Splash Spring 2021

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SPRING 21

YOUR VeRY OWN WDC ADOPTION MAGAZINE

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ThEY'Re MAKING A BUBBLE NEt

r e v e l c w o h t u o d n fi

H U M P B A C K S have learned catch fish TO

it's SPERM WhALE ACCRA & HeR FAMILY BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN

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Cover, 1

MEET th e WhALES & DOLPhINS YOU ADOPt

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Let’s make your pictures

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Hi everyone

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y goodness, you have been busy fundraising for WDC in so many clever ways!

Thank you on behalf of all the whales and dolphins that you are helping.

How far would you walk for whales k and dolphins? Have a look at the bac page and learn how you can join The WDC Great Migration and be entered

Take a photo of your art and email it to splash@whales.org INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND AGE WITH ANYTHING YOU SEND IN

Humpback by Megan (7) Spirit by nya (10)

Mischief by Joy (10)

Spirit by Elaine (7)

Fife’s family

by Emily (7)

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into our prize draw.

Find out all about sperm whale e family life and their cultures on pag le 12. And read about the incredib singing abilities of humpback whales

Fife by

Bertie (11)

on page 10.

I’m sure you agree that Spriggan (Celtic for spirit) is a perfect name for Spirit’s baby. Enjoy catching up with all your dolphin and whale adoption friends in this issue of Splash!

Fife by

Lucy (7)

Rainbow by Nell (6)

Orca by Arun (8)

Rainbow and Charlie by Alfie (7) Bend by

GET IN TOUCH BECOME A DOLPHIN DEFENDER 2 SPLASH!

BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN

Felicity (10 )

Spirit and baby

by Naomi (7)

Well done to our keen fundraisers

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upporters Eloise (7) £14 and Florence (9) raise 7 raised £147 by doing d! chores and selling cakes they Florence baked themselves.

Isabella (11) (adopts Fife) and Eloise and Ruben (8) (adopts Midnight) raised £150 for WDC by making and selling whale and dolphin magnets.

0 £1i5 d! e s Julian (10) raised a r £165 by putting together Isabella and selling a booklet of cookie and Ruben recipes that are plastic-free and, most importantly, 100% whale and dolphin friendly.

Nina (6) raised £423 by completing a sponsored beach clean in Fife to help protect £165 raised! whales and dolphins, while asking people to use less plastic in general.

Julian

£423

raise d!

£40

raised!

Austin

He did it!

Congratulations Austin for achieving your Dolphin Defenders Award! Austin (7) adopts Midnight and raised £40 by selling some of his books on his school website. He Become a WDC completed many activities for his ! We Dolphin Defender award including the quiz, a poster ard aw will send you an about keeping plastic out of the sea r ou and enter you into and a whale talk at school to raise whales. prize draw. Go to awareness among other children. ders org/dolphindefen

Nina

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Let's Make a Splash, 1

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FInD out What your aDoPTeD Whales anD DolPhInS are getting uP tO

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disappearing dolphins

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always see fewer dolphins from Chanonry in the winter months. Sometimes days go by without a single dorsal fin in sight!

I did receive a report of a group of around 15 dolphins seen in the Dornoch Firth and also near .

Burghead, and Spirtle was with them During December, I saw smaller of groups of dolphins appearing out ting the fog at Chanonry and then mel away again before I could focus my camera on them.

Hopefully this year will be full of dolphin action and as soon as lockdown ends I will be able to share plenty of good news about your adoption dolphins.

WhERe To SpOT DOlPHiNS

INNER MORAY H TH RT FIR

Indigo the roVer

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ndigo tends to roam far and wide, unless he’s checking up on his mum, Rainbow, and his little brother or sister, so you can literally spot him anywhere up and down the Moray Firth coast.

He now has a very recognisable nick on his fin and a few lighter coloured bite and scrape marks, which make him easier to identify.

Indigo has been spending a lot of time with Charlie and I also spotted him with Mini-Fin, Flake and Clyde.

They were heading into Rosemarkie Bay and small fish were scattering and leaping out of the water trying to escape from them.

FACT FILE: Indigo’s top jaw is, unusually, longer than his bottom one. He inherited this from his mum Rainbow.

Dornoch Firth Cromarty Firth

SPey Bay BurgheaD

Chanonry Point

river Beauly

Kessock Channel

Cromarty

By Charlie PhilliPs

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baby love

We’re thrilled to announce the name of Spirit’s youngest – Spriggan (Celtic for spirit). A big thank you to everyone who took part.

