MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 15th 2018 Back Home

At 10 am on Saturday morning, I was already back home in my kitchen looking at all the cool MICS swag that I scored.

They gave me a beautiful card, a book called Wild Blue A Natural History of the World's Largest Animal by Dan Bortolotti and lots of other photos and informative booklets that I need to explore.

I would like to personally thank Valentine in the office, Florine and Bertrand in the field and MICS founder Richard Sears for giving me this fantastic opportunity.

Of course I'm sad for all of us that we didn't get to see any Blues but if I ever get the chance to go back, I'll be first in line.

Thank you also to anyone reading for coming along on this close to home and close to my heart adventure. If this type of trip is interesting to you, please contact MICS at https://www.rorqual.com/english/about/contact to learn more about sessions offered in the upcoming season. It would be my pleasure to hear from you too if you had any questions.

Now it's time to stow my travel stuff until my wanderlust takes over again.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 14th 2018

The last day of the trip, the team took a well-deserved rest. They had some Admin things to take care of and since they were in a nice hotel, they might as well enjoy it.

They did include me though and I got a valuable one on one training session with Richard Sears on how to match and identify Blue Whales using the unique speckle patterns on each individual. He demonstrated how he would classify the uncatalogued photos using their MICS pix software.

Each unique individual has a file with photos taken from different angles and at different dates and locations. I listened to Mr. Sears grumble and mumble under his breath as he repeated "I know this whale" as he scanned the files trying to determine where to plug the photograph sent to him by a colleague.

There are different ways to search using terminology that was still quite foreign to me but I observed quietly until there was a contented "Eureka!" moment and the correct file was found and the new photograph was input and memorialized.

I even got to help name a Blue Whale that had a marking that looked like a leafy sea dragon so the whale formerly known as B332 has been christened Dragonleaf.

I let the team continue with their work while I composed these blog entries and surfed the web learning more and more about the plight of the whales in my region. It's both a good time and a bad time. Many calves were ID'd in 2018, many more than in previous years but they are in no way abundant.

I packed my unused snorkel equipment and readied my suitcase for the train trip home.

The Via Rail line from Halifax to Montreal passes right through Rimouski at the slightly inconvenient hour of 2:04 am. The station was only a kilometre or so from the hotel but I opted for a 10 dollar taxi ride because of my heavy duffel bag. Thankfully, it was a warm and pleasant night as I waited patiently for the automatic lock on the station door to open 30 minutes before the train pulled in.

A baggage handler and a ticket taker descended to greet me and the other single passenger. My bag was tagged and taken away and I boarded the quiet and dark car and found a comfortable single seat. The QR code on my phone was scanned and soon the rhythmic movement of the train rocked me to sleep.

It was an easy and unremarkable 8 hour trip ending with a fantastic view of my home-town as we crossed the bridge onto Montreal Island and entered the tunnel into the Central Station right downtown.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-Money, Methods and Musculus

So what do these MICS Blue Whale researchers actually do?

Well, first they need to raise funds. It's a reality. It sucks. It's not their most fun way to spend their time but without some cash, they can't do their important work.

Aside from that, when they make it out into the field and their quarry is in sight, the first order of the day is documenting the location and identifying the individuals. If conditions are right, they will also attempt to collect samples of skin and blubber, whale snot and even poop!

The methods and tools are surprisingly simple and rudimentary.

A pencil, a piece of plastified cardboard called a slate, a number of cameras, the boat's GPS, a wristwatch and a net. If they need to get fancy, they have a special crossbow which shoots skin-sampling darts attached to floatie things that they can collect from the water and store in a thermos chilled by an ice-pak.

They then prepare the samples for analysis to get basic DNA genetic information as well as data concerning the animal's health, toxin levels and other sciency business.

I'm learning about the actual methodology in a very hands-on way. They begin by recording the condition of the sea using the Beaufort scale and the cloud coverage by percent. They begin the time count as of the first sighting and begin taking photos and recording the species of each animal observed using the pencil and slate. As soon as the whale dives, we position the boat into the whale's "footprint" and take a GPS reading.

The waypoint from the onboard GPS is noted and the timestamp is matched with the digital photograph sequences for later conciliation with the waypoint.

If conditions permit, an attempt to tag the animal or collect samples will be made but this is not always possible.

This process continues all the while noting any particular markings or behaviour and the result is a whole bunch of data which gets transcribed by hand into a log book and then later entered into an electronic database with the uploaded photos.

Then begins the tedious task of matching the photos with known whales or making the call that a brand new individual needs to be added to the catalogue.

It's a big job. A big important job. I'm glad to do whatever I can to help, but so far, until I'm handed the poop net, I guess I can help by donating.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 13th 2018

I think the MICS team felt really spoiled to finally have big queen sized beds with fresh linen and enjoy two meals in a row that they hadn't prepared. They really loved the hotel's breakfast buffet and kept going back for more fresh fruit and croissants.

It was a small luxury but they really appreciated it and everyone was excited to get out on the water and see the blue whales that our friend René had seen a few days earlier.

As mentioned earlier, René has a knack for photographing and recognizing known individuals. What was exciting was that he didn't recognize one of the Blue Whales.

He wanted Richard Sears to confirm that it was a new uncatalogued animal.

Now we just had to find it. Wind and weather conditions needed to improve just a bit. We had a fog problem. There was a lot of discussion about whether or not we should even leave the marina.

I let the experts confer while I quietly stood by sweating in my giant red exposure suit of whale watching. They warned me that it would be bumpy and much, much colder out on the St-Lawrence river.

They knew by my expression that I didn't care and hadn't complained so far about anything else. Mr. Sears gave the crew members a special pre-game briefing. He reminded them of all of his hand signals and that when he needed acceleration there could be no delay. Finally, I was admonished to stay in my designated seat at all times.

They couldn't risk missing a chance to tag an animal because I rocked the boat while moving around. He said "Even if the whale is doing something weird, even if you want to take a photo, even if a spaceship lowers four tap-dancing unicorns onto the surface of the water....DO NOT MOVE."

Sir, yes, Sir!

And thus began our quest in Rimouski.

As soon as the RHIB made it out of the protected harbour, we felt the wind. The good news was that it was redirecting the fog away from us but the bad news was that at speed, the waves made the boat pitch and heave a lot.

