15th firmm meeting

Photos: Dirk Vandevelde, Eduardo Montano, Thomas Brückmann

For the first time the firmm meeting was moderated by Katharina Heyers son Samuel Notz, who is also a member of the firmm foundation board. He is a new but certainly important member in the firmm team.

Review of the year 2012

Text: Gaby Grau

Before Katharina starts with her review of the firmm season 2012, she explains the locations of firmm for the guests visiting for the first time. Firmm is located in Tarifa (Spain) at the most southern point of Europe.

Up to 300 huge cargo ships and many ferries pass the Strait of Gibraltar, at its narrowest part only 14 km wide, everyday. A map prepared by Jörn Selling impressively presented the ship routes and sighting sites of whales and dolphins in the Strait of Gibraltar.

  

In 2012 one of the ferry lines of the Strait of Gibraltar went bankrupt. Thus, Rachid Chrigui, member of the firmm foundation board, was able to found his own ferry line: The “Inter Shipping”.

The firmm course office in Tarifa was rebuilt and now has new information boards.

A total of 23000 guests visited firmm during the 7 months to observe whales and dolphins in their natural environment. It was a successful year for firmm, even though the number of guests slightly decreased compared to previous years. This was mainly the case because firmm didn’t take as many guests from other tour operators out on the trips anymore. Overall, there was a nice increase of guests during 2012. 1500 introduction talks (“Charlas”) were given directly in front of the office in the port of Tarifa. A great job done by the firmm volunteers, who held those presentations in up to 6 different languages. 291 guests booked the whale watching courses (which can be booked in packages for one or two weeks). All this was made possible by the reliable crew and the two boats of the foundation, the firmm Spirit and the firmm Fly blue.

  

This year there were fewer sightings of pilot whales, bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. However, there were more sightings of sperm whales, and we saw orcas almost twice as often as in previous years.

In 2013 a new museum “La Ballenera” is going to open near the firmm courses office. Firmm hopes that new synergies will develop because of this new tourist attraction.

Justin, who received a whale watching course as a gift, visited us in Tarifa together with cameraman Lars Fischer of MDR. Lars Fischer made a beautiful documentary film about Justin’s journey.

As in previous years, several photographers wrote reports about firmm and Katharina Heyer. Among them were Robert Felgentreu from Berlin, Steven Weinberg from Luxembourg, Nacional Suisse, COVER, ECO-Life and others.

  

Among the many visitors during 2012 there were also various school classes.

Short movies of firmm

This year firmm collected material for the first time film of the whales and dolphins on almost every trip. Hours and hours of film material were finally sorted and edited by Ursina Burkhart and matched with beautiful music by Petra Kleinke and Jan Rase. The result is impressive. Our short movies can be watched on youtube and facebook. They were also shown at the firmm meeting:

Common dolphins and striped dolphins

Large schools were observed near Tarifa and in the Bay of Algeciras, often hunting.

Bottlenose dolphins

They were often observed playing in the waves at the front of the boat. The sighting of a newborn about 2-3 days old in the company of two other calves was very beautiful. Our “firmm photographer” Eduardo made nice pictures of bottlenose dolphins. The movie ends with a mating scene during which the bottlenose dolphins don’t seem to be disturbed by the firmm boat at all.

Pilotwhales

This year we were able to observe many calves. They often came right up to the boat and seemed to be very curious and playful. There were also many observations of pilot whale matings. The animals were always observed in groups that seemed to assist the mating individuals. Often they were accompanied by calves who were playing around them. The increase in the number of mating observations is perhaps due to the moon or the tides?

Curro and Edu

This year Edu was chipped with a radio transmitter in his dorsal fin. Often this causes infections and results in suffering for the animals. Unfortunately, Curro, who was injured probably by a boat propeller several years ago, is still not doing well. Because of an infection of his wound, firmm is thinking of ways to help him. Edu is Curro´s loyal companion.