WDC/CHARLIE PHILLIPS

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Dolphin Diaries, 1

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Charlie the teenaGer

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harlie has been a bit unpredictable recently and trying to find out where he is at any given time has not been easy.

His mum, Kesslet, hasn’t been seen in a long time and Charlie has stopped making regular visits to the Kessock Channel or Inverness Harbour area.

I did see him at Chanonry, hunting salmon

right up until the end of the season. He also likes hanging out with other teenagers and adult males, hunting herring and sprats to keep their strength up.

I’m confident Charlie will be one of the first dolphins I see at Chanonry Point this spring. He’ll be eagerly waiting and ready for action when the salmon return on the rising tides.

FACT FILE: Charlie is 13 years old and a typically boisterous teenager. He has plenty of scratches and scrapes as a result of play fighting.

Rainbow the hoMe lOver

I Spirit the mother

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was delighted to see Spirit on my last boat trip of the year. Luckily the sea was flat calm.

Spirit and her youngest, Spriggan, were swimming along with her older daughter, Shimmer, and her youngster. They all looked healthy and were heading for the entrance of the Cromarty Firth.

The Lighthouse Field Station team also saw Spirit and Spriggan from their research boat.

They were swimming with some other dolphins out at sea just north of the big cliffs called The Sutors.

haven’t spotted Rainbow and her little baby recently but I’m hoping they will swim past me, side by side, very soon as I watch out for them from the beach at Chanonry Point.

In the past Rainbow has visited Chanonry regularly during the winter months, usually

as part of a group looking for food. I am anxious to see if her little one is okay. Sadly, one of Rainbow’s friends, Sickle, lost her baby this winter.

I have seen Rainbow’s older son, Indigo, with some other teenagers causing havoc near Eathie – typical!

FACT FILE: Rainbow’s dark eyelids are fading and getting lighter as she gets older.

FACT FILE: Spirit lives up to her name as she is a lively and energetic dolphin.

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CANADA

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e were all very busy in 2020. OrcaLab had a much smaller team than usual, due to the pandemic, but we managed to keep listening and looking out for orcas. We also gave OrcaLab a new look – with a brand new wooden deck, better listening equipment and more reliable power – thanks to you, our supporters!

USA

Fife SPEAKING UP

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Simoom CALLING OUT

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t was exciting to hear Simoom’s distinctive calls when her family came close to OrcaLab at the end of September.

They didn’t stick around for long and it was a month later before they returned again.

Simoom and her whole family were all looking very well.

They spent some time checking out the entire area but clearly couldn’t find enough salmon to eat here, because they soon departed once again to try to find food in other waters.

ife’s family spent the whole of September here. They were accompanied by the A25 family: Surge, Cordero and her baby Twilight.

At first Fife seemed quiet but he soon became more talkative.

One day the group were breaching repeatedly.

BY HELENA SYMONDS & PAUL SPONG Something was about to happen. Sure enough, two days later we heard Simoom and Holly nearby.

Fife’s family went to meet them and they soon headed away to the north.

FACT FILE: Fife has not had a chance to meet his sister Corky yet. She is still kept in a tank by the captivity industry, separated from her family.

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FACT FILE: Simoom is a mother of fiv , with Echo, Misty, Eclipse, Rainy and Hope. She also has five grandchildren.

Bend CENTRE OF ATTENTION

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end’s family spent most of July and August in our area. Bend had plenty of attention from adult males like Fife and Surge.

Bend’s family put a lot of effort into welcoming visiting pods, reinforcing community bonds among the orcas.

And they love taking part in group rubs.

Over the winter, Bend tends to lead her family into northern waters, but by late spring she will begin to consider bringing them all back here. We can’t wait!

FACT FILE: Bend’s son, Jamieson, is now six years old. He will stay with his mum for life.

Holly WINTER WARMER

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SHARI MANNING, JARED TOWERS, WDC NA

or several years now, Holly has often stayed close to OrcaLab during the winter months.

Last winter she explored the entire Georgia Strait region, north and south, even findin wonderful places to go for a rub. It was April before she

headed back to the north coast. It would be a treat to hear her voice once again on the hydrophones, letting us know she is on her way.

FACT FILE: Holly has a lovely saddle (grey) patch behind her dorsal fin Unusually, it has a black stripe in the middle.

