ORCA Wildlife Report: The Caribbean,

The Azores & Madeira – Ventura 4th January- 1st February 2019

The ORCA Cruise Conservationists Team: Sunita and Heather

To all of you with whom we spoke, laughed and learned, thank you from us! It was a pleasure to be your P&O Ventura Caribbean, Madeira & the Azores ORCA Cruise Conservationists. Once again from this wonderful partnership with P&O, ORCA could fulfil its aim of bringing marine conservation to minds of guests. This is done by giving our guests the chance to experience wildlife with ORCA guides whilst collecting critical scientific data to ensure the long term protection of whales, dolphins and porpoises and their habitats in the UK, European and surrounding waters.

Your Cruise Conservationists: Sunita (L) and Heather (R) 4th January- Southampton

Your ORCA Cruise Conservationists Heather and Sunita arrived in Southampton, excited to be soon setting sail on our adventure across the Atlantic to the tropical Caribbean waters.

We spent our first evening scoping out the exterior decks, sussing out the best watching spots, ready for a busy few days sailing south towards our first port of Madeira. As we unpacked we watched the sunset from our cabin porthole.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk

Sunset view from our cabin

5th January- At sea, Bay of Biscay

We started our first sea day with our first ORCA Lecture, introducing ourselves to everyone, and highlighting our role on board. Thankyou to everyone that came, it was great to see such a great turn out by so many interested guests.

After our talk, we went out on deck to start our first watch of the trip. We positioned ourselves right beside the Breakers Bar, where we hoped everyone could easily spot us in our high vis vests! To our utter delight, the sea was wonderfully calm, with no white caps, perfect for dolphin and whale spotting! We were still very much in shallow waters, some 55 miles off the coast of the Brest peninsula in Northern France.

It wasn’t long until we had a pod of common dolphins, leaping and jumping clear of the water, making a beeline for the ship. This was the first taste of what was to come and a fantastic, thrilling sighting for our guests out on their first day on deck. Later in the morning, we spotted a lovely grey seal near the ship giving us that classic seal stare with a fish in his mouth! Seemingly unfazed by the ship passing, we had a great view of the seal bobbing happily away in the water.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk The Bay of Biscay continued to provide as we spent the rest of the morning watching a steady flow of several pods of common dolphins coming to play around the ship.

Common dolphin in the Bay of Biscay

After lunch, we tracked our progress on our GPS as we approached the continental shelf edge. This is where we reach the edge of the European continent, and the water depth drops off dramatically from around 150/200 metres to over 4000 metres. Here, currents from the wider Atlantic hit this steep incline, churning up nutrient rich cold waters from the deep, kick starting the food chain and making this an area rich with marine mammal life.

Our hopes were high as we sailed south into deeper waters, and we were not disappointed. It wasn’t long until a pod of striped dolphins came along to bow ride close to the ship. These dolphins are incredibly acrobatic and playful, and our second species of the trip.

Striped dolphin, playfully leaping

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Deeper water also brought with it the opportunity to spot some of our deeper diving species, such as our sperm whales, so we were delighted to spot two not far from the ship, resting on the surface of the water. As we and the guests watched, the whales began to blow frequently. You may remember from our lectures that sperm whales are the largest of all the toothed whales, meaning they have only one blowhole, situated on to the side of their head. So rather than going straight up, the blow when they surface to breathe, gives us that classic 45-degree angle. The perfect opportunity to teach our guests how these blows can be used to identify different cetacean species.

2 sperm whales resting at the surface, their heads on the left & small dorsal fins on the right

The seabirds came out too, rounding off our day perfectly with lots of kittiwakes, gannets, gulls, and great skuas. We ended our first full day on the Ventura with our first formal night and with everyone in their finest dress. What a fantastic first day!

6th January- At Sea, around the tip of Cape Finistere

Our second day started with Heather out on deck for a beautiful sunrise. Sunita meanwhile was preparing for our second lecture ‘Whale and Dolphin Hotspots of this Cruise’. Once again we had great attendance with lots of wonderful and interested guests. We headed back out on deck to brilliant sunshine with a sea state 4/5, which is not great for spotting, but the sunshine and enthusiasm made up for it.

Not long had we been up there chatting to the guests when a large blow was seen from the horizon, some sort of large whale species. Then a pod of unidentified dolphins were spotted, leaping playfully out of the swell of the waves- almost like they were surfing! As per usual; the perfect delight for all our guests.

At noon the wonderful Captain Andy Willard gave his daily address, we all silenced and listened. To our surprise he kindly mentioned to the guests to come join ‘Salty and Flipper, the ORCA cruise conservationist out on deck 16 to spot whales and dolphins and learn about the marine environment’. We were very happy for this and quickly proceeded to claim who was who; Heather becoming Flipper and Sunita becoming Salty.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk A couple of rays were spotted, brown in colour, swimming gracefully under the surface, right by the ship. After lunch, the sea state improved to a 2/3 and the warm sunshine continued. This is when the big animals began to show themselves. First, one blow was sighted right as we came up onto deck ahead of the ship. We all watched this large whale move down port side continuing to blow, but sadly it did not bring its body above the surface.

Excitingly a pod of 5 distant blows in unison were sighted. This was a group of Fin whales; we even managed to get a very distant photo of one of the whales as it rolled through the water. All the guests got a good grasp of how massive these giants can get. Shortly after a sei whale broke the surface several times, it was distant but it’s tall, upright dorsal fin, and slightly weaker blow could clearly be seen.

