killer whale

Beth – M.s. King of Scandinavia

In a previous blog I invited you to send in your questions about the ocean or the animals and birds that depend on it and then agreed to endeavour to answer them for you.  Although surprising, the gist of the most frequently asked questions were as follows:

How did I get my job?
Jobs like this can be few and far between but there are many environmental job websites to keep your eye on.  I do have a degree in Marine Biology but just as important is experience and that is why I always recommend volunteering as a good start.  Many organisations are reliant on volunteers and it is a great way of getting relevant skills, understanding and experience.  ORCA for instance has an amazing network of volunteers that fulfil both land and sea based opportunities.  Whether it be helping us at events, membership recruitment or data collection on a mini cruise.

What do I like best about my job?
The variety.  You never know what animals you are going to be lucky enough to see and with new passengers on every trip it means that every journey across the North Sea is different.  I also love it when I am standing with a person who sees a cetacean for the first time, the excitement and energy that captures them is exhilarating.

What is my favourite animal?
I know you shouldn’t have favourites but I have to admit that I do and it is the orca (killer whale).  I have been fortunate enough to see them in the wild many times but I still get goose bumps with each and every sighting.

What is the difference between a porpoise and a dolphin?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions.  Porpoises tend to be the smallest of the cetaceans, and even the largest of them doesn’t generally reach lengths much bigger than 2 m.  There are only six species of porpoise and their behaviour is slightly different to that of the dolphins.  They don’t typically leap out of the ocean and are generally seen alone or in very small groups.  They can appear to be quite shy creatures.  There are also some harder to spot differences!  The tooth shape is different for instance, porpoises have spade shape teeth whereas the dolphins have conical teeth.

'The lower jaw of a bottlenose dolphin, you can see the sharp conical teeth. Porpoise teeth are a different shape, looking more like little pegs

Beth – M.s. King of Scandinavia

Info on the BFP in the ORCA Centre

What’s the BFP I hear you ask?  BFP is the acronym for our 2009 ORCA initiative the ‘Big Fish Project’ and as of yesterday we have 100 signatures on our BFP pledge sheet.  This means that 100 people so far have pledged to play their part and help protect the species living in our oceans by thinking about sustainability when buying fish products.  One hundred extra people will be looking for the label that indicates the product is from a sustainable source and caught in an ‘eco-friendly’ way before putting a fish or seafood choice into their shopping basket.  How great is that!

Overfishing is a major conservation problem in the North Sea, and has contributed to the decline of a number of whale and dolphin species. ORCA recognise that, as consumers, people have enormous influence over the species of fish caught and the fishing methods employed in the North Sea.  The BFP is all about consumer buyer power and just because you may not have travelled on m.s. King of Scandinavia this summer to see and hear about our project in person does not mean that you can’t take part.  If you too are going to pledge to only buy fish from sustainable sources then I want to hear about it.  Just like one of the main underlying ethoses of ORCA, collaboration and working together can and does make a huge difference.

One of the more stringent 'eco-labels'

For more information on sustainable fisheries see http://www.msc.org/

A fantastic picture of a Gannet

Check out the head and eye colour.

I love this time of year as lots of things are happening in the bird world; mating is over the chicks are big enough to leave the nest after months of depending on mum and dad to bring them food.

When I’m out on deck I can constantly hear a low gargling or growling sound coming from the water, most passengers ask me what it is and I point out to them that it is Guillemots and their babies. It’s usually the male which stays with the youngster until it is capable of catching fish and flying by its self where it then heads out over winter until early spring when it returns to the coast for the breeding season.

It’s not only young Guillemots that you can see it’s also Young gannets as well, we have been having fantastic views at the moment right in front of the Ship on the Observation deck where you will usually have a close encounter with a Gannet.

Last night on the 13th August there was a large group of us out on deck admiring the views one of the passengers had a better camera that me so the pictures you can see are curtsey of him so a big thanks.

Rosie

Wildlife officer

I Finally get to meet Dylan

I’ve had some great company out on deck recently after the surveyors left the ship on Wednesday 5th August, I was joined by my boss Dylan Walker. It was an exciting time for me as I had missed out on meeting him and the rest of the team at the beginning of the season.

After departing down the mouth of the River Tyne, we carried out a deck watch talking to many passengers that were out on deck admiring the views.

A few of them were keen birders so joined us in our evening bird watch. We spotted around 60 manxs shearwaters, the North Sea is one of the few places you can see them before they head off to South America for the winter, I wonder if they will take me with them!

It was a shame that I didn’t spot any cetaceans with Dylan, but on the outward journey on the 7th, once he had left I saw a pod of Porpoises and again on the return on the 9th in the morning the watching conditions were spot on. Let’s hope for more as the season continues.

Rosie
Wildlife Officer

I have really enjoyed working on m.s. King of Scandinavia, as I’ve had some fantastic experiences; I have had my first view of a whale and some fantastic views of birds that I have never seen before.

