Category Archives: Uncategorized

The weather and ocean conditions were very favorable today. We traveled southeast to Mohotani, surveying the east coast first, and were rewarded with a group of around 300 melon-headed whales. We collected biopsies, photo IDs and underwater video for the … Continue reading →

The weather forecast for today predicted low wind, and therefore we decided to cover the East coast of Hiva Oa, usually more exposed to dominant wind, hoping to find the famous “melon-headed whales”. The ocean conditions turned out to be … Continue reading →

Limiting our surveys to the south shore and west coast of Hiva Oa, we observed and biopsied both spinner and spotted dolphins today, four groups of spotted dolphins and one group of spinners. During one encounter, spotted dolphins rendezvoused with … Continue reading →

This morning the weather was similar to yesterday, with a continuation of easterly winds about 15 knots and a south swell. During four encounters, we photographed and biopsied spotted dolphins in the Haava Channel between the two islands and on … Continue reading →

Kaoha from Hiva Oa! Our first nine days of surveys will be conducted around the islands of Hiva Oa, Tahuata and Mohotane, in the Marquesas archipelago with Eric Lelyonnais as our captain. Today, our first day on the water, the … Continue reading →