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Flag Expedition - Sperm Whales of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (2007-07-09)
Fellow member, Wade Hughes (USA) and I have just returned from the Azores where we carried flag # 85. Our purpose was to photograph and record audio from from sperm whales and in particular the "sonar" reaction to encounters with divers.
We worked with Nikon D200 and D2X cameras underwater and D200 cameras topside (Robyn Hughes and Pam Osborn recorded the topside results). The audio was recorded on a M-Audio Microtrack recorded. We were pleased to photograph and record audio from numerous whales and also pods. We are very excited with both the photographic and audio record which with now be provided to specialist researchers in this field.
It is a deeply humbling and priveleged experience to be in the water with such gentle creatures. The highlight was swimming into a pod of five females with wonderful eye contact as they passed by.
The only hiccup is loss of my baggage in return. I suspect carrying hydrophones which may show up on x-ray as a coil of electrical wire which a metal cylinder at the end may be too provocative in this post 9/11 world. Then again it may be the sheer talent of the airlines involved. Fortunately all audio and photographic files are in the hand luggage.
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