Spermwhales

This year many sperm whales were observed. Probably more than 150 animals. One sperm whale got our attention. He seemed to be sleeping often, so the firmm crew named him “Fernando”. It is very rare to observe a sperm whale mating, as it can take hours and mostly takes place underwater. There were three animals involved. One individual is usually assisting the others. Close by we observed bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales: Curiosity or protection?

Orcas

On the 4th of July Orcas were observed for the first time this year. This is very early. Once we were able to see a group of 23 individuals. A special experience for firmm was a tour during which 4 calves were left alone close to the firmm boat. The orca parents seemed to trust us…

Orcas in the fog

The atmosphere in the Strait of Gibraltar was unique on the 4th of August as dense fog made it difficult to see anything. Nevertheless, orcas were observed in this ghostly atmosphere.

Orca time – Tuna time

This year it was the first time that there were many tuna seen jumping out of the water. 2000 – 3000 tuna were responsible for this spectacle. Sometimes cory´s shearwater birds joined them. The reason for the spectacle has probably something to do with the opening of the Almadraba nets.

Swordfishes

It is very rare that the crew can observe jaunty swordfishes. This was shown nicely in the movie.

This year Samuel Notz, member of the firmm foundation board, visited us in Tarifa. His mother was celebrating a special anniversary. At her birthday, he joined her during 5x2 hours on the boat.

Prof. Dr. Patricia Holm and her husband Prof. Dr. Jürgen Holm (expert in statistics) visited firmm as well in Tarifa.

Eduardo showed his love for animals in an amazing way. He saved a dove, which was totally exhausted and would not have survived without his help. It was a young “Paloma”.

Not only the luxury ship Queen Elisabeth II passed the Strait of Gibraltar this year, there were also many swimmers who tried to cross it. Many Moroccan refugees on their tiny boats were stopped by the police and brought to holding facilities.

Adoptions

15 pilot whales, 5 dolphins and 2 orcas can now be adopted through firmm. Katharina points out the webpage, where all the important information can be found: www.firmm.org. An adoption costs only CHF 60.- / Euro 50.- and the sponsors get a personalised certificate.

At the end of her review of the year, Katharina showed some beautiful pictures of sunset tour.

Presentation of Prof. Dr. Andreas Gerhard

Tarifa and firmm – an ideal place for travelling with students

Text: Ursina Burkhard

Already in 2006 David Senn, colleague and friend of Prof. Dr. Andreas Gerhard, discovered that Tarifa is an ideal place for a study-week with his class. The excursion was supposed to take place in Europe and still be something special. The class was immediately excited about going to Tarifa.

The meeting of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic results in spectacular environments which can be studied very well in Tarifa. On one hand, there are the sandy beaches along the Atlantic coastline, and on the other hand, there is the rocky shore along the Mediterranean coastline. Furthermore it is very interesting for the students to observe the open ocean, the tidal dynamics and the unique currents in the Straits of Gibraltar.

 

The food pyramid: plankton to orca – various tasks for the students led to a nice model of the food pyramid in the Straits of Gibraltar. Comparisons of the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastline or sandy beaches and rocky shores were thereby taken into consideration. Various animal and plant species were systematically observed. The students also took plankton samples and examined them as carefully as all the other samples that have been taken on land. They took beautiful and illustrative pictures of sea cucumbers, sea urchins, limpets, barnacles, shore crabs and various algae species.

Conclusion: Tarifa and firmm present exclusive opportunities to have experiences with fair prices for students. That way they learn to respect nature.

Presentation of Prof. Dr. Patricia Holm

“Dolphins and whales in captivity: feasible, meaningful and ethically correct?”

Text: Anita Baechli

The social behaviour of marine mammals, their intelligence and sensorial abilities also interest Prof. Dr. Patricia Holm from the University of Basel, Swiss delegate in the scientific committee of the international Whaling Commission IWC and member of the firmm foundation board. She held a presentation with the title „Dolphins and whales in captivity: feasible, meaningful, and ethically correct? “. To her as a biologist doing research on dolphins in the Straits of Gibraltar, humans have to ask themselves whether keeping of dolphins in captivity is feasible at all and whether it is ethically correct and meaningful.