5 Blows in unison near the horizon, a pod of fin whales

The tall upright dorsal fin and body of a sei whale, breaking the surface many times for guests to see

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk In between these giant blows a stowaway racing pigeon was seen flying around. Our day ended with a beautiful sunset and some lovely chats with our guests.

Sunset from on deck the Ventura

7th January- At Sea

Further into the deeper pelagic waters off the coast of Europe, our morning began straight away with a pod of common dolphins, setting hopes high for the rest of the day. They gave us their classic playful display and leaps. The sun was out and strong again, unexpected this far north in the Atlantic. Unfortunately, Heather unsurprisingly got sunburn, while Sunita basked in the glory of the warmth.

As we enjoyed the warmth we spotted distant whale blows on port side. These were low bushy blows, possibly from a fin or even humpback whale. We knew the humpback migration happens at this time as they move from cold, polar regions to warm tropical regions, specifically the Caribbean.

Pod of common dolphins starting off our day, their distinct hourglass pattern seen as they leapt

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk As the day continued, the weather brought lots of interesting passengers out to chat to us. Some striped dolphins spent time bow riding the front of the Ventura, only to zoom past us as we watched from the sides. After this, some guests came excitedly running to us to tell us they had spotted striped dolphins from the portholes in their cabins.

It was only day four but Sunita spotted our first turtle! This got everyone on-board very excited and was swiftly followed by 2 more green turtles and our first flying fish! Heather was soon very jealous looking eagerly from her side for turtles too but none sadly appeared for her.

A green turtle under a wave, spotted clearly surfacing for air a couple of meters portside

Our first flying fish species, and a sign of warmer waters

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk A distant whale blow was seen from starboard but didn’t show its body. Our evening ended with dolphins at sunset with fabulous chats with guests.

th 8 January- Funchal, Madeira

We woke up early, keen to get out on deck and survey the waters as we approached the island of Madeira. It turns out that sunrise was far later than we had expected, and we arrived into port at 07:30 in complete darkness!

With many guests keen to hop off the ship to explore our first port, we were fortunate to be greeted by a bright warm sunrise, revealing the dramatic cliffs and mountains of Madeira. We took the opportunity to wander around Funchal, taking in the local sights and sounds. Settling down in the botanical gardens overlooking the port, with Pastel de nata in hand, we watched the world go by. It was particularly lovely to spot monarch Monarch butterflies in the public park of Funchal, Sunita spent butterflies fluttering around the bright flowers, and canaries her time chasing them around for this photo flying between the trees above.

We heard tales of Levadas, a complex maze of paths high up in the forests, traversing vast valleys, waterfalls and rivers carrying the crystal clear waters from the hills, down through the water channels to the towns on the coast. Guests were also out looking for wildlife, interestingly spotting yellow-green warblers, unusual on this island as they are a Siberian species. This only goes to show how nature can always surprise us! Some guests also saw blackcaps.

Sailing away from Madeira, our evening deck watch was set to the sounds of the lively music of the sail away party, celebrating the start of our long voyage to the Caribbean. Much later in the evening, a tiny storm petrel was found as a stow away on board. The crew take in these little lost travellers, giving them some rest before releasing them safely back to sea.

While we didn’t spot any wildlife, we watched the beautiful sunset turning the sky a brilliant pink, and we turned in, ready for our next long day at sea.

9th January, At Sea

We woke up early to more lovely conditions. Heather delivered our presentation on ‘Whale and dolphin behaviours’, to now more and more familiar faces in the crowd. We then made sure to be quickly back up on deck, watching out for wildlife. It was a wonderfully bright day, with the sun keeping us warm. A comfortable 22 degrees Celsius, this was our first taste of Caribbean weather.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Throughout the day, we were lucky enough to spot two distant whale blows, several turtles (to Heathers dismay, Sunita was turtle spotter extraordinaire once again) and two ocean sunfish. These are the heaviest bony fish in the world. They are a large prehistoric looking creature, unlike their fishy relatives. We often spot them as they like to rest flat on the surface, thought to bask in the sun while attracting sea birds to pick parasites off their bodies. Guest are always intrigued when we point them out, wanting to know more about this unusual fish.

Our day ended quietly, with little sightings but good seas and some great company.

An ocean sunfish resting on the surface of the water, its face and mouth towards us and tail away. Always a strange fish to look at!

10th January- At Sea

After the bright sunshine of the previous day, the winds had picked up a little today, with force 5 winds creating plenty of white water. These waves were chopping up the surface of the sea, sending salty spray raining over the portside of deck 16. Sunita willingly stood in the spray side living up to her name sake, Salty, as she had become to be known. While Flipper, our wee Heather, sheltered on the starboard side. Both of us undeterred by the strong wind and white seas.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Always on the lookout for wildlife and not just cetaceans, Sunita spotted a more unusual sighting, a painted lady butterfly on deck. These beautiful butterflies migrate incredible distances from Morocco to Iceland but it’s always very surprising to see them blown so far off course. Another butterfly was spotted on board and we were able to identify it to be perhaps a Long-tailed Skipper, catching the interests of guest, with its bright turquoise body.

Early in the day a large whale blow was spotted, however, we spent the majority of our day watching continuous flying fish soar above the waves beneath us. Our final flourish was spotting another whale blow, around 6 hours after the first one, our final sighting of the day. Salt encrusted and windswept we retired at sunset hopeful for better conditions for the A long tailed skipper butterfly, stowed way on the rafters of deck 16. Certainly not where it should be, far away from its land home coming days.

