Blog

Whale watching from the cliffs at De Kelders

Tony photographing whales from our balcony

While visiting De Kelders we stayed in a guest house on the cliffs, in an upstairs room with a balcony that afforded us spectacular views of the many mother and calf pairs of southern right whales that gravitate to this area to rest and play. In terms of photographic opportunity, our balcony and a walk on the cliffs actually afforded better opportunities than our whale watching boat trip, because it is much easier to get pictures off a stationary, level surface!

Freckled white calf along with a mother and calf pair

Our favourite sightings were three distinctive calves. Two were white, with dark freckles. These calves darken to a greyish brindle pattern as they get older (possibly like the one in this newsletter). Three to four percent of calves are born with this colouration. These calves are generally male. The little white calves seemed less exuberant than some of the other calves we saw, sticking close by their mothers and not playing and frolicking very much. Perhaps it was my imagination (projecting feelings of otherness onto a whale… Go figure!).

In contrast to the white calves was a baby whale that reminded me strongly of a Jersey cow. He (for the sake of argument) had a huge white patch on his stomach, which was on display for hours at a time as he wallowed on his back while slapping his fins, and rolled over and over until his mother grunted at him and (I imagine) told him to take life more seriously otherwise he’d never get a job.

We saw a fair amount of lobtailing (slapping the tail flukes on the water), spy hopping (sticking the head out of the water to look around), and a LOT of logging (lying about looking like a log). We didn’t see much breaching (leaping out of the water) – the whales only seemed to do that a bit further out to sea, in the distance – perhaps because we were observing them so close to shore where the water was shallow. We also observed the baby whales rolling over and over, and lying with one of their pectoral fins sticking out of the water, much like a seal would. They frequently slap their pectoral fins on the surface, too.

The baby whales were far more active than their mothers, who don’t eat much (if anything – I’ve seen conflicting research on this) while in South African waters. They live off their blubber reserves while providing up to 350 litres of nutritious milk per day to their offspring. It’s understandable that they don’t have energy or inclination to leap about like lunatics.

The exhalations of the whales were loud and clearly audible. They also make a sound that reminds me of old plumbing – I’m still trying to put my finger on exactly what the sound is like. It’s something like the noise when you blow across a pipe, or when you turn the water on after it’s been off for a while and there’s air in the plumbing. It’s loud and initially I thought it was a lawnmower or other mechanical implement nearby. Hearing this sound while lying in bed at night, while the whales did who knows what out in the dark sea, was magical.

Spy hopping southern right whale emerges from the water

We were also fortunate to see some dolphins, small pods that passed by several times and came close to the whales. We saw whales that spent hours lying in one spot, apparently resting, and others passing by our balcony at speed, seemingly on a course to somewhere important.

This trip was very good for the soul.

Tony standing on the balcony from where all these photos were taken

Series: Shoreline

In the grand tradition of putting the cart before the horse (or similar), I read the coffee table book accompanying the locally-produced television series Shoreline before watching the series. The book gave me serious wanderlust, and the series did the same. Four presenters (a marine biologist, an archaeologist, a historian and a main anchor) travel the 2,700 kilometres of South Africa’s magnificent coastline, exploring the events that shape both the coast and human history.

My favourite was the helicopter footage – in truth, if the series had just been a continuous helicopter shot of the entire coast, with pauses for loo breaks, I’d have watched it. There were some surprisingly moving stories related to the war – the loss of the troop ship SS Mendi, carrying over 800 troops of the South African Native Labour Corps to France, struck me in particular. Most of the troops were rural Pondo people. The vessel was struck by another ship in the English Channel, and began sinking immediately. The men, gathered on the deck of the ship, were exhorted by their chaplain to meet death with dignity:

Be quiet and calm, my countrymen. What is happening now is what you came to do… You are going to die, but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothers… Swazis, Pondos, Basotho… So let us die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegaais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies.

They apparently danced and sang as the ship disappeared beneath the waves. There is a memorial to the men in Port Elizabeth. I found so much grace to be exhibited here, by soldiers who were fighting a war to defend a country that had very little time for them, and placed them at an economic and social disadvantage.