Thankfully, we were all experienced boaters and none of us suffered from seasickness. The thing that none of us wanted was to hurt our backs. We all knew to watch the oncoming crests and slightly stand to take the dip of the trough with our knees rather than slam our tailbones every time. We looked like football fans in a stadium doing the wave.

It was also helpful to have Captain Maniac colour comment his skippering. "Oh, it's a NASTY!" he would say to welcome a particularly treacherous undulation.

We had five pairs of eyes spotting in all directions and we crisscrossed between the north and south shores of the river for several hours to no avail. We saw nothin' but mutton. (In French, the word for whitecap is "mouton", literally sheep.)

When the wind let up, we stayed in neutral hoping to hear something and looked around using our binoculars but the whales were not showing themselves.

It was then that we observed some strange behaviour between a Parasitic Jaeger and a Kittiwake. The Kittiwake had a fish in its bill and the Jaeger chased it in an aerial dogfight.

When the Jaeger successfully stole the fish, it didn't even eat it. It just continued to fly around bugging the Kittiwake with the fish still hanging out of his beak and he eventually dropped it into the water.

According to everyone on board this was very unusual. See René Roy's photographic montage here.

We chatted while looking and we all shared fun stories about previous trips. I asked a lot questions and learned so much that the day was still a great experience for me. It was just so disappointing for the researchers after all of their efforts.

We made the best of it, enjoyed our giant French wheel of cheese, confirmed that there were NO BANANAS ON THE BOAT (very bad luck according to my fisherman father!), teased René Roy about his invisible whales, Captain Sears had a nap and then we saw the only truly remarkable thing in a whole 10 hours on the water.

A few hundred metres away, a very large group of Beluga whales swam together. If we saw twenty, you could bet that there were twenty more. The species is highly endangered, it is estimated that there are only 300 or so of these mammals left in the St-Lawrence. (photo credit to Florine Martineau)

As the sun began to lower in the sky we were finally blessed with dead calm and we cut the motor completely. We just let the boat drift. There were still a few Belugas porpoising but according to house rules, I wasn't allowed to point them out.

Pointing is for Blue Whales only!

Ah, such is life. There was nothing to point at so we just went back to the marina and pulled the boat out, hitched it to the trailer and let René take it home.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 12th 2018

At around 11 am the gigantic pickup truck pulled up in front of the motel loaded to the hilt with gear. Gear in the backseat, gear in the consoles, gear on the dashboard, gear UNDER the seat, gear piled high and lashed down in the cargo area. A huge pole was among the many weird and wonderful contents.

I paid my respect to the pole. This pole is the kindest and most important pole in the history of the world. This is the pole that gets attached to a knife. This is the pole sometimes attached to a knife which is used to free whales entangled in fishing equipment. Much respect to the pole.

So with all of this stuff, I was curious where my duffel bag would go but Bertrand managed to zip-tie it to the grill protecting the rear window. Voilà! All we needed was a grandma sitting in a rocking chair up top and we'd be off to Beverly....Hills that is. Well, we were off to Rimouski in a convoy.

We had a tailgate picnic on the property where the boat was parked. That's when I saw the GIANT WHEEL OF CHEESE. Well of course these 2.5 Frenchmen would have one, it's part of their body composition. I mean humans are like 97% water, right? If you're French, there is only 94% water and the remaining 3% is clearly cheese. This cheese was reallllllly good on nice bread with little tomatoes and arugula and some ham and proper strong mustard. It was extra good eaten outside overlooking Pointe-à-la-Renommée.

Richard Sears met up with us in his car which was equally loaded with his guitars and his bike and some molasses cake, his only sustenance because we had prematurely stowed the cheese...oops.

Once the boat was hitched up to the truck we set out on what would normally be a 5 hour drive to Rimouski. Of course it wasn't. We stopped to spot at all rest points overlooking the sea. If there were any whales sighted we would have pulled into the closest marina and launched the boat. At one point Bertrand just stopped and waited for Richard as we had agreed but we didn't see Richard. We doubled back and looked at some other places thinking that there was a miscommunication but nope. That took almost an hour out of our trip because oh dear...no cellphone in the other vehicle. WHAT? I think that problem will be remedied next year if I have to donate one MYSELF!

Anyway, we lost another 15 minutes in an area under construction where traffic was controlled on a single lane one direction at a time. Our only true "rest" stop was to fill up with gas, get a coffee and have a pee. The trip is actually quite beautiful and I would have been hard pressed to find a private chauffeur-driven tour any other way. We even spotted some dolphins at sunset and a few blows from Minkes in an area called Cap-Chat.

Bertrand valiantly scooted us down river to Rimouski where we met up with a beloved collaborator named René Roy. What a sweet guy! He is a true whale lover just like me and has worked with MICS for many years by spotting, photographing, IDing and even helping to develop software to catalogue the whales. He is a traveler too and we got to exchange lots of stories on the next day. I'm looking forward to reuniting with René and his wife on some future trip. After letting us unload some extra gear into his shed, he helped us launch the boat at the local marina which was conveniently located across the street from our hotel.

By the time we got to Hôtels Gouverneur Rimouski, it was pretty late but we still needed to unload all the perishables from the truck. We even had delicate samples that needed to be kept in the freezer so we had to sort that out!

It had been a tiring day but everyone was famished so we went to Restaurant Pacini for some pizza and pasta and enjoyed the bread bar! Florine and Bertrand and Richard are made of pure energy and passion. I was so tired and I had just sat in a truck all day. They are amazing people.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 11th 2018

For days we had known that Tuesday, September 11th would be appropriately rainy, overcast and grim.

The researchers said "have a little sleep-in and a late breakfast then meet up with us around 10 am."

I enjoyed a lovely country-style breakfast while looking out over the bay. Although it was cloudy, it hadn't started to rain yet so it was possible to see right to the horizon. If any whales were passing by, they would be easy to see but they didn't choose that moment to appear.

Bertrand greeted me and we drove a short distance to a place called Penouille.



This is a part of the Forillon National park where you can visit the salt marshes using well-maintained boardwalks with informative panels describing the flora and fauna of the area.

