30th August 2007 08.00 until 10.00 h

The sun came up just a few minutes ago and was about to hide behind the clouds right away. When the sky is grey the ocean is grey as well, with a few shimmering spots where some sun rays meet the water. A kind of mystic ambience. After a longer search I spotted some splashes, which I assumed would be small dolphins. My whole attention was on these approaching dolphins, and just in the corner of my eye I saw something red, which looked like a buoy of a fishing boat. I took a closer look at that red something and it emerged to be a small rubber dinghy with 3 Moroccan immigrants…. They were holding a wooden thing into the air, which probably once had served as a paddle. All of them were moving so they were still alive. They didn’t even ask for help, although they were just drifting in the strong current, where the big cargo ships passed really close to them.

Photo above: the 3 refugees in there rubber dinghy (Foto:KH)

As we are not allowed to take illegal immigrants on board, unless they are in a life-threatening situation, our captain called for help in Tarifa right away. We are obliged to stay next to the boat until help is here to mark the position for the rescue boat. That was the end of the illegal crossing for the 3 young, obviously freezing Moroccans, who probably already had spent many uncomfortable hours in their dinghy.

Photo above: The rescue team from Tarifa released the 3 men out of their awkward situation. (Foto: KH)

While we were waiting for the rescue boat, approximately 200 striped dolphins were swimming in the area around the rubber dinghy (coincidence?) so our guests on board had the pleasure to observe dolphins despite of the rescue operation. In the distance I saw 2 groups of pilot whales passing, which we could show our people as well.

10.00-12.00 h

Meanwhile the sky had cleared up and it was sunny again. Soon we found a group of pilot whales in a good mood, their calves came really close to the boat. By coincidence I spotted a blow, which looked like the one of a sperm whale, although we did not expect them to be here anymore at this time of the year. The second blow confirmed my suspicion and we started to get there right away. From the distance we saw it diving down. At this new position we found a new group of pilot whales, among many Moroccan fishermen who were fishing for tuna. Before we got real close to the pilot whales we saw the Orcas appear between the small fishing boats. What a great last 15 minutes! Sperm whales, Pilot Whales and Orcas, all within a radius of 300 meters!

-KH-

At the time being there are uncommon things to see besides the common dolphins on our boat trips in the Bay of Algeciras. Since the collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship loaded with scrap on August 12, the following sight is presented to us:

Photo above: partly sunken cargo ship before Gibraltar (Foto Carine)

To prevent the further sinking of the Cargo ship it was shored up on a rock, right in front of Gibraltar, approx. 25 m below the surface. But the danger was not banned yet, because in the event that the ship should slide off that underwater rock, it would sink down to a depth of approx. 500m. The salvage work started, and we can only hope that the fuel as well as the oil, which are still in the tanks of the ship, won’t leak into the bay.

Press release from 12.08.07

A collision between two ships happened today in the Strait of Gibraltar. Both ships, an oil tanker and a cargo ship were sailing under the Danish flag. The Cargo ship with all the scrap and cinder was on the verge of sinking after the crash with the oil tanker. The oil tanker itself could be brought safely into the harbor of Algeciras (Andalusia). The tanker was loaded with 39.000 t of crude oil. The 26 crew members of the cargo ship could be rescued. That accident happened at 5 o’clock this morning. Why the disaster happened is still being examined. The cargo ship was trying to leave the Mediterranean Sea towards the Atlantic Ocean, it just had left the harbor of Gibraltar, while the oil tanker was heading towards a harbor in Spain. The collision happened about one kilometer off the Spanish coast. The authorities are examining now how to get the fuel out of the cargo ship, to avoid that the leaking oil contaminates the coasts of Andalusia.

-Carine-

On Tuesday morning we started for an Orca trip, finally, after the famous Levante wind had prevented this for several days. The sea was completely flat when we started, a perfect day and actually we should have seen the animals from far away - but the thing was that there were no animals, during a whole hour we did not see one single fin or blow. Then, finally, we encountered a group of approx. 10 Pilot whales relaxing, which we were observing for a while. Then we continued along the Moroccan coast towards the Mediterranean sea. Meanwhile the wind had picked up and some white crests had started to form on the surface. Then suddenly out of nowhere the big moment: The sword of an Orca-male emerged at the surface, it literally cut through the water and with it 6 more of these majestic animals surfaced, a wonderful picture as they unhurriedly were passing by.