11th January- At sea, One day from Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Today we woke up to a much better sea state, calmer seas but with less sunshine. At breakfast whale blows were spotted on starboard side from the windows. We quickly downed our food and headed straight up to deck. About an hour passed when we saw a second huge whale blow on portside. Our Lecture time beckoned so we packed up and headed to the Arena to present our ‘Marine Mammal Survival’ lecture. The lecture went well with a growing turn out followed by some interesting questions.

Finally, back out on deck we spotted a red billed tropic bird! As the name implies it was the first sign of the tropical waters we were sailing into! More and more flying fish were being seen too. Whether in single or huge groups, they kept us all entertained. The flying fish ‘fly’ as a predator avoidance adaptation. They leap out of the water at the first sign on danger and splay out their ridged adapted fins catching air currents and gliding several meters away. They do this as the ship moves through the water mistaking it for a predator.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Red billed tropic birds, with their beautiful long tail feathers

As the day continued and we suddenly saw huge splashes! Immediately shouting ‘sighting’ several guest watched with us as we had our eyes on some definite black fish! Black fish are a group of whales which encompass species like the killer whale and pilot whale, generally black in colouration. So excited, we swiftly grabbed our cameras and got trigger happy. We quickly knew theses were a new species for us both as we did not recognise them straight away. Quickly analysing what we saw along with the guests input and comparing it to our photos we scanned our ID books and came to a species, pygmy killer whales! We only saw them by chance as their small black fins broke the surface, sneakily trying to get past us. We felt as though our excitement and joy for this sighting was infectious!

After that high, we saw some distant dolphins leaping out of the water. This was followed by a cloudy, moody sunset to end our exciting day.

A somewhat out of focus, cropped view of the distant pygmy killer whales! One whale moving from right to left in the foreground; its bulbous head distinct and a second whale in the background with a distinct tall, pointed dorsal fin.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk 12th January- at Sea, Crossing Mid Atlantic Ridge

Waking up to another ‘pre-tropical’ day, we were delighted to see a calm ocean, with only a few white caps. We knew the sun would be shining down on us all day. Quickly checking our contour maps, we excitedly announced to passengers that we were right over the middle of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, a geographical formation of interest. The Mid-Atlantic ridge is the largest geographical formation on earth; it is a chain of underwater mountains than run from north to south in the middle of the Atlantic. Our previous sea days since leaving Madeira saw us in deep pelagic water over 6,000 meters deep. However, approaching the Mid-Atlantic ridge we knew we would have a sudden change in sea depth from 6,000, to less than 200 meters in some parts. This causes an upwelling of nutrients from the deep, which attracts marine life, so we knew we would be seeing some cetaceans!

The morning started with two red bill tropic birds and the beginning of some much larger flying fish, it was not long until a sperm whale was spotted on port side near the bridge. We shouted whale and a huge flurry of sun bathing passengers ran to us. The whale, having been resting at the surface from its deep dive, awoke and proceeded to turn away from the ship. To the delight of us all it lifted its tail fluke up high in the air in a twisting manner and turned its 18-meter-long body, blew for a More and more flying fish species seen from the Ventura as we crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. (Photo: Mark Robinson) bit and then swam away.

Not long after was there another sperm whale spotted much closer to the ship, it was logging, the term we use for a resting whale. Sperm whales in particular can look just like floating logs in calm seas and often seem to try to ‘sneak’ past the ship unnoticed. It stayed at the surface gently blowing in the calm flat sea, we could see its diagnostic 45 degree angled blow clearly. It stayed right by the ship as we sailed past giving everyone some great views.

A sperm whale, with its distinct 45 degree angled blow resting as we sailed by

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk After this excitement, Sunita spotted a moth flutter by her, she immediately proceeded to chase it with along with some guests to get an ID. It was attracted to a colourful flower patterned towel, and landed there to rest. We identified it as a beautiful Humming Bird Hawk Moth, definitely an unexpected sight out here in the ocean, far from its normal habitat!

At noon the wonderful Captain Andy Willard made his usual ORCA announcement and mentioned ‘Flipper and Salty’s’ work. Then after lunch the bridge made a tannoy announcement of a large whale on starboard side, lots of passengers rushed over, however we couldn’t see it. Shortly after, the First officer came out to talk to us about the sighting and kindly invited us to the bridge for a tour. The Second and third officer gave us a tour and chatted about the wonderful wildlife they see and about the work ORCA does. They were surprised by the amount we had already seen on this voyage.

The day continued with lots more flying fish, keeping everyone entertained. Rarely can we guarantee a wildlife sighting, so we felt very happy to be able to offer this simple, yet beautiful wildlife experience.

13th January- At Sea

Another hot day at 25 degrees Celsius, with strong sunshine. Sunita loved the warmth shedding her layers everyday while Heather hid from the sun as much as possible. The sea state was a 3 and improved throughout the day. Not having seen that many birds yet on this cruise we were happy to spot a masked booby and another juvenile tropic bird.

Having sacrificed lunch most days or taken very quick ones, today we decided to get out of the strongest sun of the day and went for a longer lunch than usual to save Heather from the burn of the Sun deck. The minute we returned our dedicated ‘core group’ of guests who had been joining us every day, immediately proceeded to tell us what we had missed… the fear consumed us! We had missed a pod of dolphins, unlike any previously seen. Thankfully one of our amazing guests had his large lens camera out and quickly snapped some shots. After much discussion and scrutiny of the photos, we came to a firm conclusion, a new species for us: Clymene dolphins! A tropical water species, known to leap and bound rotating their tails in a circular pattern, unique to this species. We are so pleased that so many got to see this tropical species, and glad that we go to see some photographic evidence! This means we can still record this sighting, and it all adds to the data we are collecting throughout this trip.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Clymene dolphins, a front and tail stock view of them as leapt past Ventura. (Photo: Mark Robinson)

Shortly after this we heard news of yet another sighting. Delighted guests described large brown whales close by, logging at the surface while blowing, we think definitely think they were sperm whales!