At this time of year, at the end of the season there were not many people using the trails and there were definitely no mosquitoes so Bertrand and I had a nice long walk quietly enjoying the surroundings. We saw many kinds of birds including Great Blue Heron, Canada geese, ducks and woodland birds too. Red squirrels chased each other across our path.

I remarked to Bertrand that it must be tough to be away from his family for the whole season. He said yes, but he loves the work very much. These guys literally work every waking minute. If they aren't in the field, they are preparing meals, doing bookkeeping, making reservation enquiries, loading, unloading, repairing, reminding, planning, pulling, pushing, uploading, downloading, forecasting and if there's time they might take a pee break.

This doesn't include the actual prime directive of record keeping and analysis of the data collected. Oof. I couldn't do it with the calm and panache that Bertrand manages. He never seems to break a sweat or get nervous. He just handles everything and keeps the team organized.

Anyway, I loved the time we spent in Penouille walking along the beach, looking at mushrooms and lichen and enjoying nature with a true nature-lover.

After taking the tourist out for a walk, the MICS team had to get down to serious business. They needed to get to where the whales were and they weren't in Gaspé.

Since I lived close by, I was open to changing my plans. It wasn't like it would be risking missing a flight home to Europe. If everything went tits up, I could just rent a car and drive home if need be. I cancelled my flight home and left the rest up to the fates just like an honest to goodness field researcher!

While the princess napped, the hard-working researchers prepared their mobile unit to bug-out. They packed up their gadgets and doodads and thingamabobs and Florine's much maligned Couscous à la mouche (it's really just raisins but Mr. Sears says they look like dead flies!)

As soon as the tide was high enough, we drove to our boat at the Marina at l'Anse-au-Griffon. Bertrand drove ahead with the trailer attached to the pickup while Mr. Sears skippered Florine and I as far as weather and daylight permitted up the coast aboard the RHIB.

We stayed close to land because it was a bit bouncy out. I got baptized by the ocean spray just in front of a church known as Sainte-Marie-de-la-Baleine by our researchers because it's usually a good place to spot whales.

We had a nice little private sunset cruise and radioed Bertrand to meet us at l'Anse-à-Valleau Marina.


It was perfect timing. The rain pelted us mercilessly just as we approached the harbour but kindly stopped when the team piloted the boat up the launch onto the trailer. I looked at the sea from the nice little picnic area furnished with wooden swinging benches hung up on chains and read the info panels about how U-Boats came here during World War II and how this was an important area for Marconi's work on Maritime Radio Communications.

http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/media-5128/5128_phare_pointe_renommee_21.jpg

A kind "friend of the whales" let us park the boat on his property overnight and the four of us squeezed into the pickup truck for a rainy drive back to Cap-aux-Os or in English: Cape of Bones named for the great numbers of bones left on the beach from the whaling industry.

The mood was really fun. We laughed and joked as Richard Sears picked our brains trying to find a good name for his new boat. "Florine wouldn't be bad..." was the first suggestion from someone who will remain anonymous.

He wanted the name to include "blues" because he's a music fan as well as a whale maniac. One of my suggestions was "Blue Gene Blues" which I thought was clever but there were some other less good ones so there was lots of teasing. It was a nice way to bond.

They dropped me off at the restaurant for dinner and let me know they would pass by in the morning to get me after they finished settling their tabs and packing up the truck.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 10th 2018

The second day of my Blues trip began at 6 am with my alarm clock chiming that happy tune. It seems that I only ever set my alarm for travel so the sound gives me a Pavlovian response of anticipation.

I made myself a coffee with ground beans from home and my portable Aeropress (a godlike device that comes with me on all my trips) then trudged up the hill to the base-station where I had a quick breakfast and observed the team gather the equipment and load it into the truck.

There was a tense oopsie moment where a case containing the camera's mega zoom lenses lost its contents because the latch had been left open. Our dear leader was NOT impressed and let his displeasure be known. I clung to the edge of the room as quiet as the loudly patterned wallpaper.

Thankfully, as soon as the equipment was tested and found to be unharmed the sombre mood lifted and we made our way back to the park to spot whales from shore. Not long after, a black she-bear and her two furry toddlers ambled across the road a few hundred metres ahead of us. We approached slowly in the pickup truck hoping to get some pictures.

Cowboy Sears opened the door and hopped right on out! What? Eep! This girl ain't becoming a Rosh Hashana appetizer for no dang bears! Bertrand and Florine sagely stayed with me because they didn't want to be an hors d'oeuvre either! However, it was obvious that Mr. Sears wasn't concerned for his safety. He has years of experience and knew the limits of what the animals would perceive as a "safe" distance so he respected that comfort zone.

We left the bears to hunt their berries and spent a sadly fruitless quarter of an hour trying to see some whales. Nothing doing in the bay. We spoke to some other binocular-laden hunters and they hadn't found any either. We packed up the tripod and the long lenses and left the park but not without another visit with mama bear and her cubs. This time, they were really out in the open with lots of room to spread out and escape into the forest, up a tree or across the road. I have to admit they were in good looking health and the cubs were just too cute. (All photo credits to Florine Martineau.) So, in these circumstances, I got out of the car too and I made it to tell the tale!

We decided to get out on the water anyway because the weather conditions were ideal, little wind, 15% cloud cover and reports of some finback whales in a very picturesque area near the gannet colony at Île Bonaventure and the famous Rocher Percé. Worst case scenario, we'd have some touristy post-card snaps.

It was a little hairy getting our rigid hulled inflatable boat out of the harbour at low tide but our beloved Captain Sears made it look effortless. Florine who is approximately the size of a spaghetti noodle kept checking me and asking if I had dressed warmly enough, were all my zippers and velcros done up, was my hood in place, did I need an extra scarf, were my mittens near?

Geez Louise, once you've been to Arctic Norway in November a little late-summer Gaspé wind ain't no thing!

It was fine and soon we had our reward for our hunch and I watched the team spring into action as we spotted some locals.

First we found some Minke whales which are the smallest of the baleen whales in this area. They are still pretty big and they don't make a big show of themselves like those "MOMMY, WATCH MEEEEE!!!!" humpbacks so I like them.

There was a gang of around six Atlantic white sided dolphins doing their antics with porpoising and tail flapping and giant synchronized leaps. They looked almost golden in the sunshine.

