While the Northsea is the biggest nature expanse in the Netherlands, very few actually get to see it underwater in real life. Being part of this media project allowed for some incredible encounters which I never would have thought would be possible in the Northsea. We documented the foodweb from plankton, to foundational fish species like sandeels, up to minke whales and giant basking sharks - and all of that in the Northsea. The approach to shoot more of the ecosystem instead of singular species made for a very interesting approach to the project. It required different skills in diving, from freediving to technical diving. From flying drones to operating telelenses and super macro shots to wide angle photography. For this project we travelled throughout the UK, Norway, Denmark, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Various NGO's cooperated in an attempt to clean up many of the remaining lost cargo. 

NGO Duik de Noordzee Schoon put extra effort in localising hotspots where debris was still present.

Multiple diving expeditions have been organized (even through the Corona pandemic) to recover remaining cargo, which otherwise would slowly decompose into smaller particles.

Here is a trailer of one of the expeditions:

Local whale hunting in the Azores started due to the American whalers that visited the islands on stopovers to whaling grounds in the worlds oceans.

Halfway through the 19th century that local hunt florished. In 1890 in total 33 Portugese companies were hunting sperm whales of which most were located on the island of Pico.

The hunt in the Azores never grew as industrial as elsewhere, although also in the Azores machines supported the whaling industry in its hay days.

Azoreans have for example never used grenade harpoons which were used heavily and mortally effective by other whaling nations.

In the Azores so called Vigia's (spotters) would signal the arrival of whales. Their lookouts are placed on the steep hill sides of the volcanic islands, sometimes even located in between the islands worldfamous vineyards.

In the early days fireworks would be lit and later radio's were used to transmit the news of the arrival of the whales.

Once the news reached the whalers they would leave their day job (many were for example baker or carpenter by profession next to being a whaler) to go and hunt the whales.

Specifically designed whaling boats from the Azores would go after the whales using sails and oares to get (silently) close to the whales.

A harpoon would be thrown to fasten the boat to the whale. Once the whale would dive the whalers would allow it to take line.

Sometimes the dive would be so deep that the line had to be cut to prevent the boat from capsizing.

Other times the whale would only take a limited amount of line which would be cooled by pouring seawater on it.

When the whale would loose its strength lances would be thrown at it in hopes to hit a lung, or better, the heart..

The whales would be brought back to shore by using a motorized vessle where the whales would be processed.

The whalers were mostly after the oil and spermacti that the whales bodies contained.

Of special interest to the whalers was the so called ambergris which was (and still is) used in the production of perfumes.

This by-product of the metabolism of a sperm whale consists of encapsulated squid beaks. Once the whale expells the substance (by vomiting or defecating) the ambergris floats on the surface and hardens.

Nowadays one kilogram of ambergris still fetches a whopping €6000,00!

Other parts of the spermwhale that were used were its blubber and bones.

With the whaling industry a special art called "Scrimshaw" developed and became a common practice in the Azores.

In the Peter Sport Café in Faial one of the largest private collection in the world is on display.

Today, many places where previously the whale industry thrived are now turned into museums. On Pico both in Lajes as well as in Sao Roque you can find museums.

The Sao Roque museum is hosted in the former whale factory and it hosts besides all the machinery used in the process also (most probably) the smallest spermwhale foetus in the world.

The little animal that was taken from the womb of a killed sperm whale cow is only 7 cm long.

On Faial the Porto Pim whaling station is also turned into a museum. It has a great collection items from back in the whaling days as well as an incredible skeleton of a spermwhale.

This whaling museum is also the most modern museum and a must-see for anyone interested in whaling history.

 

Images from this portfolio have been published in the February 2019 edition of Duiken Magazine.

Since the 70´s and 80´s dolphin research has been conducted in the Bahamas. In that same period dolphinaria popped up all over the world and the movie series "Flipper" made its appearance.

Luckily, nowadays we know better and less and less dolphins are kept in captivity.

Treasure hunters looking for galleons and their bounty used sandblowing machines which would clear the sand off wreck sites, but would also stirr fish and other edible creatures.

Dolphins would often happily come and make use of this banquet.

Denise Herzing started her study on dolphins inspired by researchers like Jane Goodall and Dianne Fossey. Goodall and Fossey studied animals in their natural habitat which was exactly what Herzing wanted to do.

The Bahamas was the ideal study location due to its shallow, warm waters with excellent visibility.

Due to the duration of the research the Bahamian dolphin population is probably the best documented dolphin community in the world.

Luckily for us, over time the dolphins of the Bahamas have become very much used to people in their surroundings.

Especially the Atlantic Spotted dolphins seem to enjoy interaction with humans, probably helped by the abundance of prey which allows them more time to go and have fun..

A special moment during our recent trip was when we encountered a group of bottlenose dolphins "craterfeeding" in about 12 meters of water.

Never had our experience in freediving come in handy so well.

Two male bottlenose dolphins came to check us out after they had sent off the babies and female dolphins.

