Flying beaked whales, a chance encounter with Half Nelson and a new 3-D hydrophone array on trial, as the MAPS fieldwork draws to a close

 

 

The MAPS team left Beaufort, North Carolina on Song of the Whale for the last cruise of the project in early May, equipped with a new 3-D hydrophone array to test, and high hopes for a successful D-Tag deployment on this last trip; the team were fortunate to encounter sperm whales, pilot and beaked whales, dolphins and ospreys, and meet again with Half Nelson – a distinctive sperm whale who is missing a tail fluke.

 

Half Nelson became the poster child for the project’s tagging efforts when a D-tag was deployed and successfully recovered.

 

 

On the final day of the project, back in harbour in Beaufort, the team hosted an open day on board, which included visits from local school children, who particularly enjoyed being surrounded by a pod of bottlenose dolphins while aboard! A fitting end to a fascinating project in this changeable, exciting and surprisingly little known part of the US east coast.

 

With data analysis tasks looming back at base, Song of the Whale is now en route to the Azores, due to arrive there in the next few days, to begin preparations for the filming expedition later in June with Red Rock Films and National Geographic photographer, Brian Skerry.