I heard commotion behind me and the engine slowed. They had seen a properly big spout. GO TIME!

Out came the cameras, out came the famous pencil and white cardboard slate, the time was noted and then for me it stopped and so did my heart.

I finally saw what they had seen. A chimney of water vapour emanating from the blow hole of a Fin Whale. And again, from its companion.

Now, Fin Whales (rorqual commun in French) or sometimes called Finbacks are smaller than Blue whales and bigger than Humpbacks. The column of waterspout was easily three times the height of any Humpback spout that I had ever observed and we were still a kilometre away from the animals.

We heard the exhalations clearly though and my guides knew what was about to happen...DIVE. With that the captain piloted the boat over to the now smooth patch of water recently occupied by the finbacks. This patch is known as the footprint of the whales. The GPS waypoint was noted, the digital camera photo series was noted and the time was recorded.

We had around 7 minutes until the whales would surface again and like clockwork, they did.

We repositioned to ensure the best angles for photo id captures and the crew took as many photos as possible until that deep breath signaled the next dive and we repeated the process.

When the whales would surface, we never really saw much more than their arched back and dorsal fins. This is typical for fin whales. They rarely fluke (show their tail) like humpbacks.

They were not engaging in any particular behaviour, they were just moving around. We continued in this way watching four to six Fin Whales and one lousy humpback that they had already ID'ed for about an hour.

Then as suddenly as they had appeared, they went poof.

We continued out to Île Bonaventure and saw a great colony of Gannet sea birds which have taken over the neighbourhood. They share the island with a bunch of seals of many varieties, all of whom are called "Ralph" according to Mr. Sears.

They were very curious and would pop their heads up out of the water like periscopes and peer at us until they got spooked and splashed back under to safety.

They gathered together like gossipy old biddies doing aquafitness at the YMCA as the noisy and stinky Gannets flocked above in the bleachers. (All photo credits to Florine Martineau)

Their underfloofie feathers showered us like a downy blizzard in the wind and yes, we did get pooped on rather a lot.

As a parrot owner, I'm used to that kind of thing and felt quite at home but Captain Sears grumbled at the "shithawks" hovering over our boat's canopy.

The team conferred and made the call that we had Blue Balls, a disappointing condition wherein no Balaenoptera musculus are to be found.

That concluded our first day of observation and all that was left to do was make our way home.

Easier said than done because of course, the wind had picked up and there was only so much daylight left as the sky clouded in the distance.

We bounced and dipped and splashed our way to safe harbour but I enjoyed every moment. Under the special care of Bertrand, Florine and Richard Sears, I couldn't have been in better hands.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 9th 2018

MICS has me set up in a motel overlooking the Baie de Gaspé. It is very comfortable and is only a few metres away from a little restaurant in one direction and a few metres away from the rented home they use as a base-station in the other.

My package includes daily breakfast and dinner at the restaurant and snacks and light lunches are prepared by the MICS team. The weather on day one was too windy to get out on the water. My guides said they would come and get me at around 9:30 am so I woke up at 6 am with nothing to do but enjoy my surroundings and wait for the restaurant to open at 8 o'clock.

The temperature had dropped to 3 degrees overnight! What a difference from muggy Montreal's tropical urban heat bubble. I used all of my thermal layers and ventured out with my binoculars to scope the bay for morning critters. There was a beautiful eagle soaring above and some curious and playful seals swimming beyond the beach below the escarpment where I stood.

A monstrous cruise ship came closer and closer but it was going slowly so I'm sure it posed no threat to the whales in the area.

Bertrand and Florine took me to Forillon National Park and showed me their two best areas to look out for whale spouts and get an idea of where they are feeding. We saw a few little poofs of vapour, likely from smaller whales such as Minke or Humpback but with the whitecaps and the sea-birds plunge-splashing into the sea, it was a slow-go. Besides, we already knew that the Blues weren't around the park, none had been sighted in over a week...they made their way down the Saint-Lawrence river to a place called Rimouski.

Not to be discouraged, we walked in the park on an old road, no longer maintained and slowly becoming overgrown with weeds and littered with gravel, mud and fallen rocks and branches. It reminded me of the opening scenes of the film I am Legend.

 

We observed bear scat, deer tracks and claw marks up a tree likely made by a ferocious porcupine or a gangly bearcub. (All photo credits to Florine Martineau, merci!)

We regrouped at the base-station for lunch where I met the team leader and founder of MICS, Richard Sears and his wife, Evelyne. Mr. Sears is the kind of guy that I love, an obsessed maniac, passionate, dedicated to his work and almost bipolar in his mood swings from pissed off to ecstatic. It's not the swing that makes me love that kind of person it's the source of the swing. It takes the mistreatment of his beloved whales to enrage him, it takes the mere sight of a distant spout to tickle him to delirium.

Mr. Sears calls out to bears in their own tongue and squeals at seals and berates tourists for talking to gulls who might shit on our boat and giggles at old Jim Gaffigan routines playing out in his head.

A half-French, half-American hippie-sailor maniac. More to follow on this point.

Needless to say, I'm among great friends.

MICS-Blue Whale study trip-September 8th 2018

My latest blog entries will tell about my experiences doing a Blue Whale Research Session with the Mingan Island Cetacean Study in the Gulf of St-Lawrence in Quebec. Their website at https://www.rorqual.com tells all about the work that they do.

I traditionally begin my trip reports with details about the airport and flight experience. Usually there is some moment which I can use to encapsulate the feeling of embarking on a new adventure and springboard the reader into my frame of mind.

This trip, well, it's a little different because I'm honestly not that far from home.

I walked down the street, took a city bus to the airport, got on a thirty minute flight on a 78 seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft where I had a thirty minute stopover in Quebec City, enjoyed one sip from the drinking fountain near the restrooms and then boarded a 37 seater Dash-8-100 where there was barely enough time to have a soda before touchdown in Gaspé!

There was actually one funny moment on the flight from Quebec City in this teeny tiny propeller aircraft. It was too small to accommodate a jetway so we had to exit the air terminal, walk on the tarmac and board using three little steps.

