Dolphin spotted in port of Amsterdam is reluctant to leave

DutchNews, May 3, 2020

A lone dolphin has followed a sailing boat carrying a cargo of fair trade coffee and rum from the French coast to Amsterdam’s port and seems reluctant to leave the ship, experts said on Sunday. 

The animal is fit and healthy but rescue organisation SOS Dolfijn said the brackish water is not good for the animal and it may not be able to find enough food. 

‘The animal seems to have developed a close connection with the ship and stayed swimming with it through the sluice gates and now it is in the port,’ said spokesman Eligius Everaarts. 

Attempts to lure the animal back to the open sea are being hindered by the fact that it will have to swim though the sluices at IJmuiden, which means the rescue operation can only happen when the gates are open. 

SOS Dolfijn tried to make the animal follow their boat but after a while it turned and went back to the ship. The schooner which it followed cannot be used to guide the animal back because it must be unloaded first. 

Catching the animal is not option either, the organisation said, because the port is a large area and the manoeuvre could put the animal’s life in danger. 

‘It may make it out on its own bit that will depend on the sluices,’ a spokesperson for the organisation said. 

The adult bottle nose dolphin has been identified as Zafar, a dolphin which has been spotted on the coast of France in 2018 where it was observed to interact with divers. 

The organisation said it will continue to monitor the situation. 

Update Sunday evening: According to broadcaster NOS, the dolphin was successfully encouraged to return to the sea on Sunday afternoon.

The dolphin next to the sailing ship on his way back to the ocean. Photo: Olaf Kraak ANP

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Amsterdam port’s dolphin follows sailing ship back to the sea

Disquieting times for Malaysia's 'fish listener'

Yahoo  – AFP, Shannon Teoh, 19 Aug 2014

Fish listener Harun Muhammad clings onto his fishing boat at sea near

 Setiu lagoons on June 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

One hand clinging to his boat's gunwale, Harun Muhammad submerges himself, eyes and ears wide open underwater as he "listens" for fish sounds emanating from the blue depths.

Harun is one of Malaysia's last "fish listeners," and he and his apprentice son Zuraini are believed to be the only active practitioners of this mysterious and dying local art.

"When you listen, it is like through a looking glass -- you can see mackerel, sardine," said Harun, 68, who has fished the Setiu lagoons on Malaysia's rural east coast his whole life.

Fish listener Harun Muhammad clings onto

 his fishing boat at sea near Setiu lagoons

on June 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Manan

Vatsyayana)

"For us, we only look for gelama (a type of croaker). But in the schools of gelama, there will be other fish. The gelama is the king of fish."

Other fish listeners have passed away, retired or turned to modern fish-detection technology as the traditional practice has retreated in the face of dwindling catches and proliferating undersea noise.

Studies show Malaysian waters lost 92 percent of fishery resources between 1971 to 2007 due to overfishing.

"You can't copy our technique. You must gain the skill and learn the lay of the waters," said Harun.

"The wholesalers tell me, 'if you're gone, there will be no more gelama'," which fetches up to 10 times the price of similarly sized fish.

Sounds fishy

"Pak Harun", as he is known locally -- "Pak" is a Malay honorific similar to "Uncle" -- finds it hard to describe exactly how fish sound, but likens it to pebbles being dropped into water.

"They have a voice. This sound is this fish, that sound is another. When someone is new, they can't tell one fish song from another."

Harun and his crew of a dozen can go nearly a week without hearing gelama -- which invites scepticism about the claimed fish-listening ability.

But experts in sonifery (fish sounds) say sailors have long heard sounds of whales and fish through boat hulls.

"Scuba divers often do not hear anything because their breathing and bubble exhaust makes so much noise. However free divers, or divers using quiet re-breathers, can hear much better," said US-based marine ecologist Rodney Rountree.

Former fish listeners describe a range of techniques. Some claim they can feel changes in water temperature.

Fish listener Harun Muhammad (L) mans his fishing boat at sea near Setiu

lagoons with his son Zuraini on June 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

For Harun, it is a multi-sensory experience requiring eyes wide open.

"After a while, it is as if you can see. Even though the fish is very far, you can sense it in that direction and you go there. Only when you get close, you can hear the fish clearly," he said.

Though he sports a slight paunch on his sun-darkened frame under a spiky white head of hair, Harun remains sprightly despite his years, deftly clambering in and out of his boat in search of fish sounds.

Once he pinpoints a school of gelama, his crew -- who have hung back with engines off -- motor forward, drop their nets and strike the sides of their boats to spook the fish into the mesh trap.

"You think it's just stupid fish but they can see you coming. When they hear the sound of the boat, they run. The fish cry or shout and then their friends swim away," he said.

