2025 – THE GRAND PLAN

• Find a captain with a 38 – 50ft sailboat to invest in with 4-5 people sharing costs and work
• OR buy a sailboat with 4-5 other people and find a captain
• Sail around the Salish Sea recording the lives, culture and communications of humpback whales who feed and socialize with their friends and families in their northern home.
• Work with a team passionate about whales, ocean health and diversity and sharing that with other humans in playful, creative media environments.
• THE DREAM TEAM WE NEED:
  • Captain
  • Biologist researching whale social relationships, culture and communication
  • part-time drone operator (because aerial views reveal more of the interactions)
  • Administrator – Coordinator
  • part-time Webmaster

All members of The Team need to be comfortable on the water, familiar with sailboats and sailing or willing to learn, willing and able to pitch in with all boat duties; mechanical, cooking & cleaning, provisioning etc. Working together as a team is essential on a boat in confined spaces. The whales set the agenda so we have to be ready to go with whatever is happening with them in the moment and support whichever team member is operating the equipment that will record that moment best.

STUDYING & RECORDING THE LANGUAGE, CULTURE & COMMUNICATION of HUMPBACK WHALES

• METHODOLOGY:
  • SOUND & SIGHT: In the plankton rich waters of the summer Salish Sea visibility can be only a few meters and dark under the plankton layer. So sound is vital to the communication of whales and other aquatic beings. Documenting their sound communications underwater and matching those to their behaviour visible at the surface is the “methodology” we have developed to learn about humpback whales in a non-interfering way.
  • BEING THERE: Hours spent on the water at all times of day and night with the whales are crucial in getting to know individual whales and whale society; who they feed with, who they socialize with, who they travel with.
  • COMMUNICATING UNDERWATER: It’s one of our burning questions; How well do humpback whales see and hear in the medium of air? Jude has been playing a pvc pipe didjeridoo for the whales when they circle our boat. Do they know we are trying to communicate with them? It seems as if they do but we never know how much they are hearing since sound does not transfer well between air and water. So we are building an underwater speaker to transmit sound to them underwater. We plan to play our music & recordings of their own songs. Will they understand that we are trying to communicate with them and respond to our sounds? Stay tuned for this season’s blogs to find out!
• AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTION: continue producing and editing videos and sound recordings portraying whales’ lives and communications for researchers and the public

SHARING WHAT WE LEARN & RECORD

• PRESENTATIONS: We will give live presentations to more communities around the Salish Sea in BC and Washington state and continue offering free online presentations to Environmental, Naturalist, Research and Community groups.
• CONTRIBUTE: Continue to share audio recordings and video clips with researchers, artists and activists that educate and advocate for Whales, Marine protection and health, Nature Connection and Environmental Justice.
• WEBSITE: Continue educating and entertaining site visitors with video and sound recordings, blog journals, information about humpback whales, sound in the ocean and what humans can do to help restore ocean health and protect whales and ocean ecosystems.

WHAT WE NEED TO DO THE WORK

CHARITABLE TAX NUMBER: we are looking for an environmental organization with charitable tax status & a mandate that Welcoming Whales could contribute to and benefit as a project

RESEARCH & DOCUMENTING BOAT
> a captain with a 38 – 50ft sailboat we could invest in with 4-5 people sharing costs and work OR > 38 – 50ft sailboat to buy with 4-5 others passionate about whales and the ocean

PRESENTATION EQUIPMENT (New or Used)
– Projector for bright room (projecting in daylight hours)
– 2 x 250W powered speakers & stands, 4 channel mixer
– Drone (Swellpro Splash Drone is best for water launching)
– Underwater Speaker components for building a waterproof speaker

PERSONNEL

• Boat Captain
• Biologist or grad student researching whale social relationships, culture and communication
• part-time drone videographer (aerial view reveals much more when whales interact)
• Administrative Co-ordinator
• part-time Webmaster
• People who love whales and the ocean and want to Volunteer their skills in any way