Our evening deck watch closed with a large breaching whale, to distant to be identified it continued to breach 3 times. Due to this we could see it was definitely a rorqual whale, with its large white throat pleats. The rorqual whales encompass species like Blue whales, Humpbacks, Sei and Fin whales. This finished another great day of sightings!

14th Jan Day 11, at sea one day from St Maarten

Our morning started with another hot sun reaching 27 degrees Celsius out on deck. We spent about an hour only seeing one lonely shearwater, before making our way down for our ‘Caribbean Waters’ lecture in the Arena.

It was great to again see lots of familiar friendly faces as well as some new one. Once we had completed our presentation, we talked to many interested guests asking us questions and giving us high praise on our presenting styles and work so far, how lovely!

We headed back out on deck, already intent on taking no lunch break due to yesterday’s sightings we had missed! A brown booby flew very close by showing its clear juvenile plumage. A magnificent frigate bird was soon spotted circling over something in the water, quickly we had our binoculars on it checking out what was interesting it.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk

Soon a large whale was spotted breaching in the distance under the bird, it breached twice not to be seen again. It created a bit of excitement, but the frigate bird was more of a hot topic as it indicated our proximity to the Caribbean and land.

Brown booby swooping by the Ventura

The morning continued with 2 large whale breaches not too far out on portside. They were once again definite rorqual whales due to the large pleated throat. We got some photos which showed it had a large fin, so it was not a humpback but possibly a fin, blue or sei whale.

Around lunch time, this time adamant to not miss a thing, we continued surveying spotting 1 other whale in distance once again breaching on starboard side. With our tummies rumbling loudly some lovely guest went on their own accord and grabbed us food from the buffet, surprising us with their kindness. Food quickly down the hatch Sunita shouted whale, a sperm whale resting close to this ship on portside. Seconds later Heather shouted - another sperm whale again logging close to the ship. Guest didn’t know which side to go to first! Only a minute or two later and Sunita once again shouted whale! Spotting two sperm whales resting close to the ship again portside! What a flurry, all the guests on the sundeck with us were very lucky to have seen a whale so close!

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk

All these sperm whales were within minutes of each other, on each side of the ship within the space of half an hour, this made us think was likely a sperm whale pod logging and resting at the surface!

A sperm whale, swimming away from the Ventura, its distinct caudal ridges seen as it goes to dive away. (Photo: Mark Robinson)

Some time went by after this whale bonanza when a pod of dolphins were spotted speedily leaping by the ship. There were 20 Dolphins right under bridge starboard side, coming at a huge speed, one was breaching and performing a spin flip! Sunita got some distant photos of them and we came to the conclusion that this was a pod of pantropical spotted dolphins.

Pantropical spotted dolphins showing off as they sped past us

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk

Already a great day for sightings, we were happily chatting to our guest about ORCA’S work when 5 black fish casually swam past us 1/3 out to horizon. Many guests managed to see them and we think they were probably short fin pilot whales, with their casual rolling swim and broad large dorsal fins.

Another, rather frustrating sighting, was our closest encounter with a whale on this trip so far, as it was quite literally right next to us! Heather and a couple guests spotted this animal, swimming very slowly by, under the surface of the water. In the crystal clear Caribbean water, we could very clearly see lots of white patterning on the body, which was distorted underwater. We also saw a distinctly rounded head shape, as we sailed past it, still keeping a low profile under the water. We looked back towards the stern, desperate to see it resurface. We were delighted when we saw it blow, a small cloud indicative of a smaller whale species. It then rolled through the water in the wake of the ship, showing a long whale back and small, triangular fin. The species identification of this whale has occupied our minds since, sending us reeling through the books, to no firm conclusions. The colour of the markings on the whale, plus the shape of the dorsal fin and head have us thrown, so it shall remain, for now, as the mystery whale!

It isn’t always easy to identify species, even in perfect conditions. Later in the same day we spotted another distant cetacean, surfacing just once on the starboard side, at quite a distance. It was quite small in size, but other than that, no distinguishing features were seen - another mystery whale! Sunita and some guests also spotted two large dolphins or beaked whales that jumped just once out of the water.

We must also mention the hundreds of flying fish we had all day long, to delight of all passengers and children. They had become our go to for any guests. They were really handy as almost a guarantee to see, great for showing guests who have never seen any marine life on a cruise.

15th January - St Maarten

It was a brilliant and sunny morning arriving into our first port of call in the Caribbean- St Maarten. The Ventura berthed on the Dutch side of this half French, half Dutch island, with views of green hills and white sandy beaches. Our arrival offered us our first close up sight of the magnificent frigate birds, soaring around the thermals above the ship. We likened them to pterodactyls, their silhouette clear, even high up into the clouds. We also were delighted to see our first brown and masked boobies of the trip. The Caribbean cousins of our familiar Northern Gannets, these boobies race along, surfing over the waves by the ship, trying to snap up a flying fish for dinner.