I was also all stirred up by an interview with two elderly ladies who were members of the South African Women’s Auxiliary Naval Service (SWANS). Almost 300 women served as harbour defence staff (monitoring defence systems) and administrators during the latter years of World War II. This opened up a whole world of possibilities to the women of that era, whose career options were as limited as one can imagine in 1940. It must have been very empowering to these women to be able to participate and perform vital wartime functions in the service of their country.

One of the harbours where they served was Saldanha Bay, where a system of mines defended the bay from invasion by enemy submarines. On 1 June 1944 one of the SWANS on duty detonated two rows of mines after spotting a suspected enemy submarine on her screen. This story, as well as the revelation that during World War II there were Catalina flying boats (totally awesome planes that could float) stationed at Lake St Lucia in northern KwaZulu Natal, which flew patrols to Madagascar and back, looking for German submarines, surprised me. South Africa seems so far from the European source of the war, but there were German U-boats all the way down here and a serious war effort taking place.

For the water babies, there’s some wonderful footage of a dive with coelocanths done by the chaps from ReefTeach in Sodwana Bay, and a shark dive on Aliwal Shoal. Sand sharks in Langebaan Lagoon, shysharks at Arniston, seahorses in Knysna, leatherback turtles nesting at Sodwana, and the larger cetacean inhabitants of our coast are featured in various episodes. Unfortunately the segment on the KwaZulu Natal shark nets was poorly done, with a propaganda speech that implied that the nets are a benign invention, with most of the sharks caught in the nets surviving to be released, and not many other creatures caught at all. There was however an excellent piece on the NSRI, which I hope alerted many South Africans to this national treasure and the need to support its efforts.

The script – written by the very brilliant Tom Eaton – makes full use of the strengths and knowledge that the presenters bring to the series in their personal capacities, and there are very inspiring and pride-inducing moments that made me very pleased to be South African, and living here. I can highly recommend this series. The production values are surprisingly high given that it’s an SABC production (no offence intended). We sent it as a gift to Tony’s son in Denmark and I hope it helps him to understand some of what we love about this country.

The official website for the series is here. You can get the series on DVD here. There’s also a companion hardcover book, that you can get here.

Article: Wired on Rights for Whales and Dolphins

The question of whether whales and dolphins should have rights just like humans was brought to the fore recently by the issue of keeping cetaceans (killer whales and dolphins) in captivity. An orca at Seaworld in Florida killed its trainer, bringing attention to the conditions in which these creatures are kept, and how unnatural, restrictive and unstimulating they are in comparison to orcas’ and dolphins’ usual habitat.

I must admit to dismissing those who brought the Seaworld legal action (PETA) as fringe lunatics who were an embarrassment to right-thinking conservationists everywhere, but this short article on Wired.com sets out the arguments for personhood of cetaceans in a way that makes one think:

Dolphins and whales have brains that are exceptional for their size, second only to modern humans in being larger than one would expect. They also possess neurological structures that, in humans, are linked to high-level social and intellectual function.

If all we knew of cetaceans was their brains, we’d probably expect them to be persons, but of course scientists know much more. Tests in captivity have returned evidence of symbolic understanding and abstract reasoning. They seem to be just as aware of themselves as selves as we are, and observations in the wild are even more compelling.

…

Wise insists that animal personhood won’t require some radical judicial step, just a fair reading of legal precedent and a willingness to consider the notion that intelligence, autonomy and feeling, not taxonomic designation, is what makes beings eligible for legal rights.

The organisation spearheading this movement is called the Nonhuman Rights Project. Their website is here.

You can read the entire article here.

Bookshelf: Dolphin Confidential

Dolphin Confidential – Maddalena Bearzi

This is a deceptively light, quick read by marine mammal researcher and conservationist Maddalena Bearzi. There is much to be gleaned from this book, and the whimsical line drawings here and there belie its strong conservation message and the scientific knowledge of dolphin behaviour that is imparted to the reader through accounts of observing dolphins in the wild. Interwoven with her fascinating life story, involving travel to all corners of the globe to study reptiles, sea turtles, and dolphins, is a fair amount of information about cetacean behaviour and life cycles. She is the co-founder (with her husband) and President of the Ocean Conservation Society, which undertakes various research projects using their fabulous (donated!) research vessel and a staff of volunteers and scientists.