After taxiing to the runway we stopped and that seemed normal for a time but that time gradually extended to longer than usual. The flight attendant informed us that the plane was too heavy for take off and needed to burn off some excess fuel.

The passengers all groaned and whispered little comments to their neighbour. My first thought was "that's not very environmentally friendly" but in typical get-'em-to laugh-by-any-means-necessary-fashion this class clown yelled "Alright, who had too much poutine?" in French.

It was after dark when we landed at the small regional airport where I was greeted by two friendly students who work for the Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS).

Florine and Bertrand are both from France and have travelled around the world doing research on marine mammals and they would be my tutors and guides during this week-long Blue Whale intensive trip. I was a little surprised to discover that I was the only participant during this session but I was pleased. What luck to be able to have all the Blues to myself without having to share.

They helped me get my gear into the pick-up truck and we drove off into the night.

Comprehensive review of NCL Jade - May 25-June 8 2018

*Note to my regular blog-peepers: This post is intended to be a more detailed critique of the ship and cruise itself so the tone will be a bit less personal than usual. Also may contain spoilers if you prefer to follow the trip in chronological order.

Travelling: Two disabled seniors and their adult daughter; from Montreal, Canada. All experienced cruisers, primarily loyal to the Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara group.
Itinerary: Norwegian Cruise Lines' Jade 14 night Northern Europe.

1. Southampton, U.K.
2. At Sea
3. Bergen, Norway
4. Ålesund, Norway
5. Lerwick, Shetland Islands (Scotland), U.K.
6. At Sea
7. Reykjavik, Iceland
8. Reykjavik, Iceland
9. Akureyri, Iceland
10. At Sea
11. Kirkwall, Orkney Islands (Scotland), U.K.
12. Invergordon, (Scotland), U.K.
13. Edinburgh, (Scotland), U.K.
14. At Sea
15. Southampton, U.K.

Embarkation / Disembarkation: City Cruise Terminal, Southampton

The greeters were extremely professional, welcoming and helpful. They provided assistance for my disabled mother and assigned us a "special-assistance" minder to guide us through the check-in process. Porters were readily available for our luggage and were really pleasant. I have to say that I was very impressed with the friendliness and enthusiasm of all of the Terminal and NCL staff who provided service.

Problems occurring often give the opportunity to demonstrate excellent customer service and three particular issues were evidence of NCL's quality. There was a slight bug with the computer system during check-in, there were profuse apologies and every effort was made to get the problem resolved quickly. Secondly, there was a mechanical issue with my mother's rented mobility scooter during embarkation and we had to transfer her back to her wheelchair. The land-based staff provided assistance to bring the scooter on board for us. Thirdly, one bag had lost its identification tag and was stored in the pursers office. All I had to do was identify it and it was swiftly delivered to our stateroom.

Disembarkation was also very smooth and organised with many porters on hand to help.

Signage, Daily Activity Guide, PA announcements communication and Muster Drill

Navigation on the Jade was extremely easy. The use of the "forward facing" window fish stickers and on the carpet pattern along with the clear diagrams near the stairwells and elevator areas were really genius.

The Freestyle Daily newsletter was clear and well-designed. My suggestion about it would be to provide the advertising inserts separately and in only one kit per stateroom. There was a bit too much paper wasted on the coupons and sales materials as these were distributed per person.

During the cruise, I found the frequency of announcements to be reasonable and only emergency information was piped directly into the private areas. The volume of announcements to the adjacent stateroom hallways was muted enough to be heard in the cabin but was in no way disruptive. One type of announcement was not made which I think would be an improvement: At some of the ports of call, there was entertainment by locals. If there had been some mention of this to go on deck and see the little kids doing their folk-dancing and sending us off, I wouldn't have missed it!

The announcements could also be heard on the "View from the bridge" television channel which was useful for announcements concerning tendering. There was a secondary informative channel with our current navigational position, time of day, current and forecast weather. I have the suggestion to add this time and temperature information in a crawl on the "View from the bridge" channel. In an inside cabin, we use this channel to know how warmly to dress for the conditions outside. Additionally, we can make sure that our watches are correctly set when we wake up in a new time-zone.

The muster drill instructions were clear and we observed several crew-drills while we were berthed in port. This made us feel very safe.

Accommodation:

Accessible Family Inside cabin 10153. This room provided ample storage space for the belongings of three passengers, a collapsible wheelchair and a mobility scooter. The closet was accessible for a person seated in a wheelchair and the rack could move up or down as needed. As the third person in the cabin, I opted not to actually pull out the convertible queen-sized sofa-bed in order to conserve floor-space. I was very comfortable and simply put sheets and a silk sleeping bag on the couch and used the pillows and blankets provided.

The room's flat-screen TV was mounted on an adjustable arm so that it could be angled in such a way that the occupants could see it from bed and the person on the couch could see its reflection in the mirror on the wall. Clever design! 

The bathroom's size was typical for an accessible cabin and had some of the extra features such as an adjustable mirror and safety handles. The zero-entry shower drains did a terrific job keeping the floor dry which was initially a great concern. One additional improvement could be extra hooks for towels and clothing. The room-steward tended to forget that the handles were for the purpose of supporting the weight of a disabled person. We would always find towels hanging on these which made them unstable for my mom to support herself. It was hard to find a place to hang up our used face-cloths and towels for re-use because though there appeared to be many towel racks, these were not good places to put wet towels.

My mom commented that the door was not wide enough to easily make the turn into the cabin from the hallway using her scooter and that because there was no automatic door opener, she needed help to get in by herself. Luckily, there was always a friendly room-steward to assist.

I found that the lighting in the room was very dim and maybe my mom was particularly demanding but it seemed that every time I got comfortable, she would need me to turn on or turn off a light that she could not control easily from her bed. In an eventual technology upgrade, voice-controlled smart lights or perhaps a hand-held remote with dimmable bulbs would be my suggestion.

Dining

We were blown away! Your chefs, food selection and service wildly exceeded our expectations and this in the main dining rooms Alizar and Grand Pacific. The hostesses and Maîtres d'hôtel (Especially Maria and Dušan) were very accommodating to my mom's needs as she always preferred a table near the entrance so that she didn't accidentally mow anyone down with her scooter. Dušan had the special talent of maintaining a perfect poker-face while being extremely funny and sarcastic. This really made it fun for me who was sometimes frustrated by my demanding mom. To anyone watching, he appeared perfectly professional but he was quietly acknowledging his awareness that my mom was being unreasonable. I really hope that any management reading this will understand how grateful I was!

