In early December, DCP’s collaboration with Wild Encounters (WE) took me far north above the Arctic circle, in the Kvænangen fjords, to be part of WE’s last trip of the season with Debbie & Johnny.
WE has shared footage taken by their guests (over 3 years – thank you!) during snorkeling expeditions in north Norway and this last-minute DCP trip gave me the opportunity to give back by sharing a bit of DCP’s research with on-board guests.
I boarded the ship we called home for a week on the evening of December 3rd. After a safety briefing, we all got our gear for the week: thermal overalls, drysuit, 10mm hood, gloves, and boots. Yes, this time of the year, sea temperature in the fjords is around 5°C (41°F). Here’s me all geared-up – thanks Gary for the picture.
The next five days, life onboard was organized pretty much the same way: breakfast, look for animals (first picture below), launch zodiacs (if possible – see second picture below) to snorkel with the animals (if possible), get back onboard for a late lunch, pull footage, prepare cameras for the next day, dinner, and share information with guests.
All week, killer whales (and humpback whales!) were not difficult to find. The challenges came from the weather and the low light – in December, the sun doesn’t rise above the mountains anymore.
We were able to launch the zodiacs 4 days out of 5 and snorkel with the animals on 3 of those days. We had interesting encounters with curious juvenile killer whales: one checking out our zodiac engine (zodiac was immobile and engine neutral), one checking out my underwater housing (featured photo), and another one sneaking up on me (see Debbie’s picture from the surface, below). Though, the most impressive moment was observing killer whales and humpback whales feeding on a bait ball from up-close!
I was able to collect 11 underwater video clips, but the low light will make difficult behavioral analyses. Still, I have gained valuable information to be used next year if DCP returns to Norway, the first being – I’ll use a wetsuit next time. I was actually too warm in the drysuit!
Keep an eye on our social media, we will share videos of this trip!
Cheers,
Manon