PROJECT YEARS IN REVIEW

2024 – LOOKING AHEAD

THE GRAND PLAN      

• Continue giving live and online presentations of audiovisual media featuring stories of the lives of North Pacific humpback whales that inspire & inform the public about how to protect and restore the Salish Sea.
• Organize a Presentation Tour of communities around the Salish Sea in BC and Washington state.
• Continue documenting the lives of humpback whales and Salish Sea ecosystems during our “citizen science” boat trips.
• Continue playing music & practising intuitive communication with the whales & documenting their responses.
• Continue supporting marine research and ocean activism through sharing our audiovisual and hydrophone recordings.
• Continue supporting youth creating or involved in ocean projects
• Begin working with bioacoustic researchers to analyse 5 seasons of Salish Sea hydrophone recordings
• network with organizations and community groups around the Salish Sea in BC and Washington state that are working on protecting and restoring marine life to share knowledge & skills.

The Reality

We gave 5 live and online Presentations. The live presentations were in our local area for the Library and Naturalist Club. https://prpl.ca/event/welcoming-whales/

The 3 online presentations could reach people anywhere. Below is a recording of one presentation we gave for Humanity Rising. Unfortunately our satellite connection is so slow that much of the time video of Terry and I freezes so we look like Hallowe’en monsters vogue-ing! But the whales swim across screens beautifully thanks to the expertise of Georg Boch, HR’s zoom tech who downloaded and played our videos from his high speed connection – all good.

Tours of other communities around the Salish Sea including Washington State have been postponed until we can find funding in both Canada and the USA. This will require charitable tax numbers in both countries. We are looking for an environmental organization in Canada who would welcome us as a project that would benefit their mandate so we could fundraise through their charitable tax status. Please contact us at welcome@welcomingwhales.com if Welcoming Whales fits your organization’s mission and vision!

After a couple of short trips in May and early June Blue Parrot’s ancient Atomic 4 gas engine “Lazarus” refused to be resurrected again. We watched endless Youtube videos of wildly diverse quality to learn how to clean, repair, replace parts etc. All to no avail. Lazarus wants to RIP and delegate his position to a younger engine. So Blue Parrot is for sale on sale with 5 sails. She is a great boat for first time sailors who want an easy “learn-to-sail” keel boat. She’s very friendly and also familiar with whales. For more information please contact us welcome@welcomingwhales.com.

Two generous neighbours Paul and Karyn shared their 17ft Sangster/Mercruiser runabout with us during the summer and autumn. This  was a real gift that allowed us to get out on the water for day trips and get some wonderful whale behaviour on film and audio. Forever grateful.

Continuing to practise intuitive communication is a connundrun. According to Caltech-based scientists Prof. Markus Meister and Graduate Student Jieyu Zheng our brain can only process 10 “bits” of information per second. Yet the universe is constantly feeding our senses exponentially more information. In fact humans “are extracting just 10 bits from the trillion that our senses are taking in (every second) and using those 10 to perceive the world around us and make decisions.” So I am always asking myself  “What information am I receiving from the whales and how am I receiving it?” And the profound question is “What am I missing?” when trying to understand and communicate with whales. This isn’t something that my analytical brain can “figure out” so alert, open awareness to other ways of knowing is the practise.

SETI is using AI to try to learn how to communicate with alien ETs. I ask “How are we going to understand aliens when we can’t even understand the alien creatures with whom we share our planet?”

Regarding playing music for/with whales, it’s an ongoing endeavor. How well do whales hear above the water? Some seem curious and circle Blue Parrot when I play the pvc pipe “didjeridoo”. Recently a former bagpiper related that another bagpiper told her how some humpback whales came around to listen to her bagpipe music but this was a second hand story – she hadn’t played for whales herself.  Intriguing….. we won’t know for certain whether the whales are actually hearing us until we can build an underwater speaker and transmit our sound to them directly underwater.

