Clavadel 2008

Last entry

2008-09-04T12:02:00.007+01:00

As a final entry I would like to recognized all of you who took their time to come on board and help me on this task. This blog was initially made to help people participating in fieldwork to follow what we were doing in their absence, but I realize that with time, other people started following this. As such I want to formally acknowledge averyone that shared with me all the uncertainty, frustration and joy that working with such elusive animals represents. 19 people from the most diverse background, and from 7 different countries helped to turn this fieldseason in the most successfull on ever, both in terms of sample numbers as in representitevness along the Portuguese coast. To all of you, my most honest and sincere thank you!

Ana Mendonça

Mário

José Póvoa (The mighty helmsman)

Malgorzata Pilot (1st Mate)

Paulo Serrano

João Dias

Telma Pereira (Pinipom)

Vittoria Elliot

Rob

Neftalí Síllero (1st helmsman)

Esther Alberca

Karis Baker

Ben Johnson

Pedro Neves

Marcela Velasco

Céline Madeira

Margarida Ventura

Mafalda

Susana Gaspar

Not wind, not waves, not the extreme sun nor the pouring rain, not even fog can stop Clavadel and it's crew from finishing their job!

The last crossing: Sines-Portimão

2008-09-04T11:05:00.007+01:00

After our last unsuccessful day, we were at the edge fo our time constraint and it was time to move back to Portimão. Usually, this crossing would be done in two steps, a longer one from Sines to Sagres, moving to Portimão only in the next day. However, all of us had time constraints, so we were going to try and do it all in one go. This meant we needed to do aproximately 80 miles straight, without stoping. The forecast was promising. A quiet west wind for a start, increasing and turning North during the afternoon. I tell everyone we are leaving at 0500 sharp, otherwise we'll get to Portimão quite late. When I woke up, however, the port was covered in the most thick fog (where have we seen this before?!)! I tell everyone we should wait for the fog to lift as it is dangerous to leave such a busy port as Sines like this. Questioned what about getting late to Portimão, I reply that if we get to Sagres tired, we can stay in Sagres and leave to Portimão the next day. Mafalda, however, could no afford to do this, as she needed to be home at a specific time. As such I advise her to take a bus that day, as the only thing I was able to assure was a safe crossing, not a "on time" crossing! She eventually did, and so that left only me, Pedro and Margarida. At aroun 0900 the fog was thicker than ever and it was the time to make a decision. We would either leave, or risk having to wait for the next day. Fortunately, contrary to our other foggy experiences, I now had set up a radar on the boat. I got a good deal on a used one, and had set it up a few days before with the help of my brother. It was time to make use of it.

At 0930 we leave Sines harbour under the thickest fog, not being able to see more than just a few metres. We never even saw the port pontoons! We were navigating by radar, and radar only. As we leave the prot limitis I set a 3 mile radius alarm around our boat to make sure we would not be caught by surprise. However, the only thing that crossed our way were some fishermen buoys,and at aroun 1200 the fog started to lift. We started on engine with no wind, but soon we had a slight breezecoming from the southwest. We hoist sails andaided by the engine were doing a very nice 6 knots average. The sea was brilliant, everyone was very comfortable having a great time sailing along the Vincentine coast. At around 1800 we start seeing cape St. Vincent, and at around 1900 we were crossing it with a previledged view of its lighthouse, the second most powerful in Europe, with a range of 60 miles and guardin on of the busiest shipping lanes in the world!

After we crossed the cape, the wind picked up and we were soon only on sail, doing between 6 and 7 knots. At this point, Margarida asked if we were staying at Sagres or continuing to Portimão. "You tell me. How are you feeling? Tired?" I replied. Both of them told me thwy were feeling good. "Lets keep going then. No point in stopping!" And so we left cape St. Vincent behind now steadily sailing towards Portimão.

Soon enough we were sailing in the sunset...

... then in the dusk...

... and finally, into the night!

At this point, Margarida went down to cook us some dinner. AS this was the final day, there wasn't much left to eat, but she was still able to gather some things and cook a very nice dinner! We ate dinner as we greeted the first stars to come around. Eventually, the only light we could see were the light from the villages along the coast, and given it was full moon, we could clearly see every star in the sky striped by the milky way. Accompanying us was on sailing boat that was sailing a bit faster and stoped at Lagos, and a motorboat that was being outrun by both sailing boats! Sailing is still the most effective way of transport on the sea!!!

Soon we crossed Ponta da Piedade and we were sailing inside the Portimão bay. Wind was unsteady which forced us to some sail changes, but nothing special. As we were aproaching the entrance of the Portimão marina, I heard this very familiar sound. "Guys, I think we have dolphins!" I say. "Oh, come on. You're just pulling our legs!" said Margarida as on of them surface just beside us! We were being followed by a group of 6-8 dolphins. As it was dark we could barely see them, but we could see the trails they left behind as the agitation they caused while swimming caused the fluorescent algae to light up. They looked like fast invisible torpedoes cruising along side us. Suddenly I look up and see a fireworks display startin in a nearby village. We were sailing into port at night, with dolphins following us and a firework display... fieldseason 2008 was finishing in the most glorious way!!! As we are aproaching the port entrance, the wind suddenly drops completely, almost as helping us to put the sails down. At 0100 we moored at the Portimão marina. I look at the handheld GPS to turn it off for the last time this year. I turn to Pedro and Margarida and say "At 2343 miles, fieldwork for 2008 ends. Now I can rest...".

"Never give in,never give in, never give in... we will never give in!"

2008-09-01T18:35:00.006+01:00

We still had a few days in Sines until the end of fieldwork to try and make up for the bad sampling there last year. I wasn't very hopeful though. Last year, we were never able to find the place were dolphins usually hanged around, and spent many days without seeing anything. To be honest, I was thinking this would be just some quiet last days probably with not that many samples. The day after we arrive inSines two new volunteers arrived. Mafalda was mechanical engineer undergraduate student at IST, and Margarida was a Biology student in University of Aveiro that heard about the project from Zé.

Mafalda

Margarida Ventura

The first day we went out I wasn't very hopeful, but we soon found a group of dolphins and started sampling.We got 3 before they started moving away faster than we could follow. It may seem a small number but in reality it almost than double the number of samples we had for that region. So not so bad. Next day we found dolphins, but they didn't approach the boat, and the next one we saw no dolphins. The typical scenario in Sines! 1st mate left and another volunteer arrived. Susana Gaspar heard about the project from Pedro and had nothing to do with biology whatsoever, but wanted to come on board and take part of everything.

Susana Gaspar

In that day I talked to Sr. Mascarenhas in Sines who owns a nautical gear shop at the marina and he phoned a local fishermen to ask for dolphins. He gave us a position where to start looking. We went there the next day and to our surprise we found a group of common dolphins (after seeing two minke whales!), but not an ordinary group, but a huge group! We started sampling and the number of samples was steadily increasing. At some point I notice on of the dolphins was incredibly similar to a striped dolphin. I was intrigued, thinking this might be a hybrid, when I realized we were actually approaching another large school of striped dolphins. Soon we had one huge mixed school of common and striped dolphins. I had to be careful not sample a striped dolphin by accident. We stopped at 7 when the group started moving away too fast, and it was getting late and we needed to refuel the boat. These last few days were going quite well after all.

Striped dolphins

Common dolphins found together with the striped dolphins

The next day we went looking for dolphins in the same position but they were nowhere to be found. Late in the day, we found another huge group and we started sampling. Sample by sample we got to 10! Sines was now one of the best sampled places, and I was thinking how unpredictable working with these animals can be. You can spend many days without seeing anything, and then in 3 days get almost as many samples as you need. That's why, on board Clavadel we never give in!!!

The next days we didn't get any more samples... we didn't even saw any dolphins (but we did saw an immature common tern that decided to rest on Clavadel for a while!), but fieldwork was pretty much done, and the number of samples obtained represented not only a major effort, but also a major success. Even though we were all getting tired, our success made it all worth it. We were ready to sail South confident that we had done a good job!