Bearzi describes the activity of gathering data on cetacean behaviour while at sea, describing the excitement and wonder of observing dolphins at play and on the move, as well as the frustrations – not finding the dolphins, inclement weather conditions, differing personalities on the boat, seasickness, and the minutiae of life as a researcher in the field. She also points out how difficult it can be to interpret behaviour – dolphins lack limbs to reach for and manipulate items, and their immobile faces (while they may appear to be smiley all the time) do not show facial expressions. This sometimes makes it tricky to decide exactly what a specific behaviour means. While marine research may appear to chiefly involve lounging about on a boat, there are many hours spent translating observational data into quantitative data and drawing conclusions about what the behaviours mean. Bearzi and her team also take samples, for example of fish scales suspended in the water after dolphins have been feeding. This assists them in identifying the exact components of the dolphin diet.

Much of Bearzi’s work has been with the “metropolitan” dolphins of Los Angeles’ coastal waters. She observes first hand the impact of pollution, plastic waste, and human activities on the dolphins as well as on the other marine life around the city. Her strong belief in ocean conservation has led her to run programs in underprivileged school districts, educating children about the need to protect the ocean. She says that while these programs were a roaring success with the children, school administrators lacked the will to keep extra-curricular activities going, and eventually their efforts to run the program hit a brick wall.

Unsurprisingly, Bearzi is strongly opposed to keeping dolphins in captivity, and does not think that swimming with dolphins is a good idea either. (From what I’ve seen of it, I am inclined to agree with her!) She speaks from a position of strong respect for the creatures she studies and for the spaces they inhabit, and the idea of actually grabbing onto one of them for a photo opportunity would be repugnant to her.

You can buy the book here if you’re in South Africa, otherwise here or here. For a kindle copy, go here. It’s an enjoyable read with a strong narrative thread. For a young person, particularly a girl, considering a career as a field biologist, it’s also an excellent read.

Movie: The Big Blue

The Big Blue (first released in 1988) is a fictionalised account of a rivalry between two free divers, Enzo Maiorca (renamed in the film to Enzo Molinari) and Jacques Mayol. As children, they compete diving for coins in the harbour of the small fishing village where they live, and a strong rivalry (at least in Enzo’s mind) is born. Years later, he persuades Jacques to come and compete against him at the world free diving championships.

While free diving and being the world championship seems to be all that occupies Enzo’s mind, Jacques is quieter and more philosophical, and tries to understand his connection to the ocean (he has an affinity for dolphins) and to the life he has when he’s not diving. He begins a relationship with an annoying American woman, but his immaturity and other-worldliness gives rise to frustrations when he cannot reciprocate her desire for a white picket fence with two and a half children and a dog.

The film was shot mostly in the Mediterranean, and has a beautiful soundtrack of electronic music by Eric Serra. Despite the competition between the men, it’s quite slow paced. We watched the director’s cut, which is almost three hours long. The scenery and the clarity of the water in which the men dive (and the idyllic little coastal villages where they grow up and compete) is quite bewitching.

The discipline in which the two men compete is No Limit, the same as that practiced by Audrey Mestre, Pipin Ferreras and Carlos Serra, protagonists of The Last Attempt and The Dive. The diver descends on a weighted sled (in The Big Blue, to 130-odd metres, which is far shallower than current records) and ascends with the assistance of a balloon or inflatable jacket. It is considered to be one of the most dangerous free diving disciplines (Herbert Nitsch, one of the greatest living free divers, has recently had a bit of a speed wobble trying to extend the record to 244 metres).

It’s interesting to compare Nitsch’s highly experimental arrangement with the somewhat primitive-looking sled shown in the film. The concerns of the doctors, that the men are reaching depths beyond which it is physiologically impossible to descend, are still echoed each time a new record is set. The frequency of DCS and other neurological disturbances in divers who push the limits, however, makes me wonder whether we are in fact approaching some kind of threshold. Since many of these divers are genetic abberations (in a good way), it’s hard to generalise, but I watch developments in the sport with interest.

This is a beautifully filmed, engrossing piece of cinematography, and a classic ocean film that deals with some universal questions (not least, why do some women insist on falling pregnant without first discussing it with their partner?).

The DVD is available here if you’re in South Africa, otherwise here. The soundtrack, which is sublime, is available here for South Africans, and here otherwise.