Once we were accepted they uninterruptedly continued their foraging behavior.

Craterfeeding is incredible and the bottlenose dolphins are so well equipped for the job.

It was pretty damn cool to see how the bottlenose dolphins shaped the underwater landscape with their behavior.

Research also documented that nurse sharks and dolphins have a rather special relationship.

Often we would find nurse sharks following the dolphins as they discard the leftovers of their catch (yes, pretty fuzzy eaters, those dolphins...).

Nurse sharks are the vaccuumcleaners, cleaning the ocean floor after the dolphins!

Lastly we also encountered quite a bit of plastic in the sea. One of the Atlantic spotted dolphins was playing with a single-use plastic bag.

We´d rather see them play with seaweed (which often happens with for example Sargassum weed) than with this disgusting black plastic bag.

The dolphin actually had quite a bit of trouble removing the bag from its mouth since it kept swimming forward which made the plastic float into its mouth..

Luckily it released the bag which Sandy quickly confiscated to be disposed off properly.

Groundbreaking research on the Southern Right Whales was conducted in Patagonia by the famous scientist named Roger Payne. We visited the research station which is located on a remote beach on a stretch of land owned by the Argentinian Navy. Roger Payne was not the least of whale researchers. Roger discovered in 1967 that humpback whales actually sing and played an important role in ending commercial whaling. Roger pioneered the research that now is continued by Mariano Sironi and other scientists.

The research station still contains many of Rogers belongings. It was amazing to see with how much care Mariano handled the belongings of the family Payne, as if they could return any time. For us it was great to have a look into whale research history. The original catalog in which the very first identified whale was recorded, took us right back to 1967.

Genetics research has also reached this remotely located research station although some logistical issues had to be overcome. The research team showed us the steel container which was filled with liquid nitrogen and was holding the samples they had collected. Fun fact: the little packages in which the whaleskin/blubber are stored, are actually created from an ordinary panty hose!

The catalog also contained small B&W images of right whale heads, which were (and still are) used to identify whales. Nowadays the matching is done using software, but imagine how that must have been in the old days! The white patches on the top and sides of the heads of right whales are used to identify individual whales. These patches are formed by small crustaceans called ciamids (aka whale lice) that stick to calluses. The density of the colony of these animals is imense and only visible from close range. Apparently there are three types of Ciamids which vary in color. On adult whales you will find the white ciamids, but on dying or injured whales as well as on young calfs orange ciamids are found (check out one of the photos in the portfolio above). Ciamids have never been found elsewhere so are assumed to exclusively live on whales for the duration of their lives. 

One of the most special things we observed during our stay were two almost completely white calfs and their mothers in the Golfo Nuevo. The two white calfs belong to a special few calfs that are born each year in Patagonia. The calfs are actually partial albino's, meaning that they will not stay white all of their lives. The calves have a shortage of pigmentation, but mostly turn grey (sometimes even black) already in their first year. It literally was a dream come true to photograph this special "freak" of nature...

All images have been taken under permit of the government of the province of Chubut.

Images of this portfolio have been featured in an article of the August 2018 edition of Duiken magazine.

Pilot whales are easy to find because they are very particular about their habitat, most probably due to prey abundance in a specific area (they eat mostly squid). 

This makes them an ideal target species for whale watch companies. Whale watching therefore has become a very popular pastime on the busy tourist island of Tenerife.

More and more whale watch vessles (both legal and illegal operators), jet-ski's and giant highspeed ferries plow through this cetacean habitat daily.

Recently researchers have taken up the task of finding out how much impact accoustic polution and human pressure in general have on the stress levels of this population of pilot whales.

Since pilot whales rely largely on sound, especially for finding their prey in the deep sea, they might be more affected than other species.

We are very curious as to what the results will be!

Interested? Follow Asociacion Tonina that is running this research.

Images of this portfolio have been published in the September 2017 edition of Duiken magazine.

All images have been taken under permit.

As mentioned, the key driver behind all this is Planeta Oceano. The NGO is working hard to conserve and restore coastal marine environments by engaging stakeholders like the local communities, but also governmental organizations and other NGO's. We followed its interns and volunteers on the beaches, inside schools and on the sea to document their work.

With Planeta Oceano's dedication and guidance a group of fishermen currently is starting up their ecotourism tours for viewing the mantas and other wildlife in the sea. Many already provide necessary data for the ongoing research efforts of the organization. Sightings of manta rays are recorded and relayed when they are observed. Mantas that get entangled are now released. In case a manta has been accidentally killed in a fishing net then fishermen are urged to share samples for DNA research.

The Manta Club program is focused on Peru's new generations. Making schoolkids more aware of the manta rays and their place in the marine ecosystem should enforce strong committment to the conservation of this species. Volunteers and interns of Planeta Oceano visit schools to talk to the schoolkids about manta rays. Periodically interns measure the knowledge of these schoolkids to assess the programs success. School teachers are happy with the opportunity to teach the kids about the Peruvian wildlife with teaching material provided for Manta Club. Older schoolkids can even join the organization during visits to fishermen to talk about their relationship with the sea and the animals that live in it.