South to Sines

2008-09-01T17:44:00.002+01:00

After the success of the last few days, we decided to rest for a couple of days. In addition, the forecast was for 5 m high waves and strong waves, so much that many of the harbours in Portugal were effectively closed. In any case, we deserved the rest! 1st mate would be arriving soon, and we planned to go to Lisbon on one day, pick up 1st mate, and then go to Sine the next day. However, when I woke up the planned day at 0400 I heard the masts whistling to the wind... it was stronger than predicted. I thought for a while and told Zé we were not going that day after all. Wind was strong, the sea was still rough and I preferred to cross cape Roca with weak wind than with strong wind. And we really didn't need to go that day. That meant that 1st mate was coming to join us in Peniche and do all the way to Sines. The next we leave at 0500 sharp, however there was almost no wind, and we had to do it on both sail and engine. Eventually the wind would pick up allowing us to save some fuel, but we ended up having to use the engine at some point. Soon we were reaching cape Roca, and the wind just wouldn't pick up. However, cape Roca did not let us down. As soon as we crossed it wind started picking up. 15 knots... 18 knot... 22 knots... "We are doing great finally!" I said as we reached a speed of 7 knots. It didn't dtop there though, and soon wind was topping 35 knots. After the second gush iver 35 knots I said to Zé "I'm going to lower the genoa, it's getting too windy." I moce to the front and as soon as I take the sail down I listen to Zé saying: "38... 42... 44! What the hell is this?!" This was cape Roca at it's best! From a wind speed of 6-7 knots we turned to a wind speed of 44 knots in just 15 minutes. We were on mainsail only reaching speeds of 9 knots, and the wind topping 44 knots frquently. It was the strongest wind we had ever faced in this project! 1st mate was down bellow and I rushed to call him. "I can see the weather has changed slightly" he said. "Yes, wind is topping 44 knots, if it gets stronger we might need to put main down as well and go on engine... we were completely caught by surprise with too much sail on". "Yes, but finally we have some wind!" he replied... at this point, I had learned to expect such comments from him! However, as fast as the wind picked up, it started to become weaker as we approached cape Raso and soon it was back to 10 knots. At that point we hoisted the genoa again to keep the speed up. We eventually got to Oeiras Marina, early enough to go for showers and still have some good rest. That day, my dear mother came to boat and brought dinner for everyone. We were so tired that it felt like heaven!

The next day forecast was for stronger wind, but when we left Oeiras marina at around 0800 the wind was hardly noticeable. We hoisted main and aided with the engine. At some point it picked up enough to allow us to do 6 knots just on main, but it soon dropped. However, as we crossed cape Espichel it picked up again and we were soon doing an average of 6.5 knots on both sails. It was an amazing sailing day, with strong winds from the stern, small but strong waves pushing us towards Sines, and the sea was of an intense dark blue with the random white ripples of the waves breaking with the wind. As we approached Sines the wind got stronger and given the angle of the wind was straight from the stern, it was hard to keep the boat steady with both sails. As we were getting close, we took the genoa down and went on main only. We were still doing over 6 knots, so we were doing some perfect sailing. the waves were getting bigger as well, and at some point I could feel a particularly big one picking the boat up. At the same time we got a gush of stronger wind and I place the boat in the right position to surf the wave.We all felt the acceleration in our stomachs... 1st mate started laughing and Zé picked up the handheld GPS to check the speed "12 Knots!!! We just reached 12 knots of speed!!!" It was the fastest the boat had ever sailed in this project. Another record broken! At 1900 we moored at Sines marina after what was a perfect sailing day.

The Success of Peniche

2008-08-23T19:36:00.007+01:00

The fay after we arrive at Peniche was going to be windy and so we decided to rest and sort out the Marina place. Telma was leaving as well, so I decided to stay in Port. The Marina problem was sorted very easily. I was told by the port officials to go to "Clube Naval" of Peniche and ask for a place on the inside of the Marina. There I talked to Sra. Antonieta who was simply impeccable. She did all she could to find us a better place, and eventually did. So, in the middle of the afternoon, we moved to a place where we could have an electric plug guaranteed. I also took the chance to buy some stuff I needed for the boat,namely a new mooring cable for the stern of the boat, and a new stern light that was stolen from us in Porto Marina. The rest of the day was pretty much spent resting. Next day me and Pedro would be going out to try and start sampling. We had done it before, so we would do it again.

Next day we went out with nice weather and some mild wind. The number of herring gulls lying in the waters outside the port was impressive. Herring gul ls nest in Berlengas, and due to the lack of predator their numbers grew exponentially. They are now considered a plague in Peniche, but all efforts to contain their numbers have been largely unsuccessful. We set course to a place were me and 1st mate saw dolphins when coming up. When we were approaching that point I went to the bow and started looking for dolphins.Soon, a groups of 5 was in sight, right in the exact same place we saw them earlier! I prepare the gear to start sampling. I waited patiently for my chance. I soon get a clean shot and fire a perfect one... a perfect sample was coming on the dart! I process the sample and prepare for the second shot. Again, success! Things were looking good. By lunch time we had collected 4 samples. However we lost the dolphins and we decided to have lunch while searching for them further West.

Pedro taking the helm with Farilhões in sight, one of the islands that are part of Berlengas archipelago.

Close-up of Farilhões

At some point I decided to come back closer to shore and found dolphins pretty much in the same place we left them. "So that's where they were!!" I commented. I restarted sampling. Shot after shot I was getting some perfect samples and dolphins didn't seem to mind at all. At some point the wind increased slightly, but we were doing so good that I didn't even realized it. We stopped at 9 samples and only because I didn't want to risk and make the dolphins suspicious. It was hard for me to believe, after all the difficulties we faced in Porto and Figueira, that this was going so smoothly. In the end, I started taking pictures of their dorsal fins to add to our catalogue.

Every time a crew member comes back to Clavadel, I feel a cycle is complete. On one hand it's like, the experience was good enough for them to want to come back, and on the other is like Clavadel is starting to build is own stable crew. It happened first with Zé and Nef, coming back this year after last year work, and this year with Telma and Ana. The first day we sampled Zé came back again for the third time, making him the most regular and stable crewmember. In the end of the week, 1st mate would be coming back as well for a week to help with fieldwork. There are happy days in the life of a dolphin researcher after all!!!!! :)

When I told Zé I had just came back from the first day with 9 samples he couldn't beleive it. "That means..." "Yes!" I stopped him "It's the record of the most samples obtained in a single day since the beginning of the project! And all in the first day we went out in a given place.". "Man, we're going to finish Peniche in no time!". "Don't celebrate before the end, we still have 20 more to collect." I advised cautiously. I learned not to be too optimistic al in this work, it is most likely that you'll end up deeply frustrated!

Second day of sampling in Peniche was definitely the toughest, but also the most rewarding. Although we started out with good weather, the threatening front we were seeing n the horizon soon approached us. We were still able to get a couple of samples before it reached us, but Berlengas were soon covered. "Is that fog or rain?" I asked Zé. "I think it's fog". "Shit!!! I think it's rain... I hope it's rain!".

It was rain indeed, and soon we had only a couple of miles of visibility. Mild rain soon became pouring rain and my trousers were soon soaked. Dolphins were around though, and I couldn't afford the luxury of stopping. Aiming was harder than ever. I had to keep my sunglasses to eliminate the reflection of the water and aim more effectively, but that meant that, besides my best efforts, they were soon soaked as well. Adding to that, the drops of rain falling in the sea, made the surface fuzzy and so hard to spot the dolphins. At sample number 8, I decided to change my trousers for the waterproof ones. Back in business, I was now the only one staying on the bow. At some point I started hearing some loud screams. As I look up to see what it was, I see a small RIB full of people all hysterical because of the dolphins. What was a small boat like that venturing so far out to sea in a day like that. I was already a bit upset to have to sample in that weather, so having a boat nearby really was the last thing I wanted. I effusively "ask" them to leave, which they did. Not sure if because of me, but it worked anyway! I stopped at 11 samples! It was the absolute record of samples obtained on one day. As we were coming back, weather started to improve until it was sunny again! Zé commented "This is just so that people in port will look at us and think: look how lucky those guys are, going out on a sailing boat in such a great weather like this!!!". It was ironic that rain had started exactly in the moment we started sampling, and cleared when we finished.

