For the last couple of years, I've taken part in a number of Cetacean surveys for the charity ORCA. Towards the back end of 2023, I applied to train as a Team Leader for ORCA in 2024. When my application was confirmed, I was invited to apply for one of the ORCA survey teams on the Saga ships, Spirit of Discovery & Spirit of Adventure in 2024. Saga very kindly allows ORCA to supply teams of four surveyors onto some of their cruises. This is an arrangement that has been running for the last decade or so. The ORCA teams are there for dawn to dusk surveying from the deck, as well as, in a passenger engagement role. The passenger engagement includes pointing out Cetaceans & other wildlife to the passengers, as well as, providing information about the wildlife being encountering both on deck and with lectures, workshops and daily slides.
I was very excited in mid-December to receive an email from the ORCA team offering me a place on the very first Saga cruise of 2024. This was the Caribbean Calypso Cruise on the Spirit of Discovery departing from Portsmouth on 18 Jan and returning thirty days later on 17 Feb. The other members of the ORCA team were Jan Storie (Team Leader), Terry Carne (Wildlife Officer) and his wife Charlotte Bright. Charlotte & I were the two Wildlife Guides for the cruise. The other three are all experienced ORCA Team Leaders, who had been on Saga cruises before. Consequently, I would have three really helpful mentors to kick start my Team Leader training. This is my personal account of the trip.
In the lead up to the Calypso Cruise, we had a useful video call with Lucy & Ellie from the ORCA head office team, which was a good chance for me to get to know everybody, as well as, reinforcing the key tasks we would be involved with on the cruise. I met up with Jan, Terry & Charlotte in Portsmouth at lunchtime on the 18th. After a quick coffee & a chat, we swiftly completed the check-in tasks and were on a bus heading for the Spirit of Discovery.
We had a few hours before we were due to sail, which allowed us a bit of time to unpack, as well as, to get to know the rest of the team. It was great that we immediately bonded and even better that we all were firm friends at the end of the trip.
Talking of old friends. My first job after leaving university was working in the Portsmouth based Ferranti offices on the Type 42 Destroyer Command Control Systems. This was easily the best job in my IT career, as it allowed us regular visits on the Type 42 Destroyers in harbour & at sea, to test the new software releases prior to handing them over to the Royal Navy. On my fifth day at work, I joined my boss on my first visit on the Type 82 HMS Bristol. HMS Bristol was a one off ship that was built as a platform for some of the weapons that would ultimately be deployed on the Type 42 Destroyers. It was good to see HMS Bristol again. She is looking like a few licks of paint wouldn't hurt: but she won't be getting any as her days are numbered.
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That afternoon we met up with the Cruise Director, Paul and his deputy, Charlie. We attended a briefing with all the other varied entertainers from singers, dancers, magic performers, art & craft experts and a variety of lecturers. Although we were on from a surveying perspective, we were classified as part of the entertainment team. Fortunately, we weren't expected to do any singing, albeit there were the occasional dance moves seen on the top deck to aid communication & improve humour within the team: the less said about the better.
We sailed early evening, as the Captain was keen to get going as there was another storm due to hit the English Channel & Southern UK and he wanted to be heading South past Brittany, before that storm hit. Fortunately, this plan worked and we had a very calm passage to the West of the Bay of Biscay for January. But we got use to 3 to 4 metre swells throughout the Atlantic crossing, which wasn't ideal for Cetacean surveying.
We were all wrapped up well on deck on the first day at sea, as it wasn't warm. The ship was well-designed with large glass panels to provide protection from the elements, but with gaps between each panel, which allowed for better vision for surveying & photography. Apparently, these gaps were recommended by the ORCA team and it worked well.
Over the first few days, we were to meet & get to know a number of the passengers who were keen on enjoying the wildlife. A number confirmed that they had only booked on this particular cruise as they knew there was an ORCA survey team onboard.
Unfortunately, our first day at sea wasn't successful and we didn't see any Cetaceans. Birds were equally elusive with only a Gannet, a Bonxie and four Kittiwakes seen. But this first day was a good opportunity for me to get use to recording using the ORCA tablet. On the ORCA ferry surveys we record sightings using paper forms which works well in an enclosed bridge. On the Saga cruises, we use a tablet, which eliminates the problems of trying to use paper sheets on an open deck in all weathers. When we are surveying, we follow the normal thirty minute rotations of the team from through port observer, recorder, starboard observer & off-duty. In reality the recorder and off-duty members are generally very passenger focused as an additional role. At the start of a thirty minute session, the recorder notes the time & GPS position and records the sea conditions: state, swell, visibility, direction of any glare and precipitation. All these factors will have an impact on how likely we are to see Cetaceans. The sea conditions are updated if any of these conditions change.
When we get a sighting, the time and GPS position is recorded, as well as, the reticle distance (a vertical measurement from the horizon using the ORCA bins), the species, number and behaviour of the Cetaceans, other Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles or notable Large Fish like Tuna, Sun Fish or Sharks. The main differences between the ferry surveys is we don't record the angle to the initial sighting to the ship's heading and the time and GPS position are automatically recorded by the tablet. The final advantage is after reviewing all the sightings after a survey, then it is possible to submit the morning or afternoon's survey back to the ORCA head office over the ship's wifi.
During the afternoon, we all went down to the playhouse theatre as Terry was giving a lecture on the role of ORCA as a charity, what we were hoping to achieve during the cruise and the Cetaceans we were hoping to see. It was a good chance to introduce the ORCA team to the passengers who attended. The talk was videoed and this allowed other passengers to watch the talk later on from the TVs in their cabins. What was clear was there were always a lot of activities simultaneously taking place on the ship and not every passenger would be able to see the talk live, due to clashing activities.