We continued to share our videos and hydrophone recordings with researchers, artists, and activists. They are creative commons copyrighted so available for everyone to enjoy and use except for commercial use. Our audiovisual material is free to researchers, Rights of Nature and Envionmental Justice activists, nature filmmakers, ocean and whale protection campaigns. We continue to report our sightings to Wild Ocean Whales, government and the Happy Whale archive along with ID photos.  

Jude and Prav have begun analyzing recordings of humpback whale song using the Cornell University bioacoustic RAVEN spectrograph software. We need more time to study these recordings  for Ultra Low Frequency communications, especially between Moms and baby whales.

Projects To Which We Have Contributed This Year:

Alex Chen, pianist and composer in Victoria BC wrote a story for children “The Adventures of Kelp Creature” for which he composed a ‘Peter and the Wolf’ type score. It is whimsical and factual with a book as well as the wonderful music. Find it here: 

The Adventures of Kelp Creature

Jonah Lee McNanee is a young Director who is producing a documentary “Hope For Humpbacks” He talked about it in a podcast

“Hope for the Humpbacks” Podcast Episode Now Available

Abigail Hoover wants to reconnect the very urban NYC residents with the humpback whales who have been returning to the Hudson River and can even be seen when crossing on the ferry. Abigail is designing an app where different images and sounds of whales will appear on your phone as you pass stations on the NYC subway line. Here is a link to her “Cetacea Commute” project proposal. It’s in development so not available yet.

2023 Review

The Grand Plan

• Travel to Maui  to record humpback whalesong and to look for whales who migrate to the area from the Salish Sea to mate and give birth.
• Our usual 6-8 weeks in SV Blue Parrot on the Salish Sea  documenting humpback whale behaviour, relationships and communication 
• Continue to send sightings reports and ID photos to WOWS and Happy Whale
• Continue to produce short videos and blogs.
• Continue to investigate telepathic interspecies communication and learn from Animal Communicators
• Create Public Presentations to give live and online.
• Find NGOs focused on Ocean health and protection to partner with.

THE REALITY      It took a while to find accommodations in Maui that we could afford. As a result we left at the end of February which is late in the whale season there. After a week of organizing and renting equipment the Kona storm winds hit for a week. We caught RSV which developed into pneumonia for Terry who also wrenched his back and pinched a nerve. 2 weeks later we were back on the water for 1 week but the whales were leaving and we had to leave too. However, it was still a very exciting and productive year with new revelations and new questions.

These 2 humpback whales are enjoying themselves playing and feeding in a deep arm off Lewis Channel. Dalls porpoises come by frenetically chasing fish. Lots of excitement ensues! The fish sounds at the end of the video are not midshipman mating calls. What are they?

2022

THE GRAND PLAN       Terry has been in Belize since November 2021 snorkeling on the coral reefs and in the jungle while creating fun educational videos for TREES – Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Station

• Plan a trip to Baja California Sur in February to record humpback communications in the Sea of Cortes and to look for whales who migrate to the SE cape waters to give birth and train their babies for the long migration north.
• Find 2 sailboats out of La Paz with captains willing to dedicate 2 – 3 weeks each to whale research. 
• Expand the Team – work with Roger in Baja to analyze the hydrophone recordings and find whales. 
• Another 6-8 week season on the Salish Sea June – December with the whales.
• Edit short videos and write blogs.
• Update website.
• Send ID photos to Happy Whale
• Enroll in  a course to learn how to promote the project. 
• Investigate interspecies communication techniques 

THE REALITY     Jude slipped on ice and broke a rib so it took a longer time to get to Baja than planned. By February 23 Moms with calves were already hanging out in deeper waters. Off Cabo San Lucas  lots of whales including Moms with babies were bien mobbed by boats. It was difficult to witness so many power boats roaring in close to the whales and large cruise ships bearing down on them.