The two successful says meant we only needed 10 more samples before we could leave Peniche. Given our first days, I was becoming increasingly more confident it was possible. I went to bed early to save my strengths for the next day. It would be a decisive one. A successfull day meant we could still move to Sines and try and complete sampling there before the end of August. It would also turn this into a highly successful fieldseason, irrespectively of how many samples we were able to collect in Sines.

The next day I wake up early but only to find the port covered in fog. In the present conditions, no wind meant a front was passing through and fog was likely to settle. My hopes were being shattered. We waited far a while for the fog the lift but it was proving hard. We chated about almost everything to distract us from the waiting. Eventually we got tired and I reckoned the fog was lifting. Zé agreed so I just decided to leave. If it was too bad, we could always come back. As we left port the fog wasn't much better, but we could navigate safely. However, as soon as we crossed cape Carvoeiro, the fog lifted and we were facing the most calm sea with a deep blue sky above. We were ready to start sampling. Little by little, the number of samples increased. I had to be careful not to sample the same individuals twice, as I could recognize them and see them surfacing in my line of sight. Eventually there was only one left. I aim... I get a clear shot... and I shoot. "Done!!! Sample number 30 from Peniche is done. Let's go home!" Dolphins kept bowriding, so we took pictures of their fins. Eventually we were done, and I took the chance to just watch the dolphins bowriding. As I leaned on the bow, I could hear them vocalize and I wondered what could those sounds mean!

We were done. In 3 days, me Pedro and Zé collected all the samples we needed from Peniche. Nice weather, dolphins exhibiting the perfect behaviour and the new sampling system allowed us to do the most successful sampling ever since the beginning of this work. The only thing that crossed my mind then was the famous quote by Winston Churchill:

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire... Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job."

Final days in Figueira

2008-08-19T19:26:00.008+01:00

Contrary to our best hopes, Figueira proved a very tough place to sample. The weather did not get better... in fact it got worse! The day after Neftalí left new volunteers arrived,at 1100 sharp. All three of them came from Vertigem, Pedro Neves, Alexia Pereira and Bárbara Sepodas. Pedro will stay until the end of the fieldseason, while Bárbara and Alexia would stay for a couple of weeks, but unfortunately for them, the weather was stopping us from going out to sea. Later, Marcela Velasco came from the Netherlands to join us for a few days. She works at ITC on her masters thesis and heard about the project from Neftalí. There were still a few days until we were able to go out to sea. The day was not promising, but we hoped to have a breach in the morning. We went out, saw some dolphins, but weren't able to sample. The animals just wouldn't approach the boat. The waves soon got bigger and just became impossible to work in, so we headed back. The rest of the day would be again free for everyone to do what they wanted. However, at the end of the afternoon, bad luck struck the project again. After the bumpy ride back home, Bárbara was not feeling good with a seasickness that wouldn't go away. She decided to leave, and Alexia decided she could not leave her friend behind, so left as well. The crew was down to Marcela and Pedro. We were able to get out a few days but weather was just rubbish.

Pedro Neves

Marcela Velasco

Marcela soon left, and even though she saw some dolphins, she didn't see any sampling! Marcela was then replaced by Céline Madeira, who is working for her masters in the University of Algarve in flatfish genetics. Céline proved a worthy crew and finnally she helped us in getting a few more very important samples. We decided that we could not wait for good weather to work and we just had to go out as long as it was safe. we eventually were able to get some samples everyday (even if just one or two), and take some very important pictures. During these days, we saw several thing that comfirmed out fears that pressure from fishermen in these water was very strong. More than once we saw fishing cables drifting in the sea (we collected the ones we could, others were just too heavy), and we saw the dramatic effects these could have on wildlife. One Gannet could not fly because it was entangled in one of them. There was nothing we could do, and it would soon die from starvation!

Céline Madeira

Unfortunately, Céline had to leave early due to family issues. It was up to me and Pedro to get the samples needed, and those days were very tough. On on of these days we were again surprised by fog, and ended up searching for dolphins in the middle of the fog! We did get them however, at a rate of 2-3 a day. The last day might be remembered as one of the toughest! High waves, dark clouds hovering low in the sky, and even though we saw one of the biggest groups in the season we could only get two samples. What we saw was amazing though... hundreds of dolphins hunting a massive school of fish, with even more hundreds of birds flying above and diving one after the others, like Japanese Kamikaze fighters. Some of the smaller Petrels were so full of fish that they were unable to lift off of the water when we crossed them with the boat. In the end, however, we got more samples than from Porto, which was quite remarkable given all the difficulties we faced. We were getting on the limit of time we could stay in Figueira. We still had Peniche to sample and time was running out. Given how hard sampling was until now, the prognostic was not good. We would need the time to complete sampling in Peniche!

Two day before we were planning to sail South, Telma sent a message asking if we needed help. In the next day she joined us for the crossing. The forecast was high waves (2-4 m high) and strong North wind. Nortada was finally playing in our favour. And it did indeed! In the day we set out to go South, I wake up at 0400 and suddenly realized I had forget to pay for the marina. I go to the marina reception to see the time they opened, but in the best Portuguese style, there was nothing there. I walk to the police station that registers all the boats to ask "It opens at 0900!". Crap!!! I wanted to leave early and now I can only leave at around 0930 maximum. Well, if it gets too late we'll just stop in Nazaré. We were hoisting sails at 1000 which was much later than we were planning! However, Nortada was making us go really fast, and we never went below 6 knots. Waves were tall and wide, gently pushing towards our destination, while dolphins followed us for most of the time. Soon we had Farilhões in sight and then Berlenga, both part of the Berlengas archipelago. At 1800 we were crossing cape Carvoeiro doing 8 knots!

At 1900 we arrived in Peniche Marina after topping 9 knots in the bay before the port. The Marina was so crowded though, that we had to moor to another boat. In the end we were unable to plug the boat to a power source, which was most unfortunate. Stable isotope samples have to be frozen all the time, and I can only guarantee that if I plug into the marina everyday to feed the freezers. Next day I would have to sort that out!

Sampling in Figueira

2008-08-02T17:52:00.015+01:00

The next day we set out to try and sample some dolphins, or if not, at least detect the area were they usually hang around. We didn't leave to early as we still had to lower the dingy, and do some routine maintenance to the engine. We headed to around 4-5 miles off cape Mondego and then North to the area were we had seen dolphins the day before. However, at around lunch time, and besides our best efforts, we saw blue sharks (two of them), harbour porpoises, a dead dolphin (quite rotten and smelly, or so I was told!), each other, and lots of ocean. But no dolphins!

Looking for dolphins in the "desperate" position. This means getting a high viewpoint to get the longest range possible. I call it "desperate" as we usually don't really need to get there to find the animals, unless we are really desperate!

Finally a dolphin... not very healthy though!!! Because it was so rotten, I didn't took a sample. However, Rus (my supervisor and head of the lab) advised "Remember that project were we got DNA from 10.000 years old dolphins? Always worth to get a sample!". Well, next time!

As the day progressed we eventually found some dolphins, but our encounter was brief. They were not interested in the boat at all, and we soon lost it. I'm not very used to common dolphins avoiding boats, especially big and slow ones, so I started wondering if we were going to see a repetition of Porto, with animals extremely weary of boats. We kept our search but without results. Eventually, boredom started to settle in, aided by some tiredness from the long day yesterday.