For myself, I was particularly impressed with the international menu options featuring things that were spicier, more exotic and less well-known to North-American palates. Breakfast options were varied every day and servers were always happy to do their best getting special requests like "bacon extra-crispy" or substitutions right. Server Yuli slipped me some Sambal Olek from her personal stash because the only hot sauce condiment was Tabasco. That was some terrific customer service!

The buffet was not my favourite place to dine as I prefer the quiet of restaurant-style meals but when ship was in port or during off-peak hours, I really enjoyed the vegetarian and Asian selections which featured lots of delicious Indian, Chinese and Indonesian offerings.

During our cruise we tried Jasmine Chinese restaurant one time. My parents liked it but honestly, the presentation and texture of the food seemed dull to me. The cubed chicken was so uniformly cut up that it looked factory pre-processed and tasted of freezer-burn. Emelinda, our server was excellent as was all of the staff. She even showed us some pictures of her country and how beautiful it was. She was very nice to speak with so overall, I enjoyed the experience at that restaurant.

We also went to Cagney's steakhouse for one steak dinner. Yes, the grade of meat used was discernibly superior to that used in the main dining and buffet and the price was a good value for comparable specialty restaurants on other ships but to me, the service and presentation at all the restaurants was so high quality that there was no real difference dining at Cagney's vs. dining in a main dining room. I also thought that the dark lighting and thinly-shear-curtained view of the jogging track was comical. Just put some blackout curtains and spare us the spandex bottoms careening past, please.

Full points for the concept of O'Sheehan's Pub! This was the place where I always felt comfortable. Waking up jet-lagged in the middle of the night, I could go there to get a snack. Passing by gorgeous scenery on a cold and windy day, I could take my binoculars to look out the huge windows without mussing my hair or getting a runny nose. Again, the quality of the service and the food choices were excellent. I also liked being able to hear the entertainment in the main atrium without being right in the middle of the crowd. I liked the location on deck 8 being accessible from both the mid-ship and aft elevators. This made it really accessible for my mom too. Getting down to the wheelchair-friendly deck 6 Grand Pacific entrance was always a tiny inconvenience because only one elevator car among 4 stopped at that level.

Ports of Call
The itinerary was well balanced between at-sea and port days. Having the overnight at Reykjavik really gave excellent opportunity to visit many of the far-flung attractions that Iceland has to offer.

It's always difficult to anticipate the requirements of differently-abled travelers especially when dealing with ports of call in countries with varying sensitivity to the needs of those with mobility issues. I think that the "Special Needs at Sea" team still has a way to go with analysing the difficulties that people might have. We received communications that disembarkation assistance would be possible but we had trouble getting assistance, we often had trouble making our way out without using stairs and using the gangways. Taxi stands described as "a short walk away" in Invergordon were too far for my dad to push my mom in a wheelchair. Wouldn't it be possible to have a taxi dispatcher with a walkie-talkie call for a cab to come to the bus-loading area for those in need?

This is in no way a critical comment to the way that NCL handled the majority of special needs issues, just an idea. I really feel that the NCL staff were always helpful and sympathetic in this regard and as cruisers with limitations, we should understand that not all ports of call will be easy to access.

As a matter of fact, I really would like to commend the "Special Needs at Sea" team for helping us with the scooter problems that were in no way their fault but they stepped up so that my mom could fully enjoy her cruise.

Onboard Activities, Services and Entertainment
Personally, I rarely attend the organised activities on board. I am usually travelling solo and don't care much for loud music, flashy stage-shows or napkin-folding lessons. However, for completeness in this review, I'll make mention of what I can.

Trivia sessions were held daily mornings and afternoons. It was mandatory that I attend as part of the arrangement I made with my parents in exchange for my passage fare! These were fun and I have to say that my mom really connected with Sheree who had only just recently joined the Jade and I would like to make a special mention of "Nacho"'s talent making for a hilarious half-hour every time he hosted.

I enjoyed the set-up of the fitness studio but only participated in one class. I probably would have used it more had I been alone. The changing area only had one toilet and one shower which would be enough for the gym users but there was no changing area for the pool which I could not understand at all. On this itinerary, there were precious few folks using the pool so it was never a problem but it definitely would have made a difference for my comfort on a Caribbean cruise.

The card room and library looked nice but I never used them. I was a little annoyed when people took up space in the buffet playing cards so maybe the card room needs a bit more publicity to make people aware of it.

The spa sales people and drink servers were not overly pushy. They would politely ask if I needed something but would not be aggressive after a "no, thank you." I actually enjoyed talking to them when they weren't busy and the exceptional scenery on the voyage often brought them on deck to see exactly what I was looking at so we had lots to talk about. I'm really not much of a drinker and I couldn't justify the expense of the alcohol on board. I might have ordered three drinks and a cup of ginger tea the whole trip and was pretty disappointed with my $13 Irish Coffee which was served in a tiny goblet rather than the tankard I expected.

I attended one comedy show in the gorgeous Spinnaker Lounge. It was exactly the sort of cruise ship comedy that one would expect and that's all I need to say about that but everyone else seemed to like it so I'm the odd man out. None of the live music made my ears bleed and I actually enjoyed the piano music that was broadcast between entertainers. It was played at a volume that was never too intrusive.

Around the pool, admittedly, the music was too loud at certain times of day and at those times, you would not find me there because of it.

Due to my special interests in snorkelling and wildlife observation there were no NCL shore excursions that really fit my profile. I was very kindly helped by the shore excursion team to try to get on a whale-watching tour waiting list but ultimately, could not participate because it was complete. Pre-cruise, I did find that the shore excursions were a little too expensive for me so I didn't pre-book. I was able to find shore excursions directly from the providers in Norway, Scotland and Iceland that suited me and were in my price-range so I took the risk.

It would have been interesting to have a naturalist on board to describe a little bit about the geological formations, sea-birds, midnight sun phenomenon or give other talks of a scientific or historic nature. However, that's just me...maybe most people really like bingo more.