Many guests enjoyed the sights around the main town of Philipsburg, or perhaps choosing to take a first dip in the beautiful turquoise sea at Great Bay Beach, within throwing distance of Ventura. This is where we spent our day, bumping into several familiar faces popping down for a swim in the warm sea. Others ventured further afield, to visit another famous beach, like Maho Bay.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Here, aircraft come in to land, flying over dramatically close to the expectant tourists on the beach. There were several sights of wildlife on the island too, particularly local species of beautiful doves and huge iguanas. The lagoon behind Great Bay Beach was home to many iguanas, dinosaur like reptiles resting on the trees. Sail away was during sunset, but we still went out on deck to see if we could spot anything in the final light of the day. Nothing was spotted but we enjoyed watching the huge frigates soar past us high up on deck 16. Magnificent frigate bird soaring above the ship

Green iguanas resting in the trees in the Lagoon behind Great Bay Beach, St Maarten (Photo: Nigel and Jane Allen)

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk 16th January- St Kitts

Arriving in St Kitts, many guests enjoyed the incredibly popular St Kitts railway, taking in sights around the island, from the lush rainforest covered hills and volcano to the old sugarcane fields and sleepy local settlements. The ORCA team, amongst other guests, decided to go looking for wildlife on a rainforest hike. Our first stop was to Romney Gardens, a popular spot for viewing local flora and stunning views out over the island. Here we spotted our first hummingbirds of the trip, darting around a tree above us.

Gecko sp. the size of our thumbnails camouflaging in Romney gardens

We also spotted a scaly breasted thrush, brightly coloured and incredibly vocal bananaquits, iguanas and lizards. Our expert guide showed us the 450-year-old samman tree in the centre of the gardens, where we also learned about the local Caribelle Batik- a method using wax on fabric and dye to create beautiful works of art.

Caribelle batik in Romney gardens

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk The gardens were alive with a particular bird signing their heart out, we spotted them and identified them as Banaquits. A small species of bird, with the males having a bright yellow breast.

Male bananaquit, singing in the trees of the Romney gardens

Scaly breasted thrush in Romney gardens

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Moving on into the rainforest, we followed our guides past wild vervet monkeys, hiding up in the trees. These are not native to the Caribbean, but were in fact introduced hundreds of years ago with the slave trade from West Africa. Now they are thriving in these rainforests, with their pick of tropical fruits high up in the canopy, so it was still a delight to see them living wild and free in the trees. Trekking through the trees with our ‘organic’ walking sticks made us all feel like proper intrepid travellers. This was made all the more authentic and we sampled the fruits of the forest drinking fresh guava juice and eating wild almonds straight from the tree. We learned about the medicinal properties of the many plants and fruits including sour orange, mangos, soupsop, gum trees and of course coconuts!

In the afternoon we walked around town, and around independence square where we were amazed to see many cattle egrets just standing around in the park, with locals feeding them like we would swans!

Almonds straight from the tree in the St Kitts rainforest Cattle egrets in independence square

Flowers of the St Kitts rainforest

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk View over the St Kitts rainforest

Back on board for sail away, we were back to our usual spots on deck 16, looking out for wildlife. Sunita was delighted to see some Atlantic spotted dolphins, just as the sun was setting, a great end to a wonderful first day in the Caribbean.

17th January- Antigua

Our third port of call was Antigua, where we decided to make our first foray into some Caribbean water sports. Taking a minibus ride out through the town, and across the island, we travelled to a remote jetty surrounded by mangroves and looking out over beautiful, sparkling waters. Here we embarked on a boat trip out into the middle of North Marine Reserve mangrove system, where we found a floating platform with kayaks. Climbing into our kayaks, we looked out over the calm waters, and started to paddle gently through the water. We were delighted to see such a range of wildlife, with lots of fish visible under our kayak while pelicans, frigate birds, cattle egrets, herons and an incredible sea hawk flew overhead. Our guide on the trip also showed us sea cucumber and upside down jelly fish, which swim with their stings facing upwards in the water. Back on the boat, we moved on to the next part of our trip- snorkelling over a reef. We are sure that anyone who snorkelled in any of these Caribbean islands would agree- it’s simply stunning. The array of tropical fish, the rays and the coral were beautiful- like something out of a nature documentary!

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk We were then taken to a stunning deserted island beach for rum punch and a sample of the local banana bread. Other guests enjoyed similar exploits- enjoying the tropical waters around the beautiful island or trips through the lush scenery to Nelsons dockyard- made famous by Lord nelson who was stationed there in the 18th century. The town right by the ship was also worth a look, with quaint bohemian style architecture and lots of lovely gift shops and bars. Even just in the waters around the ship we spotted wildlife with trumpet fish and pipe fish visible from the harbour. Sail- away once again was at sunset, but we came out as usual just in case we could spot something in the fading light. With nothing but frigate, boobies and pelicans to be seen we enjoyed watching the passengers sing and dance, getting into the Caribbean vibe.