As the season is now over half way through, I thought I would write a blog letting you all know what exciting wildlife Beth and I have spotted since April.

List of sightings so far:

Minke whale
Common dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins
Harbour porpoises
Harbour seals
Gannets
Eider ducks
Cormorants
Kittiwakes
Herring gulls
Black backed gulls
Common gulls
Black Headed gulls
Shelducks
Egyptian geese
Terns
Puffins
Guillemots
Razorbills
Fulmars
Manxs shearwaters

I wonder what exciting animals are still to discover before the end of September.

Rosie
Wildlife Officer

Harbor Porpoises seen on the crossing

Eider ducks seen on the crossing

Beth – King of Scandinavia

August edition that features an advertisement about ORCA Wildlife minicruises with DFDS Seaways

So you love wildlife eh?  Then have you checked out the August edition of the BBC Wildlife magazine? As well as the usual quality articles and stunning photos there is a great advertisement feature all about whales and dolphins that details whereabouts in the British Isles to go and see them.

ORCA and DFDS Seaways are included in the directory, along with other whale watching companies such as Planet Whale.  It highlights the fact that there is some fab wildlife to be seen right on our doorstep – something that ORCA Wildlife Officers have been shouting about all summer.

So come and join us where there is a chance of some truly wonderful encounters.  Don’t just take my word for it – the BBC Wildlife magazine agrees.  For further details of the article, see http://www.bbcwildlifemagazine.com/directory.asp or to book a DFDS Seaways ORCA Wildlife mini cruise go to http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk

On my previous trip I had an amazing encounter with a minke whale it came close in to the ship. Wonderful.

Thanks, see you soon!

Beth – King of Scandinavia

Recently I wrote about the guillemots and have noticed that the gannets have their own feature, therefore I have decided that it is about time the fulmars got a blog all to themselves too.

The gracefulness of this bird makes it easy to identify, even for the novice birdwatcher. Look for the white flashes on the primary feathers, a white head and grey tail.

Their colouration often gets them mistaken for gulls at a distance but it is their grace that stands them apart.  They are such balletic birds sweeping close over the ocean surface, undulating with the waves without ever seeming to get even a wing tip wet.

They, like the albatross, are part of the tubenose family.  Like their larger cousins they spend so much time over the open ocean that they drink the seawater.  Too much salt isn’t good for anyone, man or animal, and using their tubenoses (which are actually elongated nostrils) they excrete the excess salt.

We see fulmars on nearly every trip; so if you would also like to see this elegant bird then come and join us on the King of Scandinavia.

The fulmar may look a bit like a gull but in this shot you can easily see the tubenose on top of the beak. Photo courtesy of HJ & M Luiten.

Beth – King of Scandinavia

In my role as a Wildlife Officer I get asked a lot of interesting and thoughtful questions about all aspects of the marine world. I meet many inquisitive people of all ages and from various countries and so I thought that many of you reading this blog may have questions of your own.

Therefore I am using this blog as an invitation to you. If you have a question about the North Sea or the animals and birds that depend on it then email them to me at beth@orcaweb.org.uk and I will endeavour to answer them for you in an upcoming blog.

I’m up to the challenge are you?

If there is anything that you would like to know then send me an email.

If you stump me I can always get Rosie in on the act, the other Wildlife Officer onboard the King of Scandinavia.

Group of young Gulls heading out on their own

Over the past few months Beth and I have been watching the Gulls that  
chose the island just outside the Port at IJmuiden as a breeding  
ground for their young.

We have seen them nesting and then in mid June we spotted the first  
lot of chicks hatch and start to gradually explore the island never  
going too far from their parent, as the season went on more and more  
chicks hatched and with this came the noise of the young chirping at  
their mums and dads to feed them, I even saw one getting fed – it is  
always an interesting sight!

As we are now heading on to half way through July and the young gulls  
have been on a high protein diet of fresh fish, they are big now and  
starting to stretch their wings ready to take flight and head out on  
their own.

Some of them have already done this and headed down to the lower areas  
of the island ready to make their own journey without their parents.

Young gulls tend to ‘hangout’ in groups until they reach maturity.

Rosie
Wildlife officer

The crew onboard the King of Scandinavia all work hard to ensure that every sailing runs smoothly. In the Ship’s Club, planning of shore based activities for the crew.

On Sunday I was asked by the Ship’s Club organiser to join her on a pre-trip to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth. She wants to be able to take groups of crew to visit this site over the next few weeks.

We spent about an hour and a half there looking at all the fish and the seals that they had.
The aquarium takes you on a journey from the local north east England coast to the tropics, and right through to the depths of the oceans all around the world.

I think the crew will enjoy an afternoon out at the aquarium later this month. Then in September they have the Olympics coming up which takes place on the quay side in Holland, not sure I’m so keen on that one!!

Rosie
Wildlife Officer

One of the Common Seals at Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynmouth

Hermit Crab that is on display at Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth