9 Nov 22 - Indonesia - Banda Sea Cruise Day 14 - A Very Early Start On Pantar Island

We had missed one of our main target species on the previous day on Alor: Alor Boobook. Fortunately, Alor Boobook also occurs on our next location: the neighbouring island of Pantar. To maximise our chances of success, Wilbur decided we would leave the Lady Denok at 03:00 to give us a good crack at seeing this recently split Boobook. We had the joy of wading ashore through the shallow water over the mudflats in the dark.

It was a dark night when we left the Lady Denok at 03:00

It was a mile or so walk to get to the site Wilbur had for the Alor Boobook. Initially, we didn't hear any Alor Boobooks calling, but finally we heard one. After a bit of time, we finally got some good views of it.

Alor Boobook: Alor Boobook has been recently split from the Southern Boobook complex

Alor Boobook: Another photo taken using just the light from Wilbur's torch, which shows how good cameras have become to photography in low light situations

As we returned to the road, we heard & then saw a Wallace's Elegant Pitta in the mangrove edge.

Wallace's Elegant Pitta: Elegant Pitta has now been split into three species: Banda Sea Pitta, Temminck's Elegant Pitta (which IOC call Elegant Pitta) & Wallace's Elegant Pitta (which IOC call Ornate Pitta). Wallace's Elegant Pitta is a monotypic species. This individual sang from the mangroves in the early morning light

We had another hour to check some of the neighbouring forest & scrub edge before Wilbur decided we should head back to the Lady Denok. Heading back wasn't a bad decision as we needed to head out to sea as we had a long crossing to our next destination: Kalaotoa Island.

Indonesian Brown Honeyeater: This is the monotypic species that occurs from Bali to Flores & Timor

Zitting Cisticola: This is the fuscicapilla subspecies which occurs in East Java & the Lesser Sundas. It is a very widespread species which occurs in Europe, Africa South East Asia to Australia

Zebra Finch: This is the guttata subspecies of Zebra Finch according to Clements which occurs in the Lesser Sundas from Lombok to Timor, with another subspecies in Australia. IOC have split them as Sunda Zebra Finch & Australian Zebra Finch. This will be another armchair tick when I switch to IOC taxonomy

Indonesian Butterfly sp.

We had hoped to leave from this jetty & avoid another wade off the mudflat, but there was no water in the creek

Indonesian Crab sp.

Indonesian Mudskipper sp.

Indonesian Mudskipper sp.

Returning past the mangrove edge

As we headed back to the Lady Denok, we saw a few Herons & Waders feeding on the mudflats.

Little Egret: This is the nigripes subspecies which occurs from Indonesia & the Philippines to New Guinea, North & Eastern Australia

Little Green Heron: This is the steini subspecies which occurs in the Lesser Sundas. This is a widespread species which is also known as Striated Heron & occurs from Africa to Asia, New Guinea & Australia, as well as, Central & South America

Whimbrel

Common Sandpiper

Back into open water

The Lady Denok

We had over one day at sea until we reached Kalaotoa Island. The avian highlight of the crossing was my first Swinhoe's Storm-petrel, along with a single Tahiti Petrel, a couple of Streaked Shearwaters, a few Wedge-tailed Shearwaters & at least fifty Red-necked Phalaropes. But a close Sperm Whale was the star highlight for the crossing.

Sperm Whale: A shot showing the blow hole and the low dorsal fin

Sperm Whale: Sperm Whales have a unique off-centred blow hole on the left side of the head, which is diagnostic if seen well

A local boat

We ended a long day with a reasonable sunset

23 Dec 18 - Index To My Sperm Whale Posts

This Blog Post is an Index to all the Blog Posts covering my Sperm Whale sightings. The following Blog Posts cover all my Rorqual Whale, Baleen Whale, Sperm Whale, Beaked Whale, Beluga Whale & Narwhal, Blackfish, Atlantic Dolphin, Pacific Dolphin and Porpoise Posts. The taxonomy follows the Marine Mammals of the World (Second Edition) book. There are links to the Posts against each entry below. Alternatively, you can click on a particular species in the Keywords section on the right side of the Blog to show all Posts for the selected species. Finally, selecting the Cetaceans Keyword to show all Cetacean Posts. I will continue to add to the photos and links as I write new Cetacean Blogs.

This Post covers the following species: Sperm Whale, Pygmy Sperm Whale and Dwarf Sperm Whale.

Sperm Whale: A party of females & youngsters at sea between St Helena and Ascension Island (21 Apr 18)

Sperm Whale: Two at sea between St Helena and Ascension Island (22 Apr 18)

Sperm Whale: Sperm Whales breaching and spyhopping at sea between Ascension Island and Cape Verde (26 Apr 18)

Sperm Whale: At the Estancia Harberton museum, Argentina (27 Mar 18)

Dwarf Sperm Whale: At sea between Tristan da Cunha and St Helena (16 Apr 18)

Dwarf Sperm Whale: At sea between Ascension Island and Cape Verde (28 Apr 18)

26 Apr 18 - Atlantic Odyssey - Day Twenty Eight: King Neptune's Sperm Whales

Today was expected to be a big day for the Plancius & the passengers as we were due to cross the Equator. Crossing the Equator tends to be an excuse for some general frivolity on ships. We were expecting to cross the Equator around 09:15 and there were a lot more passengers on deck immediately after breakfast than normal. Many people were crammed into the bridge or were excitedly watching GPSs or their mobiles (for those connecting to the ship's satellite internet system). Given I had chosen not to connect to the wifi for the time I was at sea, I made do with scanning with my bins & noting that nothing changed: except a lot of people took photos & cheered for having crossed the Equator. As far as I could see, there were no Seabirds or Cetaceans on view on either side of the line. There were a few Seabirds seen during the day, but those that were seen were repeats in low numbers from the previous day. However, we did see the first Scopoli's subspecies of Cory's Shearwater for the Odyssey. Just before 15:00, there was an announcement that King Neptune had come onboard & everybody was invited to head down to the aft deck.

King Neptune on the aft deck: Photo taken from the Expedition trip report (with the copyright for the photo remaining with Christope Gouraud from the Expedition staff)

Those passengers, Expedition staff & crew who hadn't crossed the Equator before, got to meet King Neptune along with Mermaid Marijke, before getting covered in jelly, chocolate & strawberry sauce, before being washed down in water. Having straddled the Equator in Kenya & Ecuador, I decided that I could safely give this a miss & keep looking for Cetaceans. The timing was perfect, because no sooner had the announcement of King Neptune's arrival finished, then I picked up a couple of distant blows. A few minutes later and we could see that they were Sperm Whales. Unfortunately, they chose to dive. But it was a good sign of things to come.

One of the first two Sperm Whales of the day fluking as it prepares to dive deep: Just part of the entertainment laid on for those not wanting to meet King Neptune

Over the next two hours we encountered around thirty Sperm Whales. A number of the Sperm Whales remained distant and either fluked before we got close or passed around a half mile away from the Plancius. But finally, some performed closer to the Plancius. With most of the passengers, Expedition staff & crew distracted at the aft, then there was nobody who was going to request that we slow down for a longer encounter with one of the parties of Sperm Whales. However, as we had enjoyed a great experience with some Sperm Whales only four days earlier on the crossing between St Helena & Ascension Island, it wasn't a big deal.

Sperm Whale: It was great to see this Sperm Whale breaching

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale: The initial splash didn't look too large

Sperm Whale: This photo was taken a few seconds later & I needed to include an addition 50% of sea to get all the splash in

Sperm Whale: Another breach. Male Sperm Whales can grow to 19 metres & 57 metric tons, whereas, the largest females grow to 12 metres & 19 metric tons. I'm not sure of the sex of this individual, but it's impressive that they can emerge this far out of the water. Some of the Rorqual Whales can launch most of their bodies out of the water

Sperm Whale: The initial splash

Sperm Whale: The splash a few seconds later

Sperm Whale: A third breach

Sperm Whale: Finally, the display was over

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale: Another photo of the left-hand individual

Sperm Whale: The right-hand individual

Sperm Whale: The lower back of this individual is very knobbly

Sperm Whale: One of the key identification features of Sperm Whales is their asymmetric blow hole which faces left

The final treat was seeing a fairly close female Sperm Whale with a youngster.