Karis and Ben accusing the long day between Porto and Figueira. We were all a bit like that to some extent!

I decided to call it a day.We had confirm that dolphins could be seen in that area and we all needed some rest. We would try again next day.However, this wasn't any better. Pretty much the only dolphin we saw was a dead dolphin... again. This one was fresh though, and we approached to take a sample. We soon realized it was not alone, but was being eaten by 4 hungry blue sharks that fled as we approached in the dingy. Not very brave I would say (private joke to Ana! :) )!

As we approached we saw the side of the dolphin was heavily scared and I assumed the sharks did t while trying to eat the carcass. The dolphin revealed to be a male, and had the throat almost all eaten by the sharks, as well as part of the melon. We took a sample and on our way. However, no dolphins were seen this time. The wind soon increased and we headed back on sail. Figueira was proving hard to master!

Note the scars on the side of the yellow patch.

Looking at the genital area we can see it's a male. Females have additional two smaller slits on each side, corresponding to the mammary glands. They are, after all, mammals!

We hoped for better days ahead, but really we were in for even worse. The next day, as we got out we realized the weather was absolutely rubbish! Wind, clouds, cold! Karis and Ben were asking were was the gorgeous Portuguese summer I told them about... "Well, you must have brought the weather with you from the UK! It's the only explanation I can find!" I replied joking. As this was Ben's last day, I decided to hoist sails and enjoy some good quality sailing. In the end the weather was only rubbish to sample, not to sail! The funniest part of the day was seeing Karis ferociously fighting the sail as she tried to hoist it!!!

Karis fighting the sail. She was victorious in the end!!!

Karis also started to do steering and was the replaced to Ben. Ben proved an very good helmsman and we were soon doing almost 7 knots under his steering. Apparently, the fact he used to do car racing was the secret (private joke to Karis! :) )!

Next day we took Ben to the train station really early and went out to sea. The weather was not brilliant, but the wind had decreased slightly so we might have a chance. Just 3 miles of port finally, dolphins... lots of them! "Ben left the wrong day" I commented! However, seeing them and getting a sample were different matters.We got in the dingy after a few pictures and started approaching them to try and get a sample. They bowride for a while but soon became suspicious of the pole. After a while they were avoiding the boat altogether, and suddenly, for no apparent reason the all positioned themselves in a long line and starting swimming faster than I had ever seen a dolphin swim,jumping several meters above the water as they came out to breathe. In a few seconds, they were gone! I had never seen dolphins react like this!!! It was even worse than in Porto!

The only picture we were able to get from the dolphins fleeing

At this point it was clear that weary dolphins and bad weather was going to be the norm here in Figueira, so we dedicated the next few days to work on a method that would allow us to sample from Clavadel in the less intrusive way possible. We had to use the rifle, as the pole just tended to scare the animals.This meant we had to develop a method to recover the dart once it was fired. Recovering it with a net was impractical (as we saw last year) so it had some kind of line attached to it. After trying a few methods (shooting at the water and not dolphins obviously!) we came up with a simple on that looked good. The next day we tried the experimental design. We were obviously nervous as too if it would work, and we got ready when we saw dolphins. It was a small groups but it was somewhat comfortable by the boat. We fire the first shot... success!!! One sample on the dart. We get ready for another chance. We wait as to not sample the same individual again. We get our shot and... success again! The method seems to work. The only problem was, as for know, we needed two people to do it. We have to manage and get it to work single handed. Next day we got up early and went to a fishing shop just by the marina (ProShop Pesca). The person we talked too was extremely helpful and we got a really good system very cheap.

The first day we tried to do it we didn't' get any samples. We found a very good group that readily approached Clavadel and started bowriding. However,as soon as we got into the dingy they disappeared. "How can we loose 20 dolphins that were bowriding?" I asked Karis! I couldn't believe it. There is something in the dingy that dolphins from Figueira just don't like!!! Next day we know what to do, just don't get into the singy. However, the sea wasn't helping and it was too windy,so we had to come back. It was unfortunate, as it was Esther's last day.She was leaving to Cape Verde to work on marine turtles. As we were saying goodbye to her, she made the best suggestion ever. Next year, in these same two weeks they would all come on board together again.I thought it was a great idea!!!

Next day was a different matter though. Weather was brillinat, with literally no wind. We found a group but didn't get in the dingy. The first shots were a success, and in the first day we got 5 samples! The method works brilliantly and we don't need to get into the dingy allowing for a much more comfortable sampling. We were feeling very confident now. This was also the day we say good bye to Karis, as she was leaving back to Durham. It was also the day she took some of the most amazing pictures from this fieldseason.

Next day was just me and Neftalí, and was the last day that Neftalí would stay. We were confident as the forecast was the same as the day before, this is, almost no wind. However, we soon got the clear demonstration that forecast are just predictive models. The day was windy, rainy, cold, and miserable. We could still cruise at around 4.5 knots so we decided to keep going. We had to really, as we need more samples. We soon found a group of dolphins and I got ready. Two samples in no time, in spite of being short handed and the sea conditions quite bad. The new system really does work. However, the day was really bad to spot dolphins at a distance, and given that I had to process the samples and Neftalí had to steer at the same time he had to watch the dolphins, it was easy for us to loose them, what eventually happened. We still circled the area, but the weather was just getting worse. We decided to head back, but were happy given we were able to get more samples in such difficult conditions.

Neftallí left the same day and I was alone. The next day the new complete crew was arriving and I could sleep as late as i could for the first time since fieldwork began. This was most fortunate, as I really needed the rest. As for now, me and the new crew are staying in port waiting for the wind to weaken a bit. Nortada as settled in again in full strength, an today we had over 20 knots of wind inside the marina, that is usually protected from the North wind. I don't want to imagine how strong it was beyond cape Mondego!

Going South to Figueira

2008-07-29T17:33:00.006+01:00

After a few days working in Porto with the help of guests, Clavadel received her new stable crew, and third round of international crewmembers. Coming from the UK, we got Karis Baker and Ben Johnson. Karis is a colleague of mine at the Molecular Ecology Research Group at Durham University, working on population genetics of roe deer. Ben johnson is Karis boyfriend and works as a mechanical engineer of airplanes and big ships.

Karis Baker

Ben Johnson

The third member is already a veteran on board Clavadel. Neftalí Sílllero is a post-doc researcher at the University of Porto on remote sensing applied to biogeographical studies of amphibians and reptiles. He was the second helmsman in last year expedition and he was on board the dingy on the day the first biopsy sample of the project was collected, and the first ever in mainland Portugal. With him, he brought a friend from Andaluzia he met at Doñana Natural Park, Esther Alberca.

Neftalí Síllero

Esther Alberca

So at this point Clavadel had a luxury crew to head South to Figueira and start sampling in that region. We were planned to go south on the 21st,probably on engine in the beginning of the day, but hopefully get some wind at some time of the day and sail. It was not a bad forecast at all, so I tell everyone to be ready to get up early to be leaving at 0500. However, when I woke up at 0400 I heard this high pitched horn sounding at regular intervals and hoped, seriously hoped that it wasn't what I was thinking. However, when I looked out of the my cabin's hatch I realized that it was precisely what I was thinking... the thickest fog had settled in and it was so thick that I couldn't even see the red light that marks the entrance of the marina (around 100 meters). As we don't have a radar, and Porto is a very busy port, I was not going to risk go out. I decided to get up every hour and check the fog had lifted and the make a decision. The fog eventually lifted... at around 1430!!! Going South had to wait until the next day. Fortunately, the next day I woke up to see no fog. No wind as well, but we had to go South anyway, and the forecast predicted some wind for the afternoon, so we got in our way.

Everything was fine until about after 2 hours (around Espinho) when Neftalí turns to me and says "Fog seems to be settling in.". Three minutes later we had a visibility of less than 10 meters! It was time for everyone to be watching, and obviously using the foghorn. But instead of worrying too much, suddenly we were just having fun blowing the foghorn!

