Spanish dolphins holiday.
Entry for September 16 2006: Aguadulce.
Yesterday, we left Almirima at the crack of dawn. Our wake up call was the sound of the Toftevaag’s engines firing up.
Our first day was spent getting to know the rhythm of life on the boat, as we sailed up the coast to this mooring in Aguadulce. Not allot of dolphin action yesterday.
We were all a bit groggy today for a variety of reasons.
This morning our wake up call was again the sounds of marine diesels coughing to life deep below decks.
Most of us were kept awake last night by the disco music, rolling out over the marina from the clubs on shore.
I would have slept well if not for Carlos (one of the regular crew who was sleeping on the other side of the deck from me) who snored so loudly that the ear plugs I inserted to block out the disco beat were rendered useless. His snoring resonated through the wooden deck, and travelling up into my head, thorough the thin pillow I was using.
Our first day was spent getting to know the rhythm of life on the boat, as we sailed up the coast to this mooring in Aguadulce. Not allot of dolphin action yesterday.
We were all a bit groggy today for a variety of reasons.
This morning our wake up call was again the sounds of marine diesels coughing to life deep below decks.
Most of us were kept awake last night by the disco music, rolling out over the marina from the clubs on shore.
I would have slept well if not for Carlos (one of the regular crew who was sleeping on the other side of the deck from me) who snored so loudly that the ear plugs I inserted to block out the disco beat were rendered useless. His snoring resonated through the wooden deck, and travelling up into my head, thorough the thin pillow I was using.
This was my second night (joined by a couple other volunteers) to sleep up on deck. The nights were warm and I fell asleep watching the stars slide past the mast. Not a hard decision to make since the crew cabin down below smelled like diesel and the toilet.
The sensation of the wind moving over the outside surface of the bag while I was warm inside was a bit weird.
Two of the girls have positioned themselves back near the captain’s cabin, either side of the secondary mast. The American lighting rigger has wedged himself somewhere up in the bow.
A bit of background on the research:
The mission started in 1992, after the Toftevaag had been restored and refitted
The first project was the study of a mass die-off of the striped dolphin off the coast of Spain.
Recently they have focused on monitoring of cetacean populations that have been suffering a regression in the Mediterranean over the last few decades.
The research site chosen is the Alboran Sea, the transition zone between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
They have a dream!
That one day the more critical habitats for the conservation of Mediterranean cetaceans will become a network of marine protected areas.
The project also focuses on raising public awareness in local communities and liaising between those with conservation aims and commercial interests.
The sensation of the wind moving over the outside surface of the bag while I was warm inside was a bit weird.
Two of the girls have positioned themselves back near the captain’s cabin, either side of the secondary mast. The American lighting rigger has wedged himself somewhere up in the bow.
A bit of background on the research:
The mission started in 1992, after the Toftevaag had been restored and refitted
The first project was the study of a mass die-off of the striped dolphin off the coast of Spain.
Recently they have focused on monitoring of cetacean populations that have been suffering a regression in the Mediterranean over the last few decades.
The research site chosen is the Alboran Sea, the transition zone between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
They have a dream!
That one day the more critical habitats for the conservation of Mediterranean cetaceans will become a network of marine protected areas.
Comments
Post a Comment