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Orca Odysseys, 1

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Orca Odysseys

ORCALAB IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

s I often dream about the summer day uring our cold New England winters res . In 2020, our whale watching adventu spent with our favourite humpbacks r yea did get out towards the end of the were limited by the pandemic. We the ber of whales preparing to leave for and there were still a surprising num e them back from their migration.

Caribbean. Now I can’t wait to welcom

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BY REGINA ASMUTISSILVIA

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Salt

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OLD FRIEND

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e were thrilled to spot Salt late last year looking happy and healthy.

It was very comforting to see her, a bit like meeting an old friend. We were also the first to discover that Salt has a new grandchild.

Sanchal, Salt’s 12-yearold daughter, is a mum once again. This is Sanchal’s second baby and Salt’s sixteenth grandchild.

FACT FILE: Only three of Salt’s children have had babies, so we are hoping for more soon.

Pepper

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OUT OF SIGHT

epper has dodged whale watchers for a couple of years and continues to swim under the radar. This means it’s impossible for us to know whether or not she has had a new baby since we last photographed her with one by her side in 2015.

Midnight

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It’s a frustrating situation, as we want to know about every single whale to help us better protect them. Hopefully we will spot Pepper again whenever whale watching returns to some kind of normal.

FACT FILE: Pepper’s eldest children are Siete, Tadpole, Paprika, Zenith, Bishop and Habanero.

SONG CONTEST

e last saw Midnight with a baby in 2017.

In the Caribbean she will be making sure she chooses the best male to mate with.

It is very likely that whale song plays a role in this. Many

scientists think males sing to attract females.

Find out more about whale song on page 10.

FACT FILE: One of Midnight’s children has a mainly black tail, just like her, and is named Minuit - French for Midnight.

Reflection

R

SOUND AND SoUNd SAFE ANd SaFE

eflection was spotted safe and sound, feeding here in the Gulf of Maine. She always spends the winter months in the Caribbean breeding grounds.

As Reflection is often one of the

first whales to arrive back here to feed in the spring, she represents the beginning of whale watching season for us.

FACT FILE: Reflection has fiv known children, but we are not sure yet how many are boys or girls.

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Humpback Headlines, 1

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breaching or ph of a huge male orca ra og ot ph le dib re inc is Th Krisztina s taken by photographer wa r te wa e th of ar cle g jumpin ay during the winter.

Balotay in northern Norw s that day and his name ha py m Ju ca or e th ed m Krisztina na including a was with a pod of orcas, py m Ju . ce sin er ev ck stu hools of d feeding together on sc an g llin ve tra re we o wh baby, ern ge numbers in their north lar in d un fo e ar h fis e herring. Th lay their before heading south to coastal wintering waters eggs in the spring. nt of is photo of Jumpy in fro th ok to “I : us ld to a tin Krisz tch rds. It was amazing to wa fjo ’s ay rw No in ain nt ou Dragon M fl ly, above the water and ss tle or eff ly ing em se lf, him lift himse through the air.”

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Did you know?

CAROUSEL FEEDING

⁕ Orca pods in Norway often use a technique known as carousel feeding. ⁕ The pod works together as a team, herding herring into

dense balls close to the surface.

⁕ The orcas then slap with their tails to stun the fish before gobbling them up one at a time.

Autumn 2019 SPLASH! 9

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love songs

play it loud

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Exactly why humpbacks sing is still a mystery. Most people think their singing is related to mating but we don’t know if the males are trying to attract females, or warn off other males, or both.

Did you know that humpback whales can sing? They compose their own extraordinary songs and sing them very loudly, filling the ocean with whale song.

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Whale-voice choir

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TALENTED HUMPBACKS ARE GREAT SINGERS

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vocal acrobatics

All males in the same breeding ground sing the same song, which can be up to half an hour long.

They repeat it over and over for hours at a time. Singers are usually alone and hang upside down in the sea, about 15 to 30m below the surface.

the rhythm section

DID YOU KNOW?

One humpback was recorded singing non-stop for 22 hours.

Talented humpbacks can change their song over time. Some whales alter notes or rhythms and then other whales join in, and gradually all the whales learn the new parts from one another and their song evolves. This is a wonderful example of social learning and whale culture.

surround sound

Some scientists think the songs are a type of biosonar the whales use to investigate their surroundings. The truth is that whales probably have multiple uses for their amazing songs and they are an important part of their culture.

