On the 27th of March 2025, the Jakup Sverri took off from Torshavn, Faroe Islands. Together with an Irish, Dutch and Norwegian ship, researchers would survey the European Atlantic to assess the blue whiting stock. This yearly survey allows for a fair distribution of the stock through national maximum catch limits and the continuous survival of the blue whiting stock. While the mixed Faroes and Scottish crew attended the echosounder to detect schools of blue whiting and performed pelagic trawls to sample the schools, two marine mammal observers kept themselves busy. Emilie De Loose, project leader for the Atlantic Whale Deal and Carlota Casas Campos from the Universidad de La Laguna had joined the ship, armed with a thermal camera to capture images of large whales and their blows.
The Faroese blue whiting acoustics survey was chosen as a survey for the Atlantic whale deal, due to the chance of encountering sperm- and fin whales along the Faroese bank and the Faroe-Shetland channel. The choice was not without risk as the Northeast Atlantic is often plagued by bad weather. For the first week of the survey, this was proven to be true, with large swells and high wind speeds making visual surveying a tricky task. Occasionally a blow would be spotted on the horizon or a fin darting through the water, but not more than one a day.
whale blow spotted on the horizon
After 8 days of spotting mainly waves and fulmars, the wind calmed, and the waves lessened. As we cruised over the Faroese sea it showed us just how much life could be seen. In one day, there were 7 sightings of at least 4 different species. Pods of pilot whales began to appear, often accompanied by fast travelling Atlantic white-sided dolphins. The echosounder showed the school of fish darting deeper into the water as they evaded the hungry cetaceans. A playful Northern bottlenose whale showed off its acrobatic talents as it leaps up in front of the bow for minutes at a time.
Pilot whales
Atlantic white-sided dolphins
Northern bottlenose whale
Most large whales kept their distance, their identity betrayed solely by distinct blows. Repeated angled blows on the port side? Sperm whales, probably preparing for another deep dive as we sailed over 1000+m depths. Tall columnar blows seen from large distances gave away a fin whale. Images showed a potential sei whale as the blow and the dorsal fin were seen in the same shot. The coup de grâce came as we were estimating the distance of a potential fin whale with our range finders. Our attention was suddenly grasped by a blow not 50m away from the side of the ship as a fin whale came to the surface. Most of the blows and large whales were caught on the thermal camera.
Despite the rougher start of the survey, the trip was a great success for the Atlantic Whale Deal. These images/footages will be analysed and used to train software to detect the heat signatures of whales and their blows. Through this technology, we will be able to warn mariners of nearby whales and help mitigate ship strikes.
Emilie De Loose, Project leader for the Atlantic Whale Deal