Sail away from Antigua

A brown pelican (L) and a magnificent frigate bird (R) hovering above the Ventura

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk A brown pelican soaring above us during sail-away, pterodactyls as we nicknamed them

18th January- Dominica

We awoke to another brilliant Caribbean morning. We watched the sunrise over crystal calm seas, keen to see what the day would hold. Dominica is known as a hotspot for many cetacean species, particularly sperm whales. Therefore, what else could we do with our day other than go out on the whale watching excursion! Jumping on board our RIB we sped out towards the horizon in search of some animals. The crew on the boat had a hydrophone, an underwater microphone, that they lowered over the side of the RIB, to listen for any nearby cetaceans. From listening, they can pinpoint in what direction these animals are, and track them down. Unfortunately, they weren’t picking much up, nor did the skippers on the larger whale watching boat we know many guests were on. We resolved to travelling further offshore where, and hour and a half into our trip, we still saw nothing. Ever patient, we knew that wildlife is unpredictable, so we wouldn’t lose hope. We began to travel back towards the coast, looking around, eagle eyed. Suddenly a guest sitting behind us shouted that they had seen a fin, and so we slowed to a stop and looked around. Sure enough, we were soon surrounded by pantropical spotted dolphins, bow riding and jumping around us, keen to play.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Pantropical spotted dolphin bow riding next to our RIB

Pantropical spotted dolphin bow riding next to our RIB

Pantropical spotted dolphins swimming underwater next to our RIB

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Pantropical spotted dolphins swimming underwater next to our RIB

Pantropical spotted dolphin jumping with Dominica in background

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk We soon left them behind, leaving them jumping and darting around with such grace and ease under the transparent waters. Heading back towards shore, we suddenly, out of the blue, came to a stop, as we spotted some whales surface, only a few metres from us.

They were Cuvier’s beaked whales, the deepest diving marine mammal on the planet, known to be capable of dives down to 2,992m to find their food. These animals don’t spend much time at the surface, coming up just to take a quick breath and then descending back under the surface. Individuals of this species have been recorded staying under the water for 2 hours and 46 minutes. Therefore, it was incredible luck to happen upon them, just at that moment they came up. Resting for mere moments we could hear the audible ‘puff’ as they re-oxygenated their bodies, ready for their next dive. It was all over too soon, as they arched their backs one after the other and vanished from sight.

Cuvier’s beaked whales next to our RIB, you can see the distinct beaks, mottled brown colour and a smaller, darker individual, a juvenile.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk The skipper team on board told us that National Geographic and the BBC Blue Planet Team had been on this very RIB

for 4 months trying to film Cuvier’s beaked whales, never to have seen even one! How lucky and privileged we felt!

Ourselves and the guests not knowing where to look as the pantropical spotted dolphins surrounded us. Sunita and Heather second from the front (Photo: P&O)

Still reeling from the incredibly close encounter we were very surprised when not too far away from us, a small whale suddenly leapt clear out of the water, twisting and landing with a splash. We stopped, and looked gobsmacked at the scene- a huge area of water, glistening red with blood. We waited for the whale to reappear, and spotted a much smaller individual, with a long back and tiny fin, rolling discretely through the water and down out of sight. We were then left to try to comprehend what we had seen. There were no signs of injury that we could see on either whale, and no clear idea of what species they were. We speculated that they could possibly have been a mother and newborn calf, as a birth would explain the blood in the water. Had we just seen a possible birth? We will never know but we sure felt like we were truly in a nature documentary.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Mystery whale breach, with a pool of blood around it (Photo: P&O)

Meanwhile other guests were enjoying the volcanic black sands of Dominica and saw waterfalls and brilliant scenery of neighbouring island of Guadeloupe. After our jam packed RIB excursion we headed out to sample one of the quieter black sand beaches ourselves with lots of little crabs eyeing us up as we sat, dreaming of whales. Sail away, was once again sailing straight into the sunset with dramatic orange and pink hues, a brilliant end to amazing day.

19th January- St Vincent

This morning we were able to deck watch as we arrived with a beautiful sunrise. Lots of brown boobies joined us, in both the brown and white phases they exhibit. Sunita saw a large animal jump out of the water and splash, never to show itself again. The boobies gave a show trying to catch the flying fish disturbed by the ship coming into port. Upon arrival we got a local bus to a local family beach to snorkel, lots of amazing fish like puffer, wrasse, angel and parrot. Like in Dominica the beach was volcanic black sands. Mid snorkel a torrential tropical rain down pour ensued, the sky turning ominously dark, showing no signs of stopping. Swimming in such torrential rain was unusual and fun. It continued for another 2 hours or so we decided to get a water taxi back to the ship passing a stunning ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ coastline. Other guests went to the botanic gardens and saw lots of stunning humming birds.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Our evening deck watch, gave us the best sunset so far in the trip but sadly with no sightings.

Sunita watching for cetaceans as we sailed into St Vincent

A brown booby resting near the port, looking for fish (Photo: Brian Moore)

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk 20th January- Barbados

Arriving in Barbados before the sunrise, we awoke to views of turquoise waters and brilliant white sand beaches. We headed straight to Carlisle Bay and into the Boat Yard bar and beach - our first proper white sandy beach with turquoise waters. We went out to snorkel in the Carlisle Bay Marine Park, where we saw both hawksbill and green turtles as well as two stingrays and a huge pufferfish. To heather’s delight she could finally say she too saw turtles! Thankfully, the turtles are highly protected, so to touch or otherwise disturb these animals carries a fine of up to $25,000 under Barbados law. We also snorkelled over a ship wreck where we saw fish trumpet fish, angel fish, wrasse and much more. The usual frigates, pelicans and a sanderling at the beach kept us company throughout the day. A sunset sail away saw the rise of the blood moon over the lush greenery of Barbados.

Brown pelicans hanging out everywhere, undeterred by our human presence on the Barbados beaches

21st January- Scarborough, Tobago

Arriving in Tobago we were excited as we knew we were just off the coast of Venezuela, the closest we have both come to South America! The morning’s deck watch was accompanied by 175 frigate birds on portside and 91 on starboard. Good sign for wildlife, indicating of how less inhabited Tobago is compared to previous, busier islands.