Oh, just a couple of dolphins

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T49qEsxeyxU&w=540″]

We saw this giant pod of dolphins from Miller’s Point as we were preparing to launch the boat, churning up the water in the distance. By the time we surfaced from our dive, they were passing by us in pursuit of a school of fish (I surmise). There were some fat brown seals trying to keep up behind them, too. We drove along next to the pod for a while, and a whole lot of the dolphins came and surfed in our bow wave and rolled over next to the boat. We could hear the loud sounds they made as they came up to breathe next to us. Bernita and I were beside ourselves. We were hoping to see an orca or two, but no such luck.

False Bay is teeming with life – every day out on the water is a surprise. This sighting made up for the somewhat rough and windy surface conditions and milky visibility! It’s very unusual to see dolphins while you’re actually underwater on a dive, but I’m looking forward to that day. It’ll come.

Dive sites (Southern Mozambique): Drop Zone

Loggerhead turtle at Drop Zone in southern Mozambique

Drop Zone is a newish reef in Malongane Bay, and was the first dive we did. The surf launch was uneventful and even enjoyable. Either I’m growing a pair, or our skipper Wayne was a master at reading the waves, or a combination of both effects was at work. We saw dolphins almost as soon as we left the beach, and watched them from a distance for a while. The dive itself was a bit of a shock to the system: we dived for over an hour, surfaced with air to spare, and didn’t even notice the water temperature (which, after diving in Cape Town, means it was very comfortably warm). There were also large creatures all over the place, magnificent coral, and some tiny stuff to reward close scrutiny of the reef.

Gorgeous little (unidentified) nudibranch at Drop Zone

It was my first dive with my new Ikelite AF35 strobe, and I was a little anxious that I’d have a wonderful dive but nothing to show for it as I fumbled around, blinding the divers with curious directional choices for the strobe arm. Fortunately I got the hang of it fairly quickly, and actually got some half decent results. Magnificent visibility provided much assistance. You’ll see that the picture of the moray eel is a bit washed out, as positioning the strobe when the subject is close up is something I haven’t fully mastered yet.

I was thrilled to see cowries – lots of them. As a child we’d find empty (small) cowrie shells on the beach at Betty’s Bay, and they’ve always had more value to me than other shells. These molluscs can cover almost their entire shells with their soft feet, and their shells are usually very shiny. Cowries are either male or female (for creatures of that level of complexity this is quite unusual) and our Divemaster told us not to touch or move them because then they’d lose their mates. I’m not sure whether they are faithful to each other like that, but not touching stuff is important here.

Dive date: 8 May 2012

Air temperature: 24 degrees

Water temperature: 25 degrees

Maximum depth: 13.8 metres

Visibility: 15 metres

Dive duration: 65 minutes

Newsletter: Winter diving

Hi divers

So, finally the south easter stopped blowing and we had a taste of winter winds blowing hard and softly this past week. The results, cleaner but not too much colder water. We dived Atlantis and Photographer’s Reef today, and 12 metre visibility and 13 degree water. It is probably the best viz I have seen in recent times. Last weekend we dropped anchor at an unnamed dive site close to Miller’s Point and had a good 10 metre visibility so slowly the bay is starting to deliver. The wind tomorrow blows fairly hard from the north west which will either clean the bay even more or at least keep it as good as it is now.

Surfacing to see the freelance skipper waiting for us on the boat!

Weekend plans

The wind will be moderate, but from the north west so the bay will be flat. The bay will be sheltered from the 4 metre swell as it is from the south west because of Cape Point, so it will have very little impact. The swell period is also very long, 18 seconds on Saturday, so I hope it will make for really good diving.

Photographer's Reef today — Photographer’s Reef today

I am having a lot fun diving off the boat and we will launch Saturday and Sunday. We have been launching from the False Bay Yacht Club and it is a very pleasant atmosphere. Not to mention the option of a hot shower (if you take out temporary membership for the day) and toasted sandwiches or burgers in the clubhouse after diving.

Giant roman at Photographer's Reef — Giant roman at Photographer’s Reef

I will plan for two launches each day, one or both of the days will be to Atlantis to accommodate Bernita as she asked for this site a week ago and promised to bring cake. The rest will be decided on the day by the people that have booked, so go here and here, read about the sites, then go here and bake a cake and send me a text with your choices… You may or may not be lucky but then again a slice of cake on the boat is a very strong motivator for me. (Text Clare for cake options.) There are also several whales and hundreds of dolphins in the bay right now.