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Sperm Whale: Female Sperm Whale with a nipper just popping out of the water

Sperm Whale: The youngster was curious & on a couple of occasions it stuck its head out of the water to see what was going on. This is called spyhopping & is probably my favourite activity to see Cetaceans doing, as I've only seen spyhopping on a few occasions

It was a good afternoon & there were more Cetaceans to come, but you will have to wait until the next Blog Post.

22 Apr 18 - Atlantic Odyssey - Day Twenty Four: From Big To Small

We had already had a good selection of Seabirds on the Atlantic Odyssey on the final day at sea before reaching Ascension Island. However, it was a bit of a frustrating day for Cetaceans. Before breakfast we had a pod of distant Dolphins that were too distant & the views too poor to figure what they were. Later, while everybody else was at lunch, I picked up a logging Surfboard, either a Pygmy Sperm Whale or Dwarf Sperm Whale, about a half mile in front of the ship. Unfortunately, it close to dive before I could get any photos. Again, the views were too brief to be able to identify it to a species & I was the sole observer. Fortunately, we were more successful with our first party of Striped Dolphins which appeared at the end of breakfast & were around for a few minutes. Having got used to a quick breakfast, I had been back on deck for some time, but a number of people were still eating breakfast & missed them. Still that was their choice to have a leisurely breakfast.

Striped Dolphin: They have a habit of these high jumps as I've also taken photos in Biscay of one doing a similar jump

Striped Dolphin

Striped Dolphin: The thin black stripe is one of the key features for Striped Dolphins. It looks like the back individual is a youngster

After lunch, we were told that we would be passing over a sea mount during the early afternoon. This is effectively an island that never made it to the surface & while the top was probably a few hundred metres below the surface, it was a prominent seabed feature given the seabed would typically be at least two or three kilometres deep. Mountains on land are generally windy & turbulent places. Seamounts are similar with the turbulent sea conditions produce upwellings which bring food & nutrients to the surface. The food & nutrients will attract Fish & other sealife, which in turn provides food for Cetaceans. Around 14:00 we encountered a distant blow of a large Whale, but again it was too far to be sure about its identity. Finally, couple of hours later, two Sperm Whales were found logging (floating & in no hurry to dive) on the surface. Their presence was probably related to the seamount.

Sperm Whale: One of two Sperm Whales that were logging on the surface a few hundred metres from the Plancius

Sperm Whale: Having had the superb close encounter with the Sperm Whales on the previous day, the Expedition Staff decided we would not stop for another close encounter

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale: The small dorsal fin is just visible at the right-hand side

It was good to see this Sunfish next to the Plancius. It was close to the surface when I picked it up, but it went into a crash dive as the camera was raised.

Sunfish: Honest. I only saw three on the Odyssey & this was the best photo. If you want to see a photo of what they should look like here is a Sunfish I photographed later in the summer on the Portsmouth - Santander ferry

Given the water temperature was 28 degrees, it is no surprise that we saw good numbers of Flying Fish. Although nearly all were Small Clearwings, there were also the larger Mirrorwing Flying Fish & a few Four-winged Flying Fish.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: I saw around 25 of these during the day

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: Another individual

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): This was easily the commonest Flying Fish & I saw around 500 during the day

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): They associate in shoals & when we disturbed a shoal around 30 - 50 would fly out of the sea for a single short glide

One of the other new highlights seen today was my first Portuguese Man-of-war Jellyfish. I carried on seeing a few roughly every other day until we reached Madeira. They are a bizarre Jellyfish with a large pale pink floating sac, with the tentacles dangling under the water.

Portuguese Man-of-war: The first of two seen during the day. The tentacles are clearly visible on this individual

Portuguese Man-of-war: Water on the sac can catch the light & cause them to glisten which allowed me to pick one up later in the trip at 400 metres in front of the Plancius, even though the sac is only a few inches long