At some point it was clear the fog was there to stay, and we couldn't turn back as fog in Porto means we would have to sail in the middle of huge tankers and cargo ships blindfolded. The question was, should we stop in Aveiro and wait, or just keep going to Figueira. In order to have an idea on the weather further South, I called Zé (he's from Aveiro) to know how was the weather in Aveiro. He wasn't in Aveiro but was in Espinho, and said the weather was perfectly clear. Talking to another person in Figueira revealed the same thing. It was clear that the fog had settle offshore but not nearshore. So we made a slight change in course to approach shore and soon we were in a much lighter fog, and with enough visibility to be safe. At 2 miles of land we could barely see it, but that meant we had at least 2 miles of visibility. As we were passing Aveiro the wind rose up, and soon we were sailing very comfortably towards Figueira. Our trip was finally going smoothly!

At around 2000 we moored at Figueira marina and had a very reinvigorating dinner at a nearby restaurant. Next day, we were going out early to sample dolphins in the area. We saw some dolphins on our way down near cape Mondego, and when asking local navy police he told me they were usually seen near the position we saw them earlier. So next day we were going North of cape Mondego to look for dolphins.

Second week in Porto

2008-07-21T17:24:00.009+01:00

The day João and Paulo left, the new volunteer arrived. Telma Pereira is the third volunteer to come through Vertigem and came to stay for two weeks. As we went back to the marina we talked about several aspects of the project, and about how the daily routine would be like. During this second week, we received several guests on board to see what the work consisted about. These guests came after a formal invitation I made to researchers in the lab where I worked before starting this project (CIBIO), which, to my surprise, resulted in several interested people wanting to come on board. Until the new stable volunteers arrived two days later, we were able to carry our work using solely these guests. On the first day Ana Mendonça came back on board for a days fieldwork, bringing a friend with her, meaning we would have 4 people on board.

Telma Pereira

Ana and her guest

The sea was relatively quiet that day, but dolphins were not collaborating. Once we found them, me and Ana got into the dingy but didn't get any chance to sample. We did collect a sample though, but from a dead common dolphin we found floating.

We might be tempted to determine the cause of death of the animal, but the truth is, besides being very difficult to determine exactly what the cause of death was, the hypothesis most likely to be true is pretty much irrelevant. Dolphins, like any other animal, eventually die from a number of natural causes, and when they do they tend to float for several days until decomposition causes them to sink. That is also the reason why it is important to collect biopsy samples from live animals rather than rely on strandings solely. However, if integrated with biopsy samples, a stranded animal might be valuable, reason why we collected a sample from the dead animal. So although the day was not perfect, we still managed to collect a sample!

Eventually the wind got stronger and we had to get back. Fortunately, the fact that there's wind means we can come back sailing and save fuel. As were coming back, we had a very interesting conversation about science and the future of population genetic analysis!

On the next day Miguel Fonseca joined us as a guest. However, given we were only three on board, Miguel would had to work as well. He wasn't too concerned about it though, and soon we were both in the dingy sampling some dolphins.Fortunately, and to contrast with the last few days, we got 3 samples. Not bad! Again, as we were coming back, the conversation subject was again science but this time on the new challenges that researchers are facing with phylogenetic inference, and what they are doing to deal with it!

Then, we finally received the new volunteers, the second round of international crew. They would be staying for a week. Their first task however, was not dolphin related but involved sewing a piece of the mainsail that had ripped. Fortunately, the week before I was able to get some repairing material from Pires de Lima, a Portuguese sailmaker who also made the sails on this boat. He was kind enough to give me some spares he had that allowed me to repair it. We did it very effectively though, we did it quickly and the next days of sailing confirmed the solidity of the repair. So, two new flags need to be hoisted on our blog!

Sampling, however was tough. In spite of our best efforts, strong winds and the elusive behaviour of the animals stopped us from getting a satisfactory number of samples. Not bad, by all means, but still a bit lower than we would have liked. A variety of different guests joined us. The first, Ana Rocha, a sailing teacher that was getting ready to apply for a masters degree, contacted me seeking some advice on how to get into research on cetaceans. I told her to come on board for a day and see how the routine was and exchange some ideas. I think she enjoyed the day, and I hope our advices were useful. On another day we had Sónia Ferreira on board, a researcher from CIBIO working on insects,which means this was a quite different day for her. The day wasn't optimal though, and we had to face some quite strong winds. Sara Rocha, another researcher from CIBIO, this time working on lizard population genetics in the island of the Indian Ocean,came along with her brother, André. They did see some dolphins, but again the strong winds made it a short day. They did sail quite a bit though! Finally, Dr.Luzia Sousa, the curator from the Natural History Museum of the Porto Faculty of Sciences joined us for a day. I was glad to hear that she had enjoyed her day very much, and that she was very pleased with the contact when was able to have with dolphins and their unique behaviour.

At the end of the week, we had collected 11 samples from wild dolphins in Porto plus 1 from the dead animal. Not ideal but not bad given this was the first time anyone was studying wild dolphins in this region. We still had a few days until the arrival of the new crew were we could try and get more samples, but weather was unstable and it was hard to predict if we could do any sampling. We would soon have to move the the next sampling location, Figueira-da-Foz, because time is limited, and we need to get samples from other regions of the country, not only Porto.

First week in Porto

2008-07-17T17:45:00.011+01:00

After arriving in Porto me and 1st mate spent one day sorting out Clavadel and getting her ready for fieldwork. We also took the time to rest for a bit. That same day, at the end of the evening, the next two volunteers would be arriving. At around 2200 they arrived with just some small bags and a couple of sleeping bags. As soon as they arrived I quickly introduced them to the boat, showed them the boat quarters and let them decide where they would sleep. As soon as they arrived it was clear I was facing two very enthusiastic people and extremely interested in the work, as we spent quite a while talking about the project an its scientific implications. Our conversation had to wait though, as it was already late and we had to get up early the next day to go to fuel and get us going out to sea and try and identify the area were dolphins usually hang around.

So, next day we started with our new crew, Paulo Serrano and João Dias. Paulo and João both heard of this project through the NGO Vertigem who advertised volunteer positions for this project.

Paulo Serrano

João Dias

However, our hopes of starting early the next day were soon shattered. Apparently, there is no fuel available on Tuesdays!!! Fortunately, some marina workers borrowed us two 25 litres bottles to go to the next petrol station to get some diesel we could use for the day. While we were doing this, Paulo started talking to one of the workers who's a former fisherman. He confirmed the information we had from a friend of Zé that dolphins could be found at around 4-6 miles from coast and were apparently very common. He said though, that we would have problems approaching them because it was an area that fishermen constantly used. Paulo eventually was able to get the information that whenever they could, fishermen would "wrap" dolphins, that being the reason they were suspicious. At this time we could not confirm the veracity of this, so we just decided to go out to the position we had and wait to see.

We finally leave port and set course to around 6 miles offshore slightly to the North of Porto. Our plan was to scout transects parallel to the coast, at different distances from the coast. The sky was bit cloudy, but the sea was very calm. To my surprise though, we didn't really need to do much searching. Even before we got to our first transect, we found dolphins without even needing to look for them!!! After looking at them and taking some pictures, me, 1st mate and Paulo got into the dingy to start sampling.

However, as we approached the group (that was feeding at this point) most of the group just fled as fast as they could (in the case of commons this means REALLY fast!!!). Even with our light and fast dingy, we could never follow them so we stayed with the few that kept feeding. However, as soon as they were finished feeding, they did the exact same thing as the others, just swam for it! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In no time, they were gone! We kept looking, but we never really found any more dolphins that day. At least we knew the position we had was reliable to some extent.