Once berthed we headed to Pigeon point bay also a marine reserve over Bucco reef- protected for the rays, turtles and fish that call it home. This area also included a protected beach as it is an area for nesting turtles, and is protected under law. It is located on leeward side of the island in the stunning Caribbean Sea.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk We spent the day snorkelling around Bucco reef watching beautiful corals, huge parrotfish, wrasse, angel fish and more. We stopped for a swim at the Nylon pool; a famous swimming spot named by Princess Margaret. It is a waist deep turquoise circular pool in the middle of the reef said to lengthen our youth, so of course we jumped straight in!

Later we cruised along in a glass bottom boat which showed a drop from 2ft to 150ft in depth at the edge of the reef. We sailed past a beach out on a spit known as No Mans’ Land- a wild beach unowned and beautifully wild. The landscape was wildest we had seen yet and genuinely ‘Castaway’ Esq!

Sergeant major fish, in the stunning coral reefs of Tobago (Photo: Philip Anderson)

We ended the day watching crabs on the beach, pelicans diving both the white and brown morphs, and royal terns, many sitting on buoys, we also spotted many hummingbirds.

Sail away was in the dark but we heard many lovely stories of the fantastic hummingbirds and tropical birds of the Tobago Wildlife Reserve. Many guests had spent their day there happily watching these little birds drinking from sugar water feeders, iridescent in the sunlight. Many guests spoke of the beautiful Ruby Topaz humming bird, flashing its daring colours. Along with the Mot mot, a predatory bird, all colours of the rainbow.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Stunning hummingbirds at the feeding stations (Photos: Jane Percival)

22nd January- St Lucia

Sad to be entering our final Caribbean port we watched with many guests as St Lucia came into view. This was, in our opinion, the most beautiful port we sailed into, very lush and green. Just from deck 16 we saw hummingbirds, mourning doves, ground doves, martins, snowy egrets, cattle egrets, a possible turtle, collared pigeon, frigates, butterflies and more. Right at the port was a tree full with roosting egrets.

We spent the morning walking around the town stumbling across the town square dotted with trees. We quickly spotted several humming birds attracted to the pink flowers and spent some time watching them. In the afternoon we went on the dolphin watching excursion, giving us stunning scenery of the Pitons and St Lucia coastline.

Only 20mins in and we had a breaching Pygmy sperm whale and about 20 mins later, another one. We also saw some dolphins playing in the wake of the boat. Sadly, that was it for the rest trip, but the rum punch kept all the guests happy, particularly during the torrential Caribbean downpour that followed us back to the port. Our day ended with a lovely British sail away, saying goodbye to the Caribbean and its wonders.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk The stunning St Lucia landscape

Hummingbirds around a pink flowering tree beside the Port and in the town square of St. Lucia (Photo: Brian Moore)

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk 23rd January- At Sea

Our first day back at sea we awoke to Force 6 all day with 40kmp winds, very difficult conditions however, the sun was out. We surveyed out on deck the whole day only to see a distant whale breach, and 2 ocean sunfish. Strong winds increased throughout the day and made even standing still difficult.

24-27th January- At sea

Once again we awoke every day to even stronger Force 7/8/9 with wild winds. For these few days we couldn’t deck watch out on deck 16 due to the conditions, but decided to continue to survey off-effort, inside on deck 15. We gathered books and material from our cabin each morning and held all day wildlife clinics, looking through photos from guests, and identifying the variety of Caribbean wildlife seen on the different islands. On the 25th we gave our ‘Mid-cruise Round Up’ lecture to a packed Arena theatre. The 26th had us present a lecture on our Survey Methods and a species focus on our name sake the orca, or killer whale as they are commonly known.

The 27th saw us give our lecture on ’The Whales and Dolphins of the Azores’, again with a great turnout.

Heather giving our lecture in the arena theatre

Afterwards a big group of guests were sitting with us looking out the window on deck 15, when one spotted a pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins just after lunch. One of our delighted guests got a video of them jumping and leaping under a rainbow, incredibly lucky and perfect timing!

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk 28th January- Praia da Vitoria, The Azores

Back on firm ground and glad to be out of those force 9 waves, we went for a wander along the beautiful main street which was very quiet, with lovely locals. We hiked to a view point on the opposite headland, looking out over the harbour and the Ventura. The hike wound up a beautiful flowering ivy path with lots of butterflies and views over Praia da Vitoria.

We sat at the viewpoint for a while looking out at a calm and clear sea state 2, hoping we’d see some blows or fins in the still water. With nothing to be seen we walked along country roads through rolling fields looking very Irish with dry stone low walls and dairy cattle everywhere.

Sunita sighted a medium sized bat flying around us, we quickly got excited, and rather confused as it was only 3pm in the day! We knew this would have to be an endemic species of bat only found on this island. Most geographically isolated volcanic islands have endemic bat species, meaning they exist nowhere else in the world. We quickly looked it up and that’s exactly what it turned out to be, the Azores Noctule bat, a species only found on the Azores. It flies during the day as unlike its continental cousins it has no avian predators to fear.

We sailed out in a seas state 2 having been told wonderful stories of whales and dolphins everywhere sailing around the Azores. But sadly to our dismay the light faded after 20 minutes, we did spot something whale like but the light was too dim to get a good view.

29th January- At sea

We awoke the day after the Azores in calmer waters than we had expected. With one distant sighting we were keeping our eyes open, but they sea remained quiet. Finishing early, we started work on our final presentation, looking through photos and reminiscing about the highlights of the trip so far.