Since there are few good anchorages around the Cabos Onno, captain of the ketch Lost Pearl, anchored in Las Frailles. When we dropped the hydrophone off the boat we could hear whales singing but we couldn’t see them.  A few Moms with calves came by Lost Pearl at anchor and we saw a few whales traveling but none stayed to play.

THE GOOD STUFF

• In Baja California Sur, Mexico Jude got some quality recordings of male humpbacks singing.
• Roger and Jude assessed how to interface a spectrograph analyzer with the mixer/recorder so ULF sounds could be detected in realtime. Expensive specialized oscillator or software would be needed
• Roger and Jude connected with whale watching companies and guides in Cabo San Lucas and encouraged them to report their sightings to Happy Whale
• Jude and Roger connected with whale researchers in La Paz to learn about their work  and to discuss how to protect cetaceans in the Sea of Cortes.
• We observed how the local Baja fishermen and tourist boat traffic are affecting the ecology and biodiversity of the Sea of Cortes.  
• Jude and Roger connected with the Yacht Clubs in La Paz to ask for whale sightings from boaters
• In October  SV Blue Parrot rafted to  Jamie’s trimaran and we floated all night on the Salish Sea over The Pinnacles while the whales sang and fed underneath our boats. [See Video Below]
• We participated in the first  Multispecies Symposium presented by University of Saskatchewan

THE HIGHLIGHTS     So many including our first video with underwater sounds of Lunge Feeding. The video below shows the view from up the mast of Jamie’s trimaran when our boats were rafted up and a whale approaches.

2021 – REVIEW

It looks as if covid restrictions on non-essential travel in and out of Canada are going to postpone our travel plans until 2022. So we are planning our 2021 whale season here in the Salish Sea.

THE GRAND PLAN      

• 6-8 weeks on the water in SV Blue Parrot to film whales above water and record communications underwater.
• Find skippers with boats in Powell River, Saltery Bay and Lund willing to take Terry and Jude out on day trips to observe and document whale culture.
• Look for a waterfront cabin on Read Island that has a good view of Sutil Channel that we can rent June – September.
• Acquire RAVEN PRO spectrograph software and analyze hydrophone recordings we’ve made to detect infrasound (below human hearing range) whale vocalizations.
  

  

• Continue networking with researchers in Canada, USA, Mexico to share information.
• Continue editing short videos for the website and writing blogs.

THE REALITY      It was a good summer on the water although not a great Fall season. No whalesong recordings this year. A few trips out in other boats were not very productive. It seems that not many people have the interest or stamina for long days on the water waiting for whales! We realize we need to be able to hire people and this requires funding. This is not our area of expertise so we need help with writing proposals and fundraising in general.

THE GOOD STUFF     

• We wrote articles on the return of humpback whales to the Salish Sea and on resident herring for local publications.
• We recorded video and underwater sound of the whales from June through December (which we are editing for the website)
• We started to learn how to use spectrographic software to analyze acoustic recordings and recognize biological sound signatures

THE HIGHLIGHT       So many whales that we recognized traveling and feeding together. We realize that “together” can mean on the other side of the channel to a whale and learning how they signal each other and communicate with breaches and fin slaps when far apart. Peduncle throws can be aggressive or playful. This video shows many ways whales communicate with body language.

Click on the arrow to listen to a Whale Song

2020 – REVIEW

THE GRAND PLAN       Covid scuttled all our plans for travel, presentations and networking. We decided to continue documenting the lives and stories of the Salish Sea whales, edit videos and network online.

THE REALITY       THE PANDEMIC…… Harbours were closed and so were stores and fuel docks. In April/May there were very few recreational boats on the water so the underwater acoustic environment was much quieter. It was easier to film whales without constant wake and motor noise from other boats. What effect would  less boat traffic have on the whales and other Aquatic Life?  There wasn’t enough time to assess this situation. By the end of June there were more boats than we’ve ever seen on the water with people from Seattle to Campbell River off work and fishing or recreating.