The next day, a surprise awaited us. As we were getting ready to leave out to sea we saw the lonely bottlenose wandering around the boats. As we wasn't leaving I decided to get into the dingy and get a bit closer. To my surprise I realised it had a strange fondness for propellers, and would swim really close if the boat was moving, and when stopped it would just rub gently against it. Even at increased speeds he would swim really close to the propeller almost as if unaware of the danger. He didn't react that well to touch though, and would avoid my hand if it could.

The day was getting late though, and we had to leave to carry on our work. Our time was limited because we had to be back by 1700 to catch the fuel pier still open. We quickly found the dolphins and got into the dingy, but again sampling proved really hard. We followed the group waiting to get a chance, but in addition to the group being wary, we realized that pretty much every adult had a small calf following it. Some of them were so small, I would say they were just a few days old. Soon it was time to head back, and although we didn't have any samples, we were now more confident that we had identified the area that dolphins normally use.

On the third day we finally got our first samples. Three in total... not brilliant but not bad as well. The sea had some high but long waves that did not impair sampling but made it a bit more susceptible to seasickness. In on of the samples, the dart bounced of the dolphin and came close enough to the dingy so that I was able to catch it before it hit the water. The rest of the week wasn't so successful though and in the end we had only 4 samples. I was realizing that sampling in Porto was going to be much tougher than in the South. Even though we saw many dolphins, their shy behaviour would make it a whole different matter.

1st mate eventually had to leave, and so did João and Paulo. After 5 days in Porto we had identified the are were we could find dolphins and got 4 samples in total. Not bad for a region were we knew pretty much nothing except some coordinates by random people. As for the next days we just had to try as much as we could to increase the total number of samples.

Thanks to Paulo Serrano for letting me use some of his pictures in this blog.

Going North - Part II

2008-07-04T10:21:00.004+01:00

We stopped at Lisbon for one day. We had to buy some things before leaving and could use the day of rest. However, we had to get to Porto soon. Weather forecast was brilliant for the next few days in Porto, and the new volunteers were asking were and when to go to help us out in sampling. This is a dolphins sampling expedition, not a sailing one!

Next stage was shorter but we had to cross the famous cape Raso and cape Roca. Anyway, we set out to leave at 0600 and were just a tiny bit late. As we were heading to cape Raso the wind was very mild given we were protected from Nortada by both capes. It was a short stretch until the capes so we just went on engine. As we approached wind started to increase. It was from a favourable angle but it was getting strong... really strong. I decided to hoist only the jib and would hoist main if we saw conditions were favourable. This proved a wise decision. We were soon facing wind topping 35 knots! Cape Raso and cape Roca were living up to their reputation. However the direction was highly favourable, and we were doing 6 knots. So, things were looking good. Interestingly, as soon as we crossed cape Roca, the wind just diminished and we were soon on the right course to Peniche and doing good speed. As the wind got weaker, I had to change back to the genoa, which I did with no major difficulties. Soon, Peniche was on our bow and we could see the hot shower and the quiet dinner. We were on autopilot approaching Peniche when I saw a fisherman buoy. I changed course just to see another one... and another one... and another one!!! They were so many that we had to change to manual! As we were approaching we saw lines of fishing boats leaving port, all enthusiastically greeting us. Peniche was giving us a warm welcome. We moored at around 1900 helped by a really nice british sailor and went to rest.

Next crossing was to Figueira-da-Foz. This promised to be a quiet crossing, because the coast strongly inflect to the East and so the Nortada would be coming from the right angle to give us speed. We left Peniche and set course to the Berlengas islands. These are very famous among Portuguese people, and most people that went there report it with undisguised pride. One of the reasons has to do with the natural beauty of the place, the other with the strong and scary sea they have to face. I had never been to these islands and soon understood the natural beauty that made them so famous. However, I also realized the stories of bad sea were strongly exaggerated by most people. Waves were big, yes, sometimes covering the entire islands, but nothing compared to what we had faced at cape S.Vicente. They were just normal ocean waves.

As we passed the Berlengas we hoisted main and foresail and set course to Figueira. Wind was mild and soon I was letting go of the main sail reefing. We were now with full sails on and doing some very nice sailing up. At around 1800 we were mooring in Figueira, after what was the perfect cruise sailing. The scary North wasn't that scary after all!

Finally came the last crossing up to Porto. A long, 67 miles stretch, but again with favourable angle. Forecast was good, with some mild but constant winds. We set sail at 0500 but the wind wasn't helping. It was mild and constant but right from Porto. At this point we were predicting a very long journey! At 12 miles from coast we tacked hoping to have the angle, but we weren't even close. 1st mate said it was fine, we would just sail for longer, but in reality, if the wind didn't change we would be sailing for much longer. At some point I turned to 1st mate and asked: "Are you sure you want to be holding that wheel, or should I turn autopilot on?". The reply was, surprisingly: "Well, you can turn the autopilot if you like! I think I need the rest.". Finally!!! after 4 days of continuous sailing, 1st mate was getting tired of steering. As we progressed, the wind started to change. Slowly I changed the autopilot bearing in order to accommodate the changes. When I realized, the chartplotter said "On course" and we were sailing with the most favourable wind. Porto was right in front of us, 47 miles away. The wind never changed, and soon we were seeing the famous Douro rivermouth in front of us. Our journey North against the Nortada was finishing with the most beautiful sunset.

At 1930 we were entering the Leixões Marina and, to our surprise, we saw a 3 meters long Bottlenose dolphin jumping in front of us. It soon approached us and played with the propeller as we manoeuvred Clavadel. It was Gaspar, the lonely Bottlenose that have been hanging around Leixões in the past few days. "Maybe he heard about your project and wants to be sampled as well!" 1st mate said. As for now, I was just worried I would injure him with the propeller while manoeuvring. He was standing dangerously close. Nothing happened though, and we were soon resting watching some kids from a neighbouring Swedish boat playing with Gaspar more than excited. Our journey was over. We had safely gotten to port and were ready to start our sampling. The next day we would spend sorting the boat out (sailing against the Nortada had had it's effects on boat tidiness!) and waiting for the new volunteers. After that, we would be going out to start sampling. There is no time to loose...

Going North - Part I

2008-06-30T16:11:00.011+01:00

Nortada is a word any Portuguese seafarer knows quite well! It refers to the predominant wind along the coast, that as the name reveals, comes from the North quadrant. Once it settles, the Nortada can stay for as long as a week, sometimes more. It is also the reason why the Portuguese coast its so easy to sail down, but so hard to sail up. Nortada is usually quite strong, sometimes reaching over 30 knots, creating some high and short waves that seriously hamper boat progression. The average sailor would say that sailing North in Portugal with the Nortada is in the least foolish, and at the most outright crazy. Nevertheless, this is what we at Clavadel set out to do last week, which means we are either very foolish and crazy, or we are just not the average sailors. Probably, a combination of both!

The project involves understanding the geographical organization of the genetic variation in Portuguese dolphins. This means animals have to be sampled from several different locations along the coast. Last year we pretty much covered the South of Portugal up to Sines, and this year we are going to do the North. After the first week completing sampling in the South (Portimão), Clavadel had to go up North. This means covering 330 nautical miles up the coast until Porto. In a sloop like Clavadel, this can be done with a small crew, but it has to be experienced. The first person I recruited was José Póvoa, who to the people participating last year needs no introduction. He spent 5 weeks on board Clavadel last week, arriving with almost no experience and leaving knowledgeable enough to pretty much do anything on board (including lifting and dropping anchor by himself). When I told him about my plan his answer was straight enough: "That sounds very good!". He would be the helmsman.

As 1st mate a heavyweight crew member whose experience would be a very important asset to this trip.

So, with the crew complete all we needed to do was check the forecast and plan accordingly. On the 22nd we left Portimão at the end of the afternoon planning to go straight to Lisbon with the Nortada. As we left the strong north wind immediately showed it's grace and we were soon doing 7 knots with full sails on, in a great sailing evening. Things were looking good and soon we were sailing into the sunset...