ALAMY

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Whale song, 1

THEME TUNE

As with human songs, humpback songs are very well organised. They contain about eight themes and each theme is made up of patterns of notes. Parts of the song even rhyme.

world music

When people heard whale song for the first time, they were surprised by its other-worldly beauty and campaigned for a ban on whaling.

HUMPBACKS ARE IN TUNE WITH ONE ANOTHER

THE PAUSE BUTTON

In the spring, humpbacks focus on swimming back to their summer feeding grounds. They put their song on hold until the following autumn when they migrate back to the breeding grounds and start singing again, picking up the song where they left off ALAMY

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Family means everythingWHALE WHOSE MEET ACCRA, THE LITTLE SPERVMED ONES LIFE REVOLVES AROUND HER LO

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Aurora, Atwood (an older female relative) and her big brother Allan.

Allan is a teenager and like all males will leave his family to begin a new way of life, exploring faraway oceans.

LONG LIVES

Sperm whales live for around 80 years and some may live to 100. Accra still nurses from Rounder and is totally reliant on her family for survival.

Bringing up a baby sperm whale is definitely a family effort. This morning, Rounder disappeared from sight, headfirst into the deep, to hunt squids.

Accra waited near the surface, where the sea is rough and noisy. She reassured herself by nuzzling against her babysitter, SPERM WHALE Lady Oracle, who FAMILIES HAVE touched Accra THEIR OWN TRADITIONS affectionately with her flipper and let her suckle.

Accra knew she wouldn’t go hungry and

@AMANDA COTTON, DOMINICA SPERM WHALE PROJECT/THESPERMWHALEPROJECT.ORG

I

magine what it’s like to be a sperm whale! You live in the deep ocean and are always on the move, day and night. Nothing in your world stays the same … except for your family.

They are your one and only certainty and they mean everything to you.

Accra is a three-year-old sperm whale, the youngest in her family, who live in Caribbean seas. Females in her family will stay together for life - they are social beings and live communally, ensuring everyone is safe.

Accra’s family includes some wonderful personalities: her mum Rounder, granny Lady Oracle, Auntie

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th as tr ar fro lik ho su

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Sperm whale culture, 1

SPERM WHALES ARE VERY SOCIABLE

A SPERM WHALE IN DOMINICA, AN ISLAND COUNTRY IN THE CARIBBEAN

would be safe with Lady Oracle and Aurora while the others were hunting.

Caribbean sperm whale families have their own ways of doing things, such as how they traditionally babysit, hunt, travel and defend themselves. These are the cultural traditions they learn from one another. Young sperm whales like Accra have most to learn about how to be a sperm whale and how to survive in the Caribbean seas.

clicking with relatives

Families use unique calls, called codas, to recognise each other and stay connected.

Codas are patterns of clicks, such as

“click—click—clickclickclick” or “clickclick-click-click-click”.

Baby Accra babbles away just like a human toddler. It might take her several years to learn her family’s codas without making any mistakes.

It will take Accra even longer to learn all her family’s cultural traditions – but she will, and then one day, hopefully, she will help her own children and younger relatives learn. The sperm whale’s culture is like a set of unique tools they need to solve problems and help them survive.

To learn more about Accra’s family, visit the Dominica Sperm Whale Project at www.thespermwhaleproject.org

whale extremes

Sperm whales: • Have the biggest brain • The males are much bigger than females • Are the biggest creatures with teeth • Have the most powerful biosonar • Have an asymmetrical head with the blow hole on the left • Are one of the deepest and longest divers • Hunt giant squid Spring 2021 SPLASH! 13

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SOME DAM GOOD NEWS FOR SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS

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MORE FOOD FOR ORCAS

SALMON COULD RETURN

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ood news for the endangered Southern Resident orcas who currently struggle to find enough salmon to eat.

Four dams will be removed from rivers in the US which flow into the sea where the orcas live.

Removing the dams will allow these rivers to recover and native salmon to return. Healthy rivers mean healthy salmon populations, which in turn means much more food for the orcas.

CLIENT FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION, SEA LIFE TRUST/PA, SHUTTERSTOCK

the right name for the right whales

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here are only 350 North Atlantic right whales left in the world and they are slipping towards extinction.

To help researchers quickly identify each whale at sea and encourage NEARLY people to get to know the whales that need our help, they are given memorable names.

Galileo has little white dots all over his head and back which look like a

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starry sky and Spoon has a long, narrow spoon-shaped mark on the top of her head.

