The 25th firmm meeting on the 7th of December 2024 at the Kultur- und Kongresshaus Aarau
by firmm Team
Text: Pia Ackermann, photos: firmm
Is it the attraction of whales and dolphins? Is it the “whale woman” Katharina Heyer or the informal atmosphere of the firmm meetings that people from Germany, Austria and all over Switzerland travel to Aarau even at Christmas time? Around 150 people come to the venue to enjoy an evening listening to whale voices, soaking up stories of the 2023 and 2024 seasons and seeing their favourite animals again, even if only in pictures.
And there she is on stage again, the ever-resilient Katharina Heyer, leading the evening with her usual charm and routine. She welcomes the guests, including Edeltraud, David and Jaime, some of her crew in Spain.
Sam Notz, Katharina's son and firmm foundation board member, introduces the evening's programme. The first lecture by foundation board member Prof. Dr Patricia Holm will focus on the tiniest of creatures, which not only feed the largest, but are the basis of all life in the sea.
Plankton refers to all living organisms in the water that are unable to move on their own. ‘Plankton’ comes from the ancient Greek and means “wandering”. Currents and wind transport the tiny organisms, which are perfectly built for floating. There are two groups: plant plankton (phytoplankton) and animal plankton (zooplankton). Under the microscope, their often bizarre, almost extraterrestrial beauty is revealed. The discovery of many marvellous forms during the annual plankton research in Tarifa motivated Patricia to give this lecture.
Some of the organisms are quite fierce and throw venomous darts at their predators. Others glow (Noctiluca), while still others have star-shaped structures related to corals (radiolaria). Zooplankton also includes polyps and jellyfish. The most dangerous of the cnidarians found in the Strait of Gibraltar, the Portuguese man o' war, is a huge jellyfish-like polyp colony with tentacles up to 50 metres long. Their cnidarian venom is deadly to fish and causes painful injuries to humans.
Cnidarians, polychaetes, copepods, salps ... it's a good thing that a familiar name such as ‘krill’, ‘snail’ or ‘starfish’ appears from time to time among the many plankton species described. However, this exciting lecture is not about categorisation, but about understanding plankton, which is at the bottom of the food chain. At the top end are the whales, some of which feed on krill. The largest are dependent on the smallest, but also vice versa: the whales are part of the great cycle and help to bring the nutrients from the bottom of the oceans back to the surface, where photosynthesis begins and keeps the cycle alive. Everything is interconnected. There is still so much to explore!
In 2024, the ‘Spirit’ and the ‘Vision’ took around 27,000 tourists to see the whales and dolphins in the strait. This puts the numbers back at the level of the years before the pandemic. Not a single zero trip was recorded in 2024, i.e. at least one species was sighted on all tours.
Much more exciting than the numbers are the wildlife highlights, for which Katharina has once again selected the most beautiful pictures. For example, of this year's Baby Tony or of the release of the loggerhead turtle, from whose body the CECAM crew removed 11kg of plastic and nursed it back to health (see blog). Or of the annoyed sperm whale that defended itself by slapping its flippers against a group of pilot whales that felt disturbed and inflicted scratches and bites on the sperm whale. In the turmoil, David managed to take the ‘photo of the year’ when the sperm whale promptly loaded a pilot whale onto its back.
The film sequence in which a mother dolphin flings her dead baby into the air again and again as if she could bring it back to life is both touching and painful. Katharina spares the audience the images of the dying sperm whale Julio, which was run over by the fast ferry on 26 July 2024 shortly before it was discovered by the firmm boat. It remains to be hoped that his death will finally lead to measures being taken because of the attention it received in the press.
Unique images from the new underwater camera of three sleeping sperm whales, orcas at play and drone footage of migrating fin whales put a smile on the face and dispel the sadness. The images of the three sleeping sperm whales are a small sensation, because sperm whales are rarely found sleeping. And here are three of them! It's great that David reacted so quickly and focused the underwater camera on the three of them. More extraordinary photos were also taken on the trip, during which a sperm whale suddenly shot out of the water close to the boat like a torpedo and dived back in again, splashing like the humpback whales usually do. Lucky whoever was able to experience this unique moment!
Orcas were finally seen on the 5th of July 2024. Researcher Ruth Esteban has written an exciting paper on the endangered Iberian orcas, including the Barbate group, which could also be of interest to the IWC. For more on the orcas and their interactions with sailing boats, see further down.
On the 1st of January 2024, José Manuel Escobar Casado took over from Jörn Selling as marine biologist at firmm. José has been with the company for six years and is currently undergoing further training to become a captain. In a video, he introduces guests to his favourite animals: sperm whales.
In 2023, firmm counted more sperm whale sightings than ever before: 264, five times as many as in the previous year. In 2024, they even counted over 400 sightings! However, the analysis of over 5,000 photos shows that there are only around twelve sperm whales regularly in the Strait of Gibraltar. Normally individual male whales are sighted, but they often group together. Sperm whales are peaceful animals that only rest briefly on the surface before diving back into the depths of the sea. Interactions with related individuals are usually very peaceful, unless they are frightened pilot whales ... José wants to collect more data on the largest of all toothed whales in order to advance research.
After the traditional introduction of the firmm Foundation Board with Sam Notz, Patricia Holm, Caroline Burger and Margrit Brack, Katharina dedicates a few words to firmm's long-time volunteers and loyal supporters. If you don't know them all yet, you can find their respective roles in the presentation or on the website.
In Tarifa, not everything rests entirely on Katharina's shoulders, which is probably not only a relief for her family and closest friends. Nina and Oli run the foundation in Spain, supported by Brigitte, Christine, Barbara, Sevi, Edeltraud, Olga and the rest of the base team in Tarifa. Christine is now the notarised secretary of firmm Spain. In addition to José, the captains Daniel, Antonio and Eugenio, followed by the mechanics David and Jaime and the marineros Luis, Jairo and Cristian are also among ‘Katharina's men’. Jörn will remain with firmm from afar as a freelancer.
The firmm team is supported by the respective volunteers, some of whom are regulars. Without them, the important work on site would not be possible.
‘It was always my dream to experience the orcas’ - after reading Katharina's book “Whales calling”, Fabienne Kipfer quickly sent Katharina an interview request. She had in mind an unbiased report on the phenomenon of orca attacks on sailing boats. She teams up with her colleague Nicole Agostini, who wants to shoot a portrait of Katharina. After intensive efforts to convince her employer Blue News, the two of them travel to Tarifa.
Despite some obstacles and a long time waiting for the orcas, they manage to make two films worth seeing. There are numerous theories about the orca attacks of the Barbate group, but no precise knowledge. What is important is that people try to understand what is going on and start paying attention. Fabienne's video makes a valuable contribution through its accurate and factual approach.
Nicole also succeeds in creating a beautiful, very personal and attentive portrait of the now 82-year-old by accompanying Katharina. Many media from different countries have written about Katharina in the 27 years of firmm's history or accompanied her with their cameras. But this video is not just the first in Swiss dialect; it shows respect, commitment and closeness.
Once again, the evening has flown by! Thanks to the media for the numerous reports this year, Katharina's team and tonight's guests. On 16 February 2025, Tarifa will host an international symposium on ORCAS; another symposium on pilot whales is planned for 2026. Katharina would also like to thank everyone who contributed to this 25th firmm meeting and actively lent a hand. The next meeting should take place in three years' time, when the firmm foundation celebrates its 30th anniversary. It is to be hoped that Katharina will then be able to report on improved living conditions and the welfare of the whales and dolphins in the Strait of Gibraltar.