Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles We were unsure about heading out to sea on Saturday morning as strong winds enveloped the island. Fortunately, our experienced skipper Norberto had a plan. Passing the stormy channel between Faial and Pico on Pico’s southern side meant we were sheltered from the strong winds. Our lookouts on board managed to spot a loggerhead turtle in the high waves. The vigia on Pico guided us to a blue whale, always a magnificent sighting.. When the blue whale searched for more turbule ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles On Wednesday we welcomed our third group to the Monte de Guia research base. Their first encounter on Thursday was a small group of common dolphins bowriding. In between Sāo Gorge and Pico the vigia spotted a baleen whale. This was no easy task as it had a habit of disappearing into the depths of the ocean as soon as we tried to get closer. But with patience and determination, we found it and took a closer look as we identified it as a fin whale, our second one of the 202 ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles The bad whether seemed relentless as Friday approached, so the team stayed onshore and developed their photo-ID skills, becoming increasingly efficient in photo-analysis and matching, making our scientist Lisa very happy. Claudia Oliveira, a sperm whale expert from Azores University, visited us to give great talk on acoustics and photo-ID research to elucidate sperm whale behaviour and the impact of whale-watching boats. In the evening, we watched the National Geographic ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles Group 2 experienced a flying start on their first day with intensive training. Only Sunday’s weather forecast looked good to go out to sea, so we made sure to focus our training on all citizen science tasks on board to be ready for it. After many rainy and windy days, Easter came with blue skies, calmer seas and lots of eagerness from the expeditioners to get started and test their sea legs. A lone bottlenose dolphin feeding just outside the harbour welcomed the team. Sho ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles The weather gods turned against us on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ‘Windy app’ displayed ominous shades of orange and red, signalling wind speeds of up to 45 kilometers per hour and waves reaching four metres. Clearly, these conditions were far from ideal for spotting cetaceans, even for those with sturdy sea legs! Having said this, shore days provide a good opportunity to learn about cetacean photo-identification. Half of the team focused on matching sperm whale flukes usi ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles On Saturday we had sea state 4 with higher waves, strong winds and a rocking boat. The lower deck team had to hold on tight and put their balance skills to the test. Also on the upper deck, taking data when holding on can be tricky, but the team managed in the end. With the north-eastern winds, we headed out again to the south of Pico and came across a dead sperm whale floating. The cause of death is unclear. Eventually the carcass will sink to the bottom in what is calle ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles After two days of strong winds, the sun came out to welcome our first group of expeditioners arriving from both sides of the Atlantic. As always, the first two days are dedicated to full-on training to get everyone up to speed on the species of interest, ready to record valuable data out at sea. As we were getting familiar with all the roles on board, the many different datasheets, GPS, transect log, phone app… there was a slight sense of information overload. Yet, once o ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles I write to you from our beautiful research base at Monté de Guia where Lisa and I are busy preparing everything for your arrival. Located right at the waterfront, the sea view here is ideal to check out the weather conditions before heading out to sea and get into marine citizen science action. Today we were treated to blue skies, some sunshine, but strong winds and many white caps dancing on the waves, but the conditions should improve in the coming days when group 1 wil ..read more

Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles Welcome to the first diary entry of the 2024 Azores Biosphere expedition. I am An Bollen, your expedition leader for this 18th edition. I look forward returning to the stunning Azores and immersing myself in citizen science research alongside all of you in the weeks ahead. It will be my third time running the expedition. Meanwhile at our research base, Lisa Steiner, our expedition scientist, has already been treated to sightings out at sea. Not only her favoured sperm wh ..read more

Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species On the very last day of this year’s Arabia expedition group 2 discovered a pharaoh eagle owl nest with two fluffy chicks in it. The nest was well hidden in a ghaf tree with one parent always on watch. This discovery was a direct result of our surveys, which led the scientists to believe there was an active nest site somewhere around the west ghaf grove. Further tips and investigations finally led us to the nest. Science is often like a puzzle: Putting together tiny pieces to pa ..read more