Places to hide
Not many reviews feature this helpful information but for those of us less social cruisers, it's good stuff to know!

Outside on Deck 13 starboard side, forward. This was a favourite hidey-hole for observation. There is a wind-screen that cuts off a good deal of wind, a sloping ramp that provides a bit of back support when sitting and slats in the plexiglass for photography or binoculars. There is not too much action here near the door leading to the Spinnaker lounge. The Chapel on the port side uses this space so there is no symmetry. This is the one and only spot of its kind on the Jade!

Outside on Deck 14 forward. This area is labelled Quiet Zone which it is not because of the wind and proximity to the ship's horn but at least there weren't a lot of people there.

Bridge Viewing are on Deck 11 port side. Wow! What a concept. A place to safely view the goings-on on the bridge and see what's up ahead. I loved this spot to look for whales without the noise and distraction of the Spinnaker Lounge activities.

Middle section of O'Sheehan's Pub. The hostess would seat diners on the port and starboard sides at booths and tables. In the center section were cozy chairs and benches and stools overlooking the atrium. This was a nice area that didn't have tons of traffic.

Conclusion
The highlight of this trip was being treated so well by the experienced and enthusiastic staff and crew-members from embarkation to disembarkation. There were no mentions of cleanliness in my review because everything was so perfect and consistent that I forgot to even say so!

As loyal Royal Caribbean-Celebrity-Azamara cruisers we didn't find any major differences and even preferred some of the new discoveries we made on NCL.

Friday, May 25th 2018 - LHR to Southampton, U.K.

Travel tip!
Flying on a Thursday will likely be less crowded than on a Friday. Our plane was only about a third full and because my folks were "special assistance" passengers they blocked the "middle" seats in the 3-3-3 configuration for us.

I took the window, mom and dad enjoyed the aisle seats and British Airways kept us well-fed and entertained for the five-ish hour flight to Heathrow. The safety video was cute and featured cameos of cinema hotties like Thandie Newton, Gillian Anderson and Sir Ian McKellen. ROWR!

Mom watched old episodes of Fawlty Towers and Mr. Bean and I relished in all sorts of French-Saunders-Lumley pursuits from a compilation called 300 years of French and Saunders to classic AbFab and a cute documentary called  Absolutely Champers where Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley visit the Champagne region of France to learn all about bubbly.

A chicken curry, a cup of proper tea, a bacon butty and boom we've made it to England.

I disembarked ahead of my folks and waited for the crew to assist them up the jetway but then they said "please wait here," and took away the airport wheelchair my dad used. Since my mom had her own wheelchair, she was fine but my poor dad was stranded. We talked to an official-looking lady who had a walkie-talkie and we thought she called the electric car to get us but after 15 minutes my dad just decided to hoof it. It was a bit of a schlep for him but at least I pushed mom. Just as we made it to the customs and immigration area, some special assistance agents found us and guided us to the wheelchair lane where there were chairs and no queuing.

This is where I began to mutter snarky retorts in response to mom's constant chattering in order to amuse my father.  He has gotten really good at ignoring her but I have yet to develop this kind of prophylactic selective hearing loss to preserve my sanity.

"I wonder what E.U. means..." she exclaimed as she noticed the signs routing people with U.K. or E.U. passports. My response: "Extremely Unintelligent".

Of course this passed over her head because she was already making goo-goo eyes at some little kid or somebody's flashy bracelet or asking someone with a turban if they are Sikh. Oy.

A porter helped to get our luggage at the baggage claim and we met the driver that my dad had pre-arranged to take us to the cruise ship terminal an hour and a half away.

Philip was an extremely tall and dapper man wearing a three-piece suit. Fancy schmancy. Not a hair was out of place and he expertly loaded all of our gear into his comfortable Mercedes van. There were bottles of water, foofy soft blankets and little hard candies waiting for us. We really liked Philip a lot. He was so personable and he quickly clued in that we were animal lovers as my mom made sure to loudly announce the species of every beastie in every green field we passed.

Of course we were tired but excitement kept a steady flow of adrenaline maintaining our eyes in the open position as we pulled into the embarkation area and handed over our suitcases to the Norwegian Cruise staff. Then we got my mom's Lambo! A bright red electric scooter with a jaunty basket and a bumper sticker that says "born to bingo." Ok, it didn't say that but knowing the demographic of its target customer, the hire company might do well to add one.

We said goodbye to Philip and he promised to take us on a longer tour for the trip back to the airport. My mom asked if he could bring along his seven dogs. *sigh* Chatty mom flurfy floofs words which make no sense but I'm the only one irritated by it.

Check-in went relatively smoothly but as we snaked slowly up the inclined gangway to board, the scooter kept conking out. We weren't sure if it wasn't thoroughly charged or if it was the steep angle or some kind of defect but the little red engine just literally could not even. We threw momma from the scooter and back into her own chair and left the scooter with a terminal employee who somehow got it onboard. With a great deal of stress we figured out that if the speed setting was reduced to its lowest, we could use it but with all the throngs of passengers that wasn't ideal so we found a lovely place to settle until our stateroom was ready: O'Sheehan's pub!

Norwegian Cruise line has a winner with this idea. It's a 24-hour dining option with a full menu of snacks and pub-fare like hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and shepherd's pie. Other cruise ships have insufferable "food doldrums" where it's too early for the dining room and too late for the buffet and you have to order room service which is a crap-shoot. The servers and hostesses were wonderful and let us hang out for as long as we wanted. My poor daddy's adrenaline reserves were totally depleted and he narcolepsied sitting upright.

Thankfully, we got the go-ahead to find our stateroom but I screwed up. For some reason, I thought our room number was 10513 and I "incorrected" my dad telling him he was going to the wrong side. Whoops. He knew exactly where to go to find our actual room 10153 starboard aft but he trusted and followed me all over hell's half acre. Sorry daddy. This became a recurring theme. My lesson has been learned. I'm a smart-ass know-it-all kid that doesn't have anywhere near the life and travel experience that my dad does. If I don't end up incarcerated for bullying my mother, I'll be happy to let my dad lead on the next adventure!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

My father gave me my passion for travel and nothing pleases him more than to share it with me. My first time in a plane, I was all of three months old.

