One For The Road

It's time to hit the road again. Off to try my luck with the dwarf minke whales that visit the Great Barrier Reef each year at this time.

This will be my first time Down Under to play with these charismatic cetaceans, so it'll be an interesting experience no matter how things go, especially since I'll be with a great group of friends who have (inexplicably) volunteered to spend an extended period of time trapped on a boat with me.

The trip is going to be quite an international affair, with people representing Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sweden, USA, France, the UK, and Romania. The hodgepodge of backgrounds and cultures will makes me feel right at home!

Also, as a bonus...I'll have a chance to abuse see Bob Halstead before the trip. It's been a year since Bob has had the pleasure of my company, so he's no doubt worked himself into a tizzy at the prospect of engaging in a round of stimulating discourse (i.e., flurry of mutual insults) with me.

Who knows? He might actually say something witty this time.

Conversations with Bob from Tony Wu on Vimeo.

Anyway...I thought I'd post one more photo before I head out. It's a short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) that I came across last year in Palau.

There were several dozen together in a large pod, moving along, but not in any particular rush...behaving, in other words, as pilot whales often seem to do.

Ron Leidich and I were fortunate enough to spend a half hour or so flopping around in the water while these sleek cetaceans cruised along, doing their best to avoid being seen in proximity to us. They have standards, after all.

Short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
One of about 50 short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
I came across in Palau. Note the scars located all over the animal's body.

I'll be offline for a while. Hopefully I'll come back with some nice photos of dwarf minkes to share, but if I don't, I'll just blame Bob.