However, as we approached the cape S.Vicente things started to become much more grim. Wind was increasing, dangerously approaching the 30 knots mark, and waves were becoming bigger...much bigger! 1st mate immediately warned:"We have too much sail on!". He was right, and we rushed to the front to change the genoa for a smaller ji b. Given the high waves, this was similar to a roller-coaster ride with right to some cold showers. As we were not expecting it, this meant we soon were soaked!!! As we approached the cape, it was clear the wind was just too strong and the waves too big. In addition of still having too much sail on, the dingy revealed to be ill secured for such a crossing and soon I had to hold it with my hands to keep it from swinging vigorously from side to side. It was clear we were in no conditions to cross the cape in this moment, so we just decided to drop anchor at the last safe bay before the cape (Mareta) and sort things out before moving on. At 0030 we dropped anchor at Mareta and went to sleep. We needed rest before moving North up to Sines.

The next morning we started by securing the dingy appropriately and reefing the mainsail by furling it in the boom. We needed to decide how many turns. 1st mate suggested 3... I was thinking 2, so just for sure lets make it 3. The problem with cape S.Vicente and Nortada is that you never know what you are going to find on the other side. Would we find the constant mild wind we needed to go up to Sines, or would it just increase making it impossible for us to progress? There was no way for us to know except to go out there and check.Forecast was grim... Nortada was settled in full strength. We would have to do 60 miles upwind in what is known by sailors as the dark coast. There are no ports and only a handfull of lighthouses until Sines. "So, 60 miles upwind with no possibility of stopping." 1st mate said, with a voice intonation that slightly suggested crazy! "Lets do it... we set sail and we decide as we approach the cape and get a feel of the conditions" he then suggested.

As we went along wind increased steadily. Fortunately, conditions weren't as bad as the night before so wind just topped to 27 knots. As we were crossing, wind direction changed to northwest which meant we would have the angle. "The wind is turning and it doesn't seem to be increasing at all... as for now we are doing fine... I think we can do it..." said 1st mate. I couldn't agree more! At 1200 we tacked and we started our ascent North. We still lacked the right angle, but we would tack again further north were the wind would be hopefully weaker and get away from the coast to get the right angle to get to Sines.

Things went according to plan and we were doing great. In front of Praia do Amado we tacked and we had some great wind. 1st mate was still on the helm since the last night.. Zé was supposed to be the helmsman but 1st mate just wouldn't let go of it!!! He would actually only be released for about 3 hours by me, but spent pretty much all the time at the helm. "You've got to be tired! Let me replace you for a bit" Zé would say. "I'm fine... I'll get tired eventually... save your strength..." 1st mate would reply. I've never seen anyone hold that long! However wind was increasing and eventually came back to topping 27 knots. Waves were big and we were rollercoasting along them. Zé eventually gave up to seasickness and had to go down to rest and resist it. Eventually night settled in and we were sailing at night under the most star filled sky ever. The north star was right in front of us, and so was Sines!!! We arrived at 0100 and dropped anchor helped by Zé (who had recovered by now). In Poland, a boat that can effectively sail upwind is said to be brave. Once in Sines we all drank to celebrate the brave ship we had just sailed upwind. Clavadel is a brave boat indeed!!

Next day we took the time to rest and prepare for the next crossing up to Lisbon. It was previewed to be somewhat quieter but it was along stretch. We had to go wide to avoid the high waves that inevitably form around Cape Espichel, and to get the right angle to sail upwind. We also took the chance to dry some clothes and do some shopping. Next day started at 0400, and at 0500 we were leaving Sines.

Ironically,the wind was very soft not reaching over 14 knots. I knew the Nortada would eventually show up so I just waited... and waited... and waited...and then got tired of waiting and changed the jib for the genoa again! At this time we were quietly sailing along the bay of Setúbal. However, we soon were in cape Espichel, and the wind rose again. Soon I had to change the genoa for a jib again. With the high waves this was more than exciting. I was extremely tired at the end of the procedure, and worse of all, I was getting seasick! As I got back to the cockpit I sighed "How I love sailing!!!". "Of course you do!" said 1st mate. The journey was going smoothly and on time however, and the occasional showers just added to the fun. Just look how happy Zé was after one of them!!!

As we progressed further into the protection of the Lisbon Peninsula the waves started to get smaller, and we were soon sailing in the most amazing conditions. Strong wind made us go fast in a very quiet sea. At 1800 we moored at the Algés marina just as we predicted. At the reception, when the gentlemen there saw the port of origin (Portimão) he asked: "And did you had a good trip?!". We had just sailed 140 miles upwind against the famous Nortada, so I replied "Yes,we had a great trip!!!".

First international crew

2008-06-19T23:45:00.001+01:00

According to nautical tradition, every time a guest come on board who was born on a different country than the one where the boat is registered, a courtesy flag of the guests country should be raised on the boats starboard. Following that same tradition, and given we already have people from several different countries confirmed, we wil also raise a flag for each international crew member on board. Tomorrow, the following flag will be hoisted:

Week of rest!

2008-06-18T23:37:00.000+01:00

After last Saturday, the forecast advised us to stay in the Marina on Sunday given that strong winds were expected. But we still had Monday and Tuesday to go out before Ana had to leave. However, on Sunday we had our first "casualty".Mário was not going to be able to come back, which left me and Ana alone. In any case, we could still sample from Clavadel with the big pole, which was better than nothing. However, the forecast got it completely wrong, and as soon as I woke up I could hear the topping lift vibrating, meaning wind was up from 15 knots at least. This was confirmed as we got out and the wind was indeed blowing with a speed of + 15 knots. The sea was correspondingly bad (to sample at least, not for sailing), but I decided to keep going hoping the forecast of almost no wind was still valid. Soon I realized it wasn't, as the wind just gained strength. Also, menacing clouds were forming in the horizon clearly indicating a front was approaching. It was clear the weather was not going to get better anytime soon, so I decided to head back to port. On our way, we got the inevitable drops of rain!

As we got to port, I went to check the forecast that had (naturally!!)changed drastically, and apparently now Tuesday was going to be a bad day as well. As such,I just said that Ana could leave if she would like, which she did given she still had some work for her MSC to be done. However, Tuesday was not that bad. Actually, it was not bad at all, and I realized that weather forecasts weren't really reliable for he present conditions.

In any case, in only four days of work I almost doubled the number of samples I had for Portimão which is not bad for a start. As for now, it's pretty much sorting the boat out and getting ready for the new volunteers who will be arriving shortly.

Sampling video posted...

2008-06-17T10:51:00.000+01:00

You can see João Mendes piloting the dingy, Ana in the middle pretty much watching at this time given she already had drain the battery by now, and obviously me in the bow (trying) to do some sampling. Images were recorded by my father who also did the editing.

Saturday, the 14th

2008-06-16T23:30:00.001+01:00

Last Friday Mário had to leave which left only me and Ana on the boat. On Friday we didn't go out because I had to sort out some things on board (namely the water pump that was broken meaning with had no tap water on board) and because the bus that was supposed to take Mário to Évora never came, I had to get to Tunes and leave him on a train.

Two people on board means we can only try and sample from Clavadel using the large pole, but fortunately on Saturday two heavyweight crew members came to the rescue. My father and one of his friends, João Mendes, decided to come and help for the day. Given they are both experienced seamen and that both know this boat quite well, I envisaged a quiet day where I could focus more on getting the samples from the dolphins and worry less about boat stuff.

We set course to the commons spot with very little wind and a flat sea. At some point, Mendes spotted a dolphin on the starboard. As I looked at it I soon realized it wasn't a dolphin, and on closer inspection it revealed to actually be a Minke Whale. It was relatively small individual and was a bit suspicious of the boat, even though it circled several times around us as if inspecting us. We took some pictures, and we could see the white belly as the animal turned underneath the boat.