He took us kids everywhere and then usually popped a fishing rod into our hands. In Plattsburgh, New York we dug up our own worms for bait, we stayed in remote lodges four hours into the woods and across a desolate lake as the crow flies from Chibougamou to catch walleye, he took us cod jigging in Caraquet, New Brunswick and after we landed huge salmon in Alaska, he paid their airfare back to Montreal to get them smoked into bagel topping!

We've made memories at sea from Juneau to Miami catching little tiny sunfish and a 6 ft 4" Golden Hammerhead shark that's still stuffed and mounted proudly in his office.

I have only my dad to thank for my love of travel and of aquatic life.

I also have a mother. My mom has had knee and back problems for as long as I can remember and now at age 72, can only walk for short distances using a cane and is mostly confined to a wheelchair.
My dad's ankle was shattered many years ago and it still gives him trouble when he overexerts himself so now he breaks all the tortoise land-speed records with ease but man, I need to go into cryostasis to keep to his man-of-leisure pace.

Knowing all of this will help you get into the mind-frame of me wanting to get to the departure level before them to help with the luggage and mother-shuttling. I opted to take our handy 747 public transit airport bus.

My home city, Montreal is a chaotic hellscape in any summer. Any and all construction must necessarily be done during the months when there is no snow. Additionally, the massive overhaul of our Expo-67 era Turcot Interchange has reduced our highway system to looking like the set of a post apocalyptic film. Inside joke for the locals: Mad Max Beyond Thunder Vendôme!

Half-demolished high rise overpasses tower over the piles of rubble below. Their twisted re-bar reaches out like rusty claws almost scraping the commuters inching along the temporarily narrowed for construction lanes. The normally 45 minute trip took an hour and a half! Luckily, the diesel fumes and pollution numbed my perception of the horrible scenery.

I finally made it in time to greet my folks and their suitcases and their wheelchair and their CPAP machines and their extra hand luggage for all the disabled-people necessaries like pills and pee-pads and god knows what else. Oh and did I mention that my mom has mobility issues? WITH HER MOUTH? She cannot easily make her mouth stop talking. Like ever.

I suddenly remembered why I usually travel solo with my little systems, my ability to change plans without consulting anyone, my finicky preferences never an inconvenience. Alas, it was too late to back out now! We rolled the bags, we rolled the mom in one chair and got one for the dad to roll in too! The British Airways staff were superlatively happy to help. They laughed at me rolling my eyes at my rolling mom with her chatty banter. My dad was as patient as a saint and just calmly let it all happen because he was in his zone. That peaceful place of travel. He could have just as well been in the middle of Lac Lacroix at dusk when the wind picks up and the walleye all suddenly start to bite.

Fish on! Let's roll!

A trip of a different colour

Every year for the past 10 years or so, my parents have taken a family trip with my sister and her clan.

They usually take off during standard school breaks over the winter when my work is particularly hectic. They always invite me and save for one fun trip to Bermuda, I've had to politely decline.

This year, they invited me to Asia for a cruise visiting Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. It was impossible for me to join them in February. I was bummed. When they got back, they had an email waiting for them. May & June itineraries to ports that we could all enjoy. "Next year, can you aim for one of these?"

Well, my ever-generous dad did me one better and said we should do one this year. And with the same Midas touch that always grants him "dream-spots" when parking, he stumbled upon a great offer from Norwegian Cruise Lines. Basically, the third person in the room was free and I just had to pay for my airfare, port taxes, tips and any extras like shore excursions. WOW!

Our itinerary was slated to begin in Southampton, England, then a day at sea with two stops in Norway, a visit to the Shetland Islands, a sea day en route to Reykjavik where we would have two full days followed by a stop at Akureyri, Iceland, another sea day followed by stops in Orkney Islands, Scotland, Invergordon, Edinburgh and one last sea day before returning to Southampton. Two weeks, three countries and one happy girl.

Fort Charlotte, Lerwick, Shetland Islands, U.K.

So those of you who have followed my previous adventures know that I'm usually solo and usually *in* the water rather than *on* it. This was a trip of a different colour but there was room for all kinds of experiences. If you care to, please follow along for more blog entries. I'll be telling you about how impressed I was with the staff and services onboard Norwegian Jade, the wonders to be seen in Scotland, the abundant wildlife and fun beach and snorkelling I found in Iceland and of course, whales!

How could I do a trip report without some mention of whales, right?

There might also be some humorous anecdotes about my mother. Sweet lady, totally wack though.

Apple don't fall far from the tree. Okay, I'm dusting off my travel-writing pen. More to come!

Teach your children well

This blog entry is only tangentially travel-related.
It's really more of a rant as I wallow in the doldrums between trips.

Today, I overheard this on my metro commute to work.

"Excuse me, could you please remove your backpack? Regretfully, I cannot remove my breasts."

I overheard it in my own mind because I reeeallly wanted to say it out loud. In both official languages.

Every day is a struggle between me and users of our public transit system. My grey hair is my passport to deliver this grumpy old-lady diatribe about the uncultured youth of today.

The real issue is that so many kids in my city are not even allowed to ride the city-bus or subway until they have graduated high-school. Their parents drive them everywhere and never give them the opportunity to learn by observation while their brains are still in that crucial phase of cerebral plasticity.

So here you go, parents. These are some handy flash cards to present to your kidlings before they are subjected to my cranky granny death stare of contempt.

1. One hand on the pole, please. When you lean your whole body or wrap your arm around the pole, you take up too much real estate. Afraid of germs? Wear a damn mitten!
2. Aside from those sardine can moments when you have no choice, please move into the subway car away from the door unless you intend to disembark at the next stop. If you are in the doorway, you can exit to let others off and then re-board. If you stand in the doorway like a nudnik, I will not be kind.
3. Same rules apply when entering the train. Stand away from the door and wait your turn until people exit. Who do you think I am, Moses? I can't part your stupid kids like the Red Sea!
4. Another subway platform peeve is when people are neither waiting along the wall or right at the edge. You need to leave a lane for folks to make their way to either end of the station.
5. See above re: backpacks. Put them on floor, on your shoes or hold them in your hand. You leave them on your back and they are smashing my breasticles or grazing the faces of seated passengers.

There. I think I've covered all the bases. Any questions?