THE GOOD STUFF      

• We have begun to recognize some of the whales and be able to identify who is hanging out with whom. It will be interesting to note whether these social groupings persist or change from year to year. A couple of interactions with Moms and calves have been awesome.
• The whales were singing again on Halloween and into December which we were able to record. It would be fabulous to actually film a whale singing here in their northern habitat. The problem with this plan is that first we’d have to find the singing whale. Our northern seas are dark in the winter so finding a whale underwater is not easy. It requires a hydrophone array to determine the direction of the singing. If a singer could be located a diver with underwater camera and lights would be able to film.
• We stayed connected with the whale researchers and guides we had contacted in 2019 and sent them the recordings of whalesong we made.

THE HIGHLIGHT Documenting the often playful interactions between whales and sealions. Sometimes a gang of sealions will pester napping humpback whales. The whales get excited and splash around but never hurt the “tiny” sealions.

2019 – REVIEW

THE GRAND PLAN     

• Contact whale researchers /guides in Canada, USA, and Mexico to introduce the Welcoming Whales project and share information about humpback whales
• 3 – 4 week trip to Mexico to meet with whale research/whale watching company guides
• Edit a 1 minute and a 3 minute Welcoming Whales teaser
• Video of Jude being trained as a whale watching guide by a whale watching company captain. We will use this video to educate the public in safe boating around whales – safe for whales and humans.
• Apply for an Arts Grant for a Welcoming Whales Documentary Film

THE REALITY     

2019 was an amazing year. Although the trips to Mexico and Jude’s promised training didn’t come through and we didn’t get the Arts grant there were many highlights this year.

THE GOOD STUFF     

• Created a new website (this one) dedicated to the Welcoming Whales project
• We filmed and edited short videos for the website 
• We wrote blogs from Jude’s Pilot Log Journals for the website 
• We took a Stranding Rescue training with Paul Cottrell, the DFO expert and the only person authorized to conduct disentanglement operations and stranding rescues on cetaceans and pinnipeds for the entire BC coast. We coordinated with 2 students at the Powell River Digital Film School to produce a video of the “rescue” at Willingdon Beach

THE HIGHLIGHT      Hallowe’en night under a full moon, anchored off Savary island. Jude dropped the hydrophone in 20 feet of water and we heard humpback whales singing here for the first time.

2018 – REVIEW

THE GRAND PLAN     “How to make friends with whales” is still our quest for 2018. Add to that “How to capture enough video to create a sizzling teaser”. Then in December 2017 we have a surprise offer. On the recommendation of our friend Mary Burgett, we contacted Shari Bondy who runs whale watching tours out of Ojo de Liebre in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. That was back in May 2017. “Whale Magic” tours get up close and personal with the friendly grey whales who mate and give birth in the shallow lagoons of the Pacific Coast of Baja, Mexico. Shari, who has been guiding for over 20 years, asked us to help guide her tours in 2018! We are so excited! This is a remarkable opportunity to finally be able to meet friendly whales and hopefully get to know some individuals. We will also be able to video the whales plus video interactions between whales and people on the tours.

THE REALITY     2018 was an amazing year – the one we had dreamed of for a long time.

THE GOOD STUFF     Working with the Mexican lanchero Julian was wonderful. His knowledge of the grey whales and his care for them was inspiring in any language!

Living at the Fish Camp while guiding in Mexico gave us opportunities to learn about poaching in the lagoon from the fishermen directly. They took watches while staying at the Camp to guard their cooperative’s territory. 

