Acoustic The two pop-ups, which were deployed by Denise Risch (NOAA) in July were successfully recovered on September 12th and 15th. While one of them was placed in the Mingan Islands, the other one was deployed further offshore, close to Anticosti. Denise was pleased that her hydrophones successfully recorded and now she has to listen hundreds of hours of recordings!...
A novel method for baleen whale research is being developed. A collection device-made of nylon stockings and sewing hoops-fixed to the end of a 6 meter carbon pole enables us to collect hormone samples found in the blows (breaths) of the largest mammals on the planet. The sample can be collected right over the blowhole or by placing the device...
Research Team: Catherine Berchok, Valentine Ribadeau-Dumas, David Gaspard, Marion Florie-George, and Richard Sears Preparations in Montreal completed, a quick early morning trip to Dorval and away we went to St John's Newfoundland to join our vessel and pick up the remaining gear for the shelf-edge survey. Wayne Ledwell kindly met us at the airport in St Johns and drove us...
Brax was not the most gregarious of humpback whales, however, when with whales in the waters off Mingan and Anticosti she chose the company of two other well-known female humpbacks, Ebene and Tingley. Named for the X (Brand X to a less bland and more personal BRAX) and other scars left by killer whales on her flukes, Brax had also...
We would like to take advantage of the quietness that the hurricane brought to us to give you some news. Summer vacation is slowly coming to an end, and school has restarted for most youngsters. As such, visits to the museum and the daytrips at sea are dwindling. Visitors are mostly restricted to visiting us on weekends. Since we are...
The time has come for a mid-season news update from MICS! Over the last few weeks, we have been able to get three boats out on the water at a time: one research boat and two boats with tourists participating in outings at sea with our team. We are also pleased that our interpretation center is welcoming numerous visitors daily....
Today we left the dock in the fog, again. As we approached Grand-Ile, the scenery was ghostly- only the tips of the trees could be distinguished in the thick white fog. Scirroco led the way, followed by Mistral and Twister in a triangle formation. Keeping visual contact in the fog is the safest way to go. As we exited the...
by Richard Sears On April I joined Misa Prica and friends for pleasant evening in a fine Lisbon seafood restaurant and a walk through an animated Bario Alta. The following morning we left Lisbon aboard the cramped confines of Tap airlines tight for anyone over 5’ 8- for the 2hr 50 min flight to the new airport on Pico Island...
For a large part of the last 3 weeks, we’ve been land-locked. Strong winds have forced us to remain at the station and catch up with data-entering, administration, boat maintenance, equipment testing, and various other odd-end jobs Petra showing knot-tying to team members working on Twister We’ve have been offshore around 4 times this season, and only half of the...
With the MICS truck and trailer loaded to the maximum with equipment, computers, gadgets, food, carpet, fridge, freezer, 2 sofas and anything else we may need for the season, the team happily arrived in Longue-Pointe de Mingan May 29th. We were welcomed by warm sun, cool sea breeze, friendly neighbors, and a couple of minke whales popping up close to...
One of our collaborators at the eastern end of the Gaspé Peninsula (Jean-Francois Blouin) was able to get out on the water in Gaspé Bay and find a cow and calf blue whale pair that had been sighted over the last week. He and a colleague took some ID pictures of the 21st blue whale calf we have seen over 32 seasons...