Fish at Photographer's Reef — Fish at Photographer’s Reef

Training

Open Water, Advanced, Rescue, EFR and Divemaster courses running currently, join any if you wish or be brave and pick your own… here!

See you in the water!

regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/

Diving is addictive!

Newsletter: Mid-winter mark

Hi divers

I would love to have a newsletter filled with amazing diving stories to send out every week, but for the last while each and every newsletter has been a challenge to write due to the lack of diving. When asked about diving in the Cape during winter I would usually claim that winter is often better than summer as we have north westerly winds that clean the bay and deliver stunning visibility. Last winter we had a dives with 15 metre visibility almost every weekend yet this year I doubt we have seen anything better than 6 metres so far.

It does appear that this is set to change over the next few days and by next week we will have the first real winter storm on Tuesday so when that’s over we should have good conditions. We are midway through winter so its long over due.

This weekend

It is difficult to say for sure what the conditions will be on Saturday. The wind blew from the north last night and that will move the dirty water in the top of the bay south towards the dive sites we most often frequent. Hopefully the sites around Smitswinkel Bay will be unaffected so we will plan for two or possibly three launches on Saturday and give Sunday a miss as the wind will be too strong. I think its most likely we will do Batsata Maze, Atlantis and Outer Castle as I think the water will be cleaner on the southern end of the coastline. If you want to be on the boat on Saturday text me.

Last weekend

We launched on Saturday, doing one dive only as we had more wind than predicted and around 5 metre visibility. After the dive we came across a pod of dolphins, I would guess there were a few hundred at least and we followed them for a while and watched the sea birds and dolphins having lunch.

Sunday we did navigation dives at Long Beach in 4-5 metre visibility and a fair amount of surge. Not the greatest.

Photographer's Reef — Photographer’s Reef

The boat

I have removed all the seats and built a dive rack giving much more space on deck. The bow rail has also been shortened so there is now more than enough space for kitting up. I have come to grips with the GPS and sonar and found and entered a lot more waypoints. We have also joined False Bay Yacht Club in Simon’s Town which means we no longer need to do battle at Miller’s Point with some of the other rude and obnoxious boaters or the baboons, not to mention the lack of proper toilet facilities and decent cell phone reception. The real attraction for me with the club is the fantastic facilities and the option of a hot shower after a cold dive as well as a very good restaurant for a coffee and lunch at very good prices.

regards

Tony Lindeque
076 817 1099
www.learntodivetoday.co.za
www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blog/

Diving is addictive!

Bookshelf: Watching Giants

Watching Giants: The Secret Lives of Whales – Elin Kelsey

This book is not a lot about whales. There is a bit of whale and dolphin science, but it’s presented in an informal, anecdotal style peppered (drenched, actually) with personal reflections and stories of the author’s life and family. Elin Kelsey interviews a number of cetacean researchers, mostly based around the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California), an incredibly rich and diverse ecosystem that supports a huge biomass of marine mammals, some resident year-round. The gulf lies between the Mexican mainland and the Baja Peninsula and featured in the BBC Blue Planet series footage of blue whales.

Kelsey’s focus is very much on motherhood, and she does raise some points worth pondering. One that struck me is how bearing young affects wild animals – many mothers claim that the birth of their child was a pivotal, transformative moment for them. For a creature such as a whale or elephant, with agonisingly long gestation periods and that spend years suckling their offspring, is the experience similarly life-changing?

She also discusses the prevalence of allocare (care provided by someone other than the mother – practised by sperm whales, for example), and the role of matriarchs in cetacean society. These older female whales have a great deal of knowledge about the best sources of nutrients and safest refuges, and studies have shown that older matriarchs give rise to healthier, more successful groups. Elephants are an example of land-based mammals with a matriarchal social structure.

I found this an entertaining, light read, if sometimes difficult to follow because of its loose structure. Kelsey’s 20 essays are linked by her personal reminiscences, and the work is perhaps aimed less at people who want to know about whales, and more at those who enjoy a biographical style with a touch of ecology thrown in. It’s also definitely a book that will appeal to women with maternal leanings (of which I am not one).

You can purchase the book here if you’re in South Africa, and here or here if you’re not.