30th January- At Sea

The sea state started at a calm 3 getting our hopes up for some good cetacean sightings. However, as the morning progressed, we sailed through many thick rain patches and fog. The sea state and swell picked up, with roughening seas up to a sea state 5, which, while still just about good enough to survey, means there were many whitecaps and ocean spray making spotting a little bit more difficult. We spotted many kittiwakes which were a good sign but sadly didn’t get any marine animal sightings.

31st January- Last Day at Sea

Sadly, our last day at sea was not going to prove the best for sightings. The visibility was very poor with less than a kilometre visible through thick rain clouds and with a sea state was a 4/5, there were many white caps and some sea spray. We decided with the visibility being so poor we would do a half day of deck watching inside on deck 15 in our usual ‘poor weather’ spot by the windows. The Captain made his last morning announcement, once again mentioning us, only to tell us they had spotted a pod of common dolphins from the bridge!

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk A few gannets and kittiwakes were spotted but that was about it. Our dedicated guests came by to share the last of their photos and stories to add to our ‘Final Round-Up’ presentation. At lunch we spotted some dolphins riding the wake on the starboard side.

Despite the weather, we hope that some of you managed to spot a few of these dolphins, showing us that they don’t care about the weather!

At 4pm, for the last time, we headed off to give our last lecture. A summary and showcase of the fantastic animals we had seen and photographed in the Caribbean, Azores and Madeira.

We were both feeling very nervous for this last presentation, which was unlike us. Perhaps this was due to a mixture of the huge swell throwing us about and the sadness of the trip end dawning on us. The room was once again well attendant with lots of familiar faces, a lovely reassurance to calm our nerves, like talking to a room of friends. The final lecture went well, attended by all our loyal, guests, and also by some of the bridge officers we had become friends with. It was our last chance to say goodbye to many of you, so it got a bit emotional!

1st February- Southampton

We arrived back to a chilly -2°C a shock from the lovely 27°C Caribbean sun. Captain Andy Willard gave his final farewell address at breakfast and we packed all our gear and headed off early with the crew disembarkation. Winter welcomed us back with open arms with a flurry of snow. What a crazy, fantastic, fun, warm January it has been for us all! We didn’t want to leave!

Goodbye from your Cruise Conservationists!

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Acknowledgements

We would like to begin by saying thank you to P&O Cruises, for once again inviting us on board. Without them we cannot continue to gather our vital scientific data and continue to spread the word about wonderful whales and dolphins and their environment.

A huge thank you goes to the lovely Captain Andy Willard, for supporting us in is daily ship address and highlighting the vital work ORCA does. Another big thank you goes to the wonderful and friendly bridge team and Officers, thank you for all the weather and wildlife updates and as well as lending us your equipment. You all helped to make us feel more than welcome on board along with the rest of the crew.

And finally the biggest thank you goes to you, our wonderful guests! Without you our work can’t continue, you have provided us with the best company, laughs, food and questions we could have ever imagined! You are the best guests we could have asked for and were more than kind to us. We thoroughly felt and enjoyed your support for our work and for ORCA and we hope we have inspired you to continue fuelling your growing passions for the marine environment and its creatures!

It’s been an absolute pleasure to work on board the Ventura, and we both hope to be back soon someday!

Thank You!

For a map of all the marine animals and a list of the birds and other wildlife recorded throughout this voyage please see the next pages.

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk

Birds Fulmar Herring Gull Black headed gull Oystercatcher Storm petrel Guillemot Northern Gannet Brown Booby Masked Booby Little egret Coot Kentish plover Turnstone Great Black backed gull Great Skua Lesser black backed gull Yellow legged gull Grey heron Mute swan Kittwakes Common Tern Wood pigeon Collared dove Robin Blackbird Blackcap Starling Spotless starling House sparrow Chaffinch Goldfinch Canary Mallard duck Goldfinch Sanderling Shoveler Turnstone wood pigeon Yellow browed warbler Azores sub sp. canary Peregrine Ring Billed Gull Laughing Gull Red-billed Tropic bird White- cheeked pintail Magnificent Frigate bird Brown Pelican Snowy Egret Great white egret Blue- Crowned mot mot Lesser Antilles swift White-tailed tropic bird Royal Tern Cattle egret Little blue heron Green heron Zenaida dove Eurasian collared dove Red-necked pigeon Common ground dove Ruddy ground dove White tipped dove St. Lucia parrot Smoothed billed Ani Rufous breasted hermit White winged swallow Ruby Topaz hummingbird Purple throated carib- hummingbird Copper rumped hummingbird Antillean crested hummingbird White necked Jacobin Black throated mango Red crowned woodpecker Grey king bird Scaly-breasted thrasher Tropical Mocking bird Carib grackle House sparrows Bananaquit Lesser Antillean bull finch Blue grey tanager Palm tanager White lined tanager Common Black Hawk American kestrel Osprey Broad winged hawk Green heron Black faced grassquit Whistling warbler White winged swallow Barred antshrike Shiny cowbird Southern lapwing Spectacled thrush

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk Other wildlife Hawksbill turtles Green turtles Leatherback turtles Rays Iguanas Geckos Noctule Bat Monarch Butterfly Hummingbird Hawk moth Scarlett darter (dragonfly) Red Admiral Large white butterfly Caterpillar Long-tailed Skipper butterfly Pygmy blue butterfly Cloudless sulphur butterfly Tropical fish (Trumpet fish, sergeant major, barracuda) Sea cucumber Atlantic White Marlin Blue fin tuna Pufferfish Parrotfish Southern stingray Thousands of flying fish

Charity No: 1141728 ww.orcaweb.org.uk