In the meantime Zorritos, which is at the hart of the foraging area of the Manta Rays is turned into Manta Capital by local artists. The son of one of the fishermen has create some amazing murals showing what this town cares about; the mantas.

But, manta rays are not the only giants that inhabit the marine environment around Tumbes. Seasonally giant humpback whales and whalesharks frequent the area. Humpbacks come here to mate and to give birth to their offspring. While mother and calf pairs use these waters for resting and nursing, other whales participate in boisterous heatruns to make up which male is able to mate with a female.

Whalesharks gulp up thousands of liters of plankton rich seawater in the thick green inshore waters, much like the mantas do. Just like mantas they are ramfilter feeders, which means they swim for hours on end with open mouth to filter food from the seawater. The actual filtering of plankton is done using filter pads while the water is pushed out through their gills.

That the work of NGO's like Planeta Oceano is far from over is to be seen in the area. Starting up ecotours from scratch is a longterm process, but the potential is there and the willingness too. Also more is to be learned about the mantas and the way they use these waters, so research is expected to continue in the near future. 

I feel that NGO's in the North of Peru have more to worry about though. Artisanal fishermen complained more than once during our visit about the offshore corporate steered fishing fleets that empty Peru's waters. Fish that do not seem to be destined for Peruvian markets are taken from the Pacific and end up in fishmeal or fishoil.  Usually it is destined for foreign markets like (as all too often) China's. Such overfishing by large industrial fishing fleets offshore, but also the oil and gas industry are known threats to marine wildlife. Lastly, new construction work along the shoreline show a growth of tourism in the Tumbes area with potential negative impact on its wildlife. 

The fires on two big platforms offshore from Zorritos burn bright through the night, while a big tanker awaits her filling on offshore moorings closeby. The oil and gas field off Tumbes is so rich that already new plans have been made to invest in more platforms. In the meantime proposals for making marine reserves in the oil rich area are opposed by oil companies in fear of loss of their investments. With a history of corruption it is not unlikely to think that decisions for development in the area are not taken with all perspectives in mind. Needless to say, a disaster like the oil spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico would be devastating for both wildlife as for the many thousands of locals that make their home along the Pacific shoreline.

With a growing ecotourism sector that is going to be able to prove its value I hope decisions for further development of the Tumbes coastline are taken with its wildlife in mind too. I am sure that NGO's like Planeta Oceano are able to make the voice of the Giant Mantas heard in these debates..

Please also find this blogpost about our time in Tumbes.

Update 03-20-2017 - Images of this portfolio were published in the April edition of Duiken Magazine.

Update 28-05-2017 - An image of this portfolio was published in National Geographic.

Divers cut free large parts of a variety of fishing gear (amongst which deadly gillnets) that continue taking a toll on marine life. Ghostfishing is a problem encountered in the NorthSea all too often.

More then once divers get stuck underwater because of the ravel of thick fishing line, much like the animals that also become entangled in the mess we people leave behind.

After the nets are cut free from the wreck sites the divers either put lifting balloons on the nets themselves or they use former postal bags to transport the material to the surface. 

Once lifted on the ship's deck the bags are weighed first to be able to keep track of the amount of removed nets.

Biologists then cooperate with other divers to analyze the life that is found on the removed fishing nets. The different species encountered are analyzed, estimated and samples are taken. 

Most of the time the nets contain a large amount of fishing tackle that sportfishermen have lost when fishing on the wreck sites.

When all analysis is done the nets are put in bigbags, ideally on the helicopter deck since the smell is almost unbearable!

With its incredible passionate team of voluntary support divers, biologists, archeologists and cinematographers the expedition salvaged approximately 2000kg of lost fishing gear.

The debate on the causes of the Crise Requin on Reunion Island is a difficult one. The most accurate way of putting it would be that nobody knows exactly why the attacks happen more often.

People that said they knew the exact reason seemed to be stating wrong explanations or only telling part of the truth. There are however many reasons that I have heard regularly and some of them make more sense than others.

The elimination of the larger sharks on drumlines (mostly bull and tiger sharks, but recently even a Great White shark) is a controversial method that is met with increasing resistance. Resistance is growing due to its tendency to create unwanted bycatch and the already unsustainable levels of overfishing on shark species worldwide. Also, many people state that the drumlines with bait actually bring in sharks from a distance and therefore actually increase the risk of interactions with sharks.

On top of that removing the sharks from the ocean is also negatively affecting shark populations regionally. The sharks from Reunion Island have been tracked to the Southern African coastline were a vibrant shark tourism industry is present. Needless to say shark operators on the African continent are not pleased with the fact that the sharks they make their profit from are killed elsewhere. 

Finally, biologists and scientists indicate that these sharks play a vital role in the marine ecosystem around Reunion and taking them out could well make matters worse..

Please also find the following blogpost on the Crise Requin.