• We learned how grey whales mate and how Moms build their baby’s stamina for the long migration north. We learned ways that grey whale culture in their mating and birthing areas differs from their culture on their feeding grounds. And every whale species has it’s own specialized hitchhikers.
• Finally Terry got the video we need to produce some scintillating videos of humpback whales  in the Salish Sea and Grey Whales in Ojo de Libre, BCS, Mexico.
• Roger has connected with some of the whale researchers in Canada, US and Mexico who have been very helpful with information and whale identification.
• We have reported information to the WOWS whale sightings and ID catalogues.
• We’ve opened every teachable moment to educate people about safe boating around whales including hailing boats on VHF radio when we’re on the water to inform boaters of sleeping or feeding whales ahead of them.

THE HIGHLIGHT     

2017 – REVIEW

THE GRAND PLAN     “How to make friends with our local whales” is still our quest for 2017.  These are the basic essentials for recording the video we need to make a documentary about How to Make Friends With Whales:

• Repairing SV Blue Parrot’s engine
• 6-8 weeks on the water in Blue Parrot June – November to video and observe whales
• Customized camera gear that includes gyro-stabilizer 
• 4K capable video camera(s) with underwater housing  
• A DSLR to capture high-resolution photos of whales for identification purposes All this wonderful equipment requires funds to purchase.

A fundraising campaign is necessary. The catch 22 is that we don’t yet have the video footage to make a dazzling demo or tantalizing teaser that will inspire people to give us money yet. So this is a fundamental objective of our 2017 work plan. We are also searching for humans who have whale or dolphin friends so we can consult with them about how they developed their relationships. Even then, a whale or dolphin may not be interested in having a human friend. Here’s hoping a cetacean or two are willing to honour us… or humour us. Stay tuned!

THE REALITY     2017 started with disappointment and injury.

THE GOOD STUFF     In the Fall our hard work  finally bore fruit. We had some magical encounters with humpback whales. Getting good video from a vessel in constant motion is a challenge that Terry (aka “The Amphibiographer”) is working out through customizing his gear, steady hands and practise, practise, practise.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

• September 2017 – Lullaby for Whales http://www.imppossible.com/imp_wp/2017/09/
• October 2017 – Orrp Orrp – PCHOOOOO! http://www.imppossible.com/imp_wp/2017/10/

 

2016 – REVIEW

THE GRAND PLAN     The filmmakers will be living on the water in their sailboat for weeks at a time. We plan to film humpback whales as they go about their natural business making their living in the Salish Sea. We hope that local humpbacks will become familiar with the boat and us. We certainly won’t be chasing whales but if they are curious enough to approach the boat we will welcome their attentions. We will also attempt to imitate some whale sounds by blowing through a PVC pipe and note their reactions.

THE REALITY     2016 was a year of frustrations. Boat engine repairs and family health crises quickly ate up our time to be on the water with the whales. However, thanks to a local skipper and a virtuoso mechanic we managed to get out in the sailboat during Aug – Nov 2016. Unfortunately the only whales we saw up close were in our dreams or ghosts in the distance. We didn’t manage to get any usable video or audio this season.

THE GOOD STUFF     In retrospect, it is useful to have another year of studying the research on humpback whale cultures. Time spent learning how to repair SV Blue Parrot’s WWII Atomic 4 boat engine will certainly help on future expeditions. And accumulating the usual bit of winter fat will help insulate us while freediving in the northern Pacific ocean!

THE HIGHLIGHT     of 2016 was purchasing a good quality hydrophone from Cetacean Research Technologies. Extending our limited human hearing into the aquatic realm is the closest thing to being a marine mammal. When there aren’t boats and machines around the quiet is vast and awesome. But add people and boats and “hear’s” what happens. What are the whales hearing?

2015 – REVIEW

The Summer of 2015 was intended to be a reconnaissance and research season for the project.  A reading of the 2015 monthly Whale journals blog will quickly reveal that it turned out to be a season of moving home and work plus repairing boats and boat engine. In fact, we filmmakers got as far offshore in our sailboat as the beach at low tide.. SEE BLOGS – 2015 for details https://www.imppossible.com/imp_wp/welcoming-whales/blog/

Finally in October we had our first really spectacular sightings of humpback whales while we were camping onshore!