She tries to answer these questions during her presentation on the 15th firmm meeting. The issue is also controversially discussed in the whaling commission. What do we really know? Most of the facts about physiology, sensation of pain, intelligence and learning capacity of these animals were gained through research on dolphins in captivity – but are these results also correct for wild dolphins? In captivity dolphins move less, their activities are more stereotype, their social behaviour is less distinct and they rarely reproduce. Furthermore, the success of worldwide praised therapies with dolphins is not scientifically proved. Criticism of dolphinaria was raised in Switzerland well before the tragic fate of the Connyland-Dolphins in Canton Thurgau.

 

Patricia Holm concludes: “The more we know about the capabilities and sensations of dolphins and whales, the bigger is our responsibility and the more challenging it is to keep them in captivity in an appropriate way”.

Staff and volunteers of the season 2012

Text: Ursina Burkhard

Beside the team of permanent employees there were 14 volunteers this year helping to make the season a success. Furthermore, our team of volunteers not present in Tarifa did their best to represent firmm in the media and at fairs etc. Many thanks to all of you for your support. Without you, firmm would not be the way it is.

  

ARTE movie

Arte included firmm last year in its telecast “Sonne, Saudade und Siesta”. A film team joined Katharina on the boat and made a beautiful documentary about life at firmm and Katharina herself.

Smartphone friendly homepage

With the amazing support of Go Go Cards Marketing Spain, S.L. we were able to build a smartphone friendly homepage, which makes visiting the page for smartphone users more convenient.

Dolphin Sanctuary Morrocco

The planned dolphin Sanctuary Ras Laflouka in Northern Morocco experienced a major setback last year. As Katharina went to Morocco on the 24^th September, convinced that she will get the final version of the contract, she received bad news: The bay, land and old smuggler house, which firmm paid for over years, is now going to be used as a military base.

However, as quickly as the land was lost for firmm, as quickly a new possibility showed up. The Governor of Tangier suggested another bay to Katharina, which would be closer to the city centre of Tangier and therefore more accessible.

This bay and the boarding property between hotel Mövenpick and hotel Tarik would be a perfect place for the dolphin sanctuary. In October the whole firmm crew went to Morocco to check out the new location.

As the current port of Tangier is going to be completely redesigned and rebuilt, it would be great to start building the dolphin sanctuary soon. This way, machines and vehicles from the large construction site of the port might be used for the buildings of the dolphin sanctuary too. Governor M. Jacoubi and the director of the port of Tangier M. Lafti both completely support the project and are willing to help with its realization.

The following facilities are planned at the new site:

• Large area for the dolphins with fresh seawater from an Atlantic current
• Rescue centre with the possibility to help injured and stranded animals
• Restaurant
• Information cinema
• Marine information centre about the Straits of Gibraltar (in cooperation with the University of Tangier)
• Tourists will have the opportunity to observe the dolphins through an underwater window and from a dam
• There won’t be any shows, swimming with dolphin programs or dolphin therapies

In the future, Rachid, owner of the Intershipping ferry line between Tarifa and Tangier, will bring his daytrip tourists to our restaurant.

A team of specialists will be looking after the animals:

• Eleonore Op De Beek, firmm Veterinarian, will be responsible for the animal care and make sure that the dolphins are in good health. In 2013 Eleonore is joining the firmm team for the second time to be involved as much as possible. Through several veterinary internships in various dolphinaria she gained a lot of experience in taking care of marine mammals.
• Vladas Martirosas is physicist. Through years of contact with various dolphinaria and activists all over the world, he gained a lot of experience in different areas and will be “the man for everything” in Morocco.

  

As soon as firmm has the signed contracts, the construction of the sanctuary will begin. Of course we will keep you informed through our blog etc.

In conclusion, we can say that the 15^th firmm meeting was a very nice evening. We would like to thank all the volunteers, sponsors and donors again for making this evening and the whole season possible.

The next firmm meeting is going to take place on the 22^nd February 2014 in the culture and congress centre in Aarau.