Listening in vain

Landing a rich catch was easy when stocks were abundant, Harun said.

But after decades of overfishing, he now "listens" up to several dozen times under the scorching equatorial sun before catching a snippet of gelama song.

Modernisation, including sand dredging, aquaculture, factories and fishing trawlers have transformed the Setiu wetlands, a rich but threatened coastal ecosystem centering on a 14-kilometre (9 mile) long lagoon along the South China Sea.

The state of Terengganu is seeking to make it a protected park.

But Harun's catch is increasingly unpredictable, averaging about $2,000 per week gross, leaving little left over after all crew are paid, and fuel, maintenance, and other costs are deducted.

Fish listener Harun Muhammad (L) mans

 his fishing boat at sea near Setiu lagoons

 with his son Zuraini on June 8, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

"Each year, the catch has reduced. But I'm not good at anything else, so I still have to do this," said his son and apprentice Zuraini.

Malaysia ranks among the top consumers of seafood in the world.

Intergovernmental industry researchers Infofish say Malaysians eat an average of 56.5 kilogrammes of seafood per person annually, more even than Japanese.

The global average is 20 kilos.

WWF-Malaysia chief Dionysius Sharma said overfishing threatens to leave Malaysian waters "vast and barren".

The organisation warns Malaysia's waters could run out of seafood by 2048.

Despite the long odds, Zuraini, 44, said someday he will train one of his own sons.

"I don't want to see this practice die off," he said.

Ocean Ramsey enjoys riding great white sharks as a way of showing the world the animal's gentler side

The Daily Telegraph, Neil Keene, February 18, 2013

Ocean Ramsey, a shark conservationist based out of Honolulu, swims with
a great white shark. Picture: Youtube/goprocamera Source: Supplied

THERE must be easier ways to get around underwater than hitching a ride with a great white shark.

But for Hawaiian shark conservation advocate Ocean Ramsey, it's a way of connecting with nature and getting the world to take notice of this apex predator's gentler side.

Ramsey, a free-diving expert, recently took a risk few others in the world have dared - swimming in open water with several adult great whites.

She told The Daily Telegraph yesterday the experience, which occurred off the coast of Mexico, was one of the highlights of her lifelong diving career.

"The goal was to go and find some great white sharks and collect video footage of their natural behaviour, but also, if the opportunity arose and the conditions were right, to actually interact with them," she said.

"We wanted to show that this is what they're really like - not the Hollywood movie where you put a drop of blood in the water and the animals go crazy."

Ramsey got what she was hoping for and more.

After two days observing the white pointers from a cage, she ventured into open water, kicking slowly towards a 5m female before grabbing its dorsal fin.

The feelings coursing through her body at that moment were a mixture of "incredible joy and breathtaking emotions".

"There is an instinctive fear, knowing what the animals are capable of, but it's hard to describe what it's like to be in the presence of such a magnificent animal," she said. "I felt extremely privileged to have such a close encounter."

Ramsey likened the connection she felt as she patted the sharks and rode on their backs to her experiences with horses.

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium aquarist Amy Wilkes said that swimming with great white sharks was clearly a dangerous proposition.

"It is risky - she is swimming with a very large predator, but the important thing to remember is that sharks are not always swimming around, trying to eat people," Ms Wilkes said. "She has gone to a great deal of effort to avoid threatening behaviour or scaring the sharks, so it's a calculated risk."

Ramsey, a former marine park sharks curator who has also swum with tiger sharks and bull sharks in Australia and the South Pacific, said she had years of experience interacting with the animals and reading their body language and behaviour.

"I wouldn't recommend or encourage people go out and go freediving with these animals," she said.

"They are wild animals and they need to be respected as an apex predator - they can only ever be so predictable."

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What If Animals Could Talk To You? Fascinating Woman Speaks Telepathically With Animals.

Lions whisperer cuddles with wild lions

"Soul Communication" - Feb 22-23, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version Part I)

“… Animals. You love them, don't you? What do you know about animals, especially the ones you care for and love, the ones you call pets? They have personalities, don't they? They can talk to you! When they communicate, what does that sound like, dear one? What do their voices sound like? "Well, Kryon, you already know they don't have an actual voice." Oh really? Then how do they "talk" to you? Now it gets good, doesn't it? They communicate through concepts. Their conceptual thought groups are available for you to pick up. So guess where you pick up these thoughts? It's through your pineal, which is the interpreter of multidimensional things in your body. It's not your brain, which is picking up their animal broadcasts, dear ones.