Meanwhile, Tusk has white scars on her lips that look like tusks, Zigzag has zigzagEXTINCT shaped markings, Freckles has freckles on her lower lips and Domino has a scar on his right lip that looks like a series of dominoes.

I T ( T LITTLE WHITE AND LITTLE GREY

Sanctuary update

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n December Little White and Little Grey’s care team successfully moved them temporarily from the bay into their landside care pool.

The team felt this was the safest place for the belugas during the stormiest weeks of their first winter living in Iceland.

The plan is to return them to the bay as soon as the weather is calm again this spring. These beautiful belugas have the rest of their lives to enjoy their sea sanctuary forever home.

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DC is delighted that the Scottish government has created three marine protected areas (MPAs). We have been campaigning for several years for these MPAs to help protect minke whales and Risso’s dolphins.

Minke whales come into Scottish waters during the spring and stay until the autumn to feed on mackerel and herring. Groups of female Risso’s dolphins bring their very young babies to feed on octopus and to socialise.

RISSO’S DOLPHINS ARE NOW SAFER IN SCOTLAND

ASK Ali

IT TAKES TEAMWORK (AND BUBBLES) TO CATCH FISH

CAN WHALES BLOW BUBBLES?

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e

his he

The humpbacks on our cover are making a bubble net

Yes, from their blowholes!

Some clever humpbacks have learned from one another how to blow bubbles to trap fish The whales often work as a team and surround a tasty school of fish. One whale dives down below the fis and swims up in a spiral, blowing bubbles, so the fis are trapped in a ‘bubble net’.

Another whale makes loud sounds from below the fis , scaring them into the bubble net. The rest of the whales circle the fish and herd them in from the sides.

As the bubbles reach the surface the whales all appear together inside the bubble net, keeping their mouths wide open to gulp mouthfuls of fish

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Amazing Tales, 1

Success protecting habitats

Isla, Arlen, Shadow and delilah

Great Migration, 1

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the wdc Great £166 Migration has started!

£517

raised!

raised!

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hales migrate thousands of miles each year.

Will you walk for them? It doesn’t matter how far, when or where you walk, whether you walk on your own, or with family and friends. Everyone can join in with the WDC Great Migration – and all those who take part will be entered into a draw for the chance to win some fantastic prizes!

walk fo r whales

Jimmy and tom

Go to wha les.org/ thegreatm igration or contact events @whales.o rg

LUCA

ART

Can you follow in their footsteps?

PRODUCTION CLIENT

Brother and sister Arlen (10) and Isla (12) walked 10,000 steps every day for 83 days for their Great Migration Challenge. They were accompanied by their beautiful dogs, Shadow and Delilah, and raised a fin-tasti £166. What a team!

Luca (12) migrated (on foot and by bike) 230km, raising a mammoth £290. Some walks were with his family and others were on his daily school run.

Brothers Tom (8) and Jimmy (3) smashed their fundraising target and raised a whopping £517.

The boys walked more than 100 miles and picked up litter and plastic on their way.

JOIN IN FOR a CHANCE TO WIN

£290

raised!

Editor Ali Wood SPLASH! is sent to all junior whale and dolphin supporters by WDC Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ Registered Charity No. 1014705 Tel 01249 449500 Email splash@whales.org Patrons Julia Bradbury; John Craven; Jerome Flynn; Monty Halls; Miranda Krestovnikoff; Michaela Strachan Published for WDC by Think Account director Rachel Walder Editor Angela McManus Design Amanda Richardson, Matthew Ball Sub editors Andrew Littlefield, Sian Campbell Cover image and cartoons Glen McBeth Think, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA Tel 0141 582 1280 www.thinkpublishing.co.uk Planet Mermaid Calender competition winners are Valentina Ridley-Day, Bertie Deacon, Serene Oldhams, Jasmine Robinson-Knott and Polly Simpson WDC cannot guarantee the return of unsolicited articles, photographs etc. Reproduction of articles is not permitted without approval. Opinions expressed in SPLASH! do not necessarily reflect those of WDC.

Up to 95% of plastic litter in the ocean comes from the land and is a threat to whales and dolphins. We’re determined to reduce plastic waste, so your magazine comes without a polythene wrap. We hope it arrives in great condition but if it has been damaged, let us know at info@whales.org If undelivered, please return to: WDC, Brookfield House, 38 St Paul St eet, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1LJ

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