As they always do, they dove down after some breaths and disappeared for some minutes to suddenly surface again on the other side of the boat. This always is an exciting moment for all the spectators on the boat, which was recognized by a loud “ahhhhhhhhhhhh”.

Everybody was watching magnetized when suddenly a loud “pffffffffff” resounded just 3 meters away from the boat: The blow of a 22 m long fin whale! Each one on the boat was amazed by the sudden appearance of the second biggest animal on our planet.

But this was not the end yet: While the Fin whale continued his trip, surfacing every now and then, the Orcas suddenly took up speed and were literally galloping through the water, all 7 animals were partially flying through the air. It was looking extraordinary how they surfed with the waves. Seconds later we saw the reason for their sudden escape: ca. 20 meters behind them a group of 10 Pilot whales had surfaced, chasing the Orcas!

Never before had I seen Pilot whales swim so fast! I must admit, it looks quite paradox, the Pilot whales being smaller than the Orcas and young Pilot whales can even be in danger by the Orcas. This phenomenon had been observed several times before, why this is happening nobody can answer with certainty. But one thing is sure: It was an ingenious spectacle of nature and all the spectators on the boat were all beside themselves with joy.

-Eveline-

Even though we offer whale watching trips several times a day, every single trip is unique and special - as a matter of course for those who have the one chance within the holidays to make a tour; but also for the participants in our 1 - 2 week observation courses of firmm as well as for “repeaters”, who are staying in Tarifa for some time and use the chances to go on several trips.

Of course you cannot expect dolphins jumping, being curious or playing all the time - or sperm whales right next to the boat or showing up at all - after all it is a visit in the great outdoors and not in a zoo. Or do you see deer or foxes during every walk in the forest?? Even at home you have more chances to see feral animals if you are guided by a ranger or an ornithologist, because they know where and when you have the highest chances to observe the animals. It is the same thing here when you go on a tour with firmm: Because of our experience and research work there is a real high chance to see whales and dolphins, but there is no - and should never be - a guarantee.

Pictures above: Close to our boat, several groups of pilot whales are passing by unhurriedly towards the Atlantic Ocean. (pictures: firmm )

It does not have to be a spectacular jump show every time or a fin whale - it is also very peaceful to see sleeping pilot whales (Friday, 10th August, 1.00 pm) or well fed calm orcas (Tuesday, 7th August, 8.00 am). Anyhow it was really impressive to see an unusual number of about 250 - 300 pilot whales. Normally they live in groups of 10 - 25 animals. But on Wednesday (8th August, 6 pm) we saw a lot of groups close together, within a distance between 100m and 500m, they appeared in all directions, one did not know where to look… all of them swam slowly in the same direction. It seemed like all pilot whales from the area had an appointment for a joint trip. It was kind of mystical. They did not feel disturbed or bothered by our research boat and not even by those giant cargo ships moving in the same direction like the whales. As I said - every single trip is unique and that’s what makes us curious to find out more about the marine mammals and their behavior.

-Astrid Meyer-

On the trip from 2nd August between 13:30 - 16:00 we tried to find out if the Orcas were loitering around the fishing boats. So we went there directly and were positively surprised: There they were, next to the fishing boats - the Orcas! As the sea was quite calm we could observe them very well on their foray among the fishing boats. All of them were gathered and so we had the chance to observe about 30 of those giant predators on the prowl, separated in two groups.

Picture above: The Orcas are approaching the fishing boats. (Picture: Bernd Nies)

Suddenly we saw a fishing crew which apparently had a tuna on their fishing rod and they anxiously tried to get the tuna out of the water into the boat. We headed there right away and a few seconds later the Orcas showed up nearby. While the fishermen were trying to pull in the fishing rod faster and faster, the Orcas dove down in a distance of ca. 30 meters from the boat. We could see some bubbles ascent to the surface and we saw that there was no draw on the fishing rod anymore. The Orcas had ripped the whole tuna from the line, leaving behind the angry and frustrated fishermen on their boat. Afterwards an Orca showed up next to our boat and we could see the tail fin of the tuna in its mouth.

Such trips are very rare also here in the Strait of Gibraltar. The Orcas are seen quite often but to observe them during their meal is very special.

-casi-