We continued our way to the dolphins spot seeing the whale slowly swimming away. This is the 4th cetacean species that I've seen this year. The first were the bottlenose, then two harbour por poises we saw on our first day, the commons, and now the minke. Not bad for a week in the sea! Once in the dolphin spot we took a while to find the first group, which led some of us to think they might not be there that day. But eventually we did find them at a distance and decided to move there. Curiously, a whale-watching boat operating in the area saw our change in direction and stopped to see if they could see anything. They eventually did and moved straight to their position as if they were a cruise missile! As we got there we realized it was actually a big groups separated into smaller groups and so we could carry out our sampling activities away from other boats. However, just as on Wednesday, they seem to be not the least interested in our boat, and we spent around 3 hours changing groups and/or waiting for behaviour to change and got only 1 sample. At some point, the wind was getting stronger and it was just very hard to manoeuvre the dingy and to avoid water getting inside in big waves. The fact that we were 4 on board meant that Ana could come in the dingy and take photographs of the animals.And she did indeed!!As Mendes put it, she fired the camera as if it was a machine gun! We eventually ran out of space in the memory card (4 Gb) and out of battery. So there are really only photographs of dolphins (and the occasional water!) from this day. This was very good, and at the end of the day I got the impression some of them I had already photographed last year.

(Commons breeding off Portimão)

Stronger wind means that we could come back to port on sail, thus saving some fuel. As I had someone I could rely on to sail the boat, I took my chance and rested for a bit while coming back (this actualy means sleep!) a rare commodity that I cannot afford the luxury to have often on board!

Thursday, the 12th.

2008-06-14T23:13:00.000+01:00

These last few days have been really tough. Even though we've spent several hours in the sea finding several different groups, we managed to collect not even a handful of samples. Starting by Thursday, shortly after writing the last post, we found a group of commons independent from the one found by the whale-watching boats,which was fortunate given we cannot sample in the vicinity of other boats. We got into the dingy and this time I gave some waterproof trousers to Mário because the last days he just became soaked which is uncomfortable. However, the trousers were bright yellow and we just started making jokes that the dingy should be called the "Yellow Mario Dingy" (Bote do Mário Amarelo)!

It was a small group and their behaviour was not the best to sample so we just decided to wait until either their behaviour changed or they joined a bigger group. That eventually happened, and the group just started to move quickly offshore until the met a bigger group that was feeding. At this point, we could observe a feeding frenzy including common-dolphins, storm-petrels, shearwaters and Gannets.

(You can see some shearwaters in the front, with a common-dolphin surfacing in the back, with a strom-petrel immediately above it)

However, after feeding, the big group dispersed an we were left with a small group again, and this time socializing, which makes it really hard to sample, as they not only don't mind the boat, but may avoid it altogether.Nevertheless, we were able to take one sample, but after a while it was clear that it sould be useless to stay with that group, do we moved on. At some point, another small groups approached Clavadel, and i just took my chance with the large pole. I got another sample, bu soon after that, the group was back on their way and we just had to set course to port. As we were coming back, a slight breeze started to rise, and we were able to sail back with the spinnaker on. Progressively the wind rose up, an we ended doing some real quality sailing, with boat toping up to 7 knots.

At some point, Mário made the following remark: "Can you imagine that some guys actually get paid to do this?". I had to agree, it is indeed outrageous!!!

First days, first samples!

2008-06-12T10:21:00.000+01:00

Finally we set out to sea to look for dolphins. The first crew is composed of Mário and Ana. Ana has been working with shark ecology in the University of Porto, while Mário works with Hyla frogs in the University of Évora. They are now both in CIBIO (Center for Research on Biodiversity and Genetic Resources) taking their MSC's and decided to come on board before their teaching modules start.

On our first day out we decided to try and locate the bottlenose dolphins. As it was the first day we left relatively late. The fact I had to explain certain things about the boat to them, and that we had to wait for another boat at fuel pier, all contributed to that. We set course to the place I've seen them 2 days earlier but once we were there we realized it would have been to much luck to find bottlenose in the same place as 2 days before. We changed course to farther offshore but still no luck. We could hear the whale-watching boats reporting common-dolphins but I really wanted to try and find bottlenose. Unfortunately, all we saw was this:

Lots of empty ocean (at least in what concerns to bottlenose)!!!

So next day, I decided to aim at the commons. Mário and Ana will be here for a short while, and I wanted to take advantage of them being here as much as I can, so I decided to prioritize completing the samples from commons. We set course to the dolphin spot we identified last year, and with a little help from the whale-watching boats, we were soon in sight of a big group of common-dolphins. We took some time to take pictures from as much animals as we could before starting our sampling.

The group was quite large and was displaying the ideal behaviour for sampling. We got into the small dingy and immediately the animals started bowriding. We got 3 samples before the groups dispersed and changed their behaviour. They were clearly feeding and not caring for our boat too much at all. From there it was really hard to approach them so we decided to return to Clavadel. We also decided to feed ourselves and after the dolphins fed they starting exhibiting some socialization behaviour, with breeding going on. We then realized on small groups readily approached Clavadel, so I decided to try and sample some with the large pole. I was lucky and got more 3 samples. This means that on our first day of dolphins we got 6 samples, a very good number for the first day!

The next day we were really motivated to go for more samples. 6 was the number we were aiming at again. However, in spite of the great visibility, almost no wind and the heat wave, dolphins were hard to come by! We eventually found a group of six with the help of the whale-watchers, but they were apparently resting. We stayed with them for several hours waiting either for their behaviour to change or that they would lead us to another group. That never happened, and I got into the dingy and realized on of the dolphins was probably sick. He had a strange breathing pattern and almost didn't react to our approach. The other ones looked healthy, and looked as if they were keeping the sick dolphin company.

I decided to leave and look for another group, but the odds were grim. We could see the whale-watchers coming back and forth not finding anything. At some point they spotted us and came straight to us hoping we had something. As they reached us they realized we didn't and took a U turn and headed to a completely different direction. It is only ironic that, had they waited 5 minutes, they would have found a group of commons! Me and Mário got into the dingy and approached the group. They were visibly nervous and not in a mood for sampling. Nevertheless, they were bowriding and I took my first sample. From there, they just started to become suspicious and wouldn't let us approach them. I quickly called off the sampling and went back to Clavadel.That was not a good group to sample! As we were heading back, we spotted one marine turtle and the first lost bird of the season came to rest in Clavadel.

As we were back, Ana became jealous of Mário and insisted she wanted to learn how to drive the dingy. I took her for a quick lesson and in a short while she was doing it very good. So now, both of them drive both boats very effectively, and maybe I should start worrying they might decide to take them somewhere (Morocco maybe)!!!

Today, we are on our third day of sampling, aiming at commons again. We have some whale watching boats in sight, and hoping to find dolphins there. I will update in the next few days!

Sorting the boat out.

2008-06-09T02:58:00.000+01:00

This entry marks the beginning of the daily logs from the 2008 expedition of Clavadel, a boat dedicated to the research of the genetic structure of common and bottlenose dolphins along the Portuguese coast. This was created to allow people involved in the project to follow the daily routine of people working out there in the sea. Given that many of them are not Portuguese native speakers, the blog will be written mainly in english.

Thislast few days have been pretty much spent sorting the boat out after a winter of maintenance work and obviously, the mess left after last year work. Just to get an idea, this is how the saloon and the bow cabin looked like the first day I got into the boat.

After a few days, however, this was looking much better,and although not perfect it is at least minimally organized and livable.

The first two volunteers have arrived today, right on time for the good weather. Up until now, weather was terrible for sampling, but now these days are gone and we should have a very good week. Tomorrow we'll try to look out for bottlenose dolphins. Given that I have seen them on Saturday in front of Alvor bay, that we still need to do some things (namely, filling the fuel tank), and most important, I don't have enough bottlenose samples, we are definitely betting on the bottlenose.

The crew is settled and feeling strong, the boat is ready and I'm eager to go out to sea. So tomorrow, fieldwork for 2008 begins.