Now, some of you are good at this kind of communication. There are ones who are listening to this right now called animal whisperers, and they know exactly what I'm talking about. Why do they call it whispering? I give you my interpretation. It's because the communications are not linear, and they whisper to you through the pineal and not through brain synapse. It comes in thought groups, very softly and all at once, like the smudge. When you pick it up, you know what the dog or cat or horse or hamster or rabbit is trying to communicate. You know the requests they have, perhaps the distress they have, perhaps the celebration or the love they have.

Now, this kind of communication with animals is easy for you, because you all have felt this. I believe you know what I'm speaking about. So apply this lesson, for what I'm teaching today is no different and uses the same process you're going to use in real life and in meditation when you listen to God.

"Kryon, is it true that communicating with animals is soul communication?" Yes, it is theirs to yours, and if you're good at the interpretation of their thoughts, then why doubt yourself about the next step? Practice doing this communication with your own Higher-Self. Your Higher-Self is that part of yourself that vibrates higher than your cellular dimensionality, and it's part of your "soul group". This "soul group" is part of the nine attributes of the Human Being and is the core of you. It is the part that gives you information from the other side of the veil from that which you call God. …”

The Whale Whisperer: Astonishing bond between diver and Scar the giant sperm whale

MailOnline, by Mail Foreign Service, 03rd February 2010

Peering solemnly nose-to-nose at each other, this is the Whale Whisperer and his friend - Scar the 10-year-old giant of the sea.

These spectacular images show Andrew Armour bonding with the colossal sperm whale in the warm Caribbean waters off the island of Dominica.

Taken on the weekend, the photographs offer stunning insight into the lives of other pod members travelling with Scar.

Friends: Andrew Armour and Scar the sperm whale consider one another
solemnly as they swim in the waters off Dominica last weekend

In one picture a large group of 'socialising' whales come together - giving the impression they are meeting up for a chat.

And in another they arrive in a perfectly formed procession - almost like they are part of an underwater military march.

The jaw-dropping series of images show how a decade spent befriending the gentle giant allows Andrew, 45, to stroke and gracefully swim alongside the 32-foot mammal.

Whale watch operator Andrew, from Dominica, said: 'Our bond began in 2000 when my wife Rhona found him injured out at sea when he was just a calf. We think he might have been attacked by pilot whales but we are not sure.

'His head and dorsal fin were injured and he came to our boat, perhaps seeking some comfort. The most we could do was pet him and his injuries left him with some scarring.

That feels nice: Scar's eyes are closed as Andrew swims alongside

him petting him 'From then on he and another young female would approach

us whenever they saw our boat. We could even call him over.

'Now he recognises me when I am swimming. I feel like he even knows my voice. I can get very close with him because we trust each other. I even clean lice off him and he lets me do it.

'Other whales in the area don't tend to stay in the same place when humans are around but Scar seeks interaction and seems to enjoy being petted.'

More than a decade later, Andrew is now able to invite other snorkellers and divers along to share in the incredible experience.

Last week he took underwater photographers Eric Cheng, 34, from San Francisco, California, and Tony Wu, 42, from Tokyo, Japan, to witness his amazing encounters with Scar and other sperm whales in his pod.

It meant observers Eric and Tony were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with the huge animal themselves.

Social functions: Other sperm whales in the pod with patches of dead skin
flaking off them. Sperm whales often exfoliate by rubbing against one another

'When Tony and I first encountered Scar we had to continuously move out of the way to prevent the large whale from rubbing up against us,' said Eric.

'Soon enough, we overcame the worry that is natural when confronting one of the world's largest carnivores in its native environment.

'We stroked and scratched Scar, who twitched and rolled over repeatedly in what appeared to be enjoyment.

'It's dangerous to anthropomorphise animals - even intelligent ones - but it was absolutely clear in this case that Scar wanted the interaction.'

Anthropomorphism is the human habit of likening animal behaviour to human behaviour.

Eric continued: 'Scar can be now be approached by humans, but it is important to remember his still a wild animal and needs to be treated with respect.'

Just hanging out: Four of the whales suspend themselves
upside down in the water

Captivated Tony and Eric spent three days photographing Scar and other members of the pod under the watch of experienced Andrew.

'Each day, the number of whales in the group varied,' said Eric.

'The most we have seen at one time is 13. The pods are made up of adult females, their calves, and male and female juveniles.

'When sperm whales socialise, they often come together head first. Every whale seems to be in physical contact with every other whale, and in addition to the psychological bonding contact may reinforce, their constant rubbing is also a handy way for them to remove dead skin.

'The area around each social group was filled with sheets of dead sperm whale skin, which resembles black plastic bags.

'Also striking was the repeated sonar clicks the whales used to communicate. During social encounters, the sound of rhythmic clicking was overwhelming. It felt like our bodies were shaking.'

Dominica is a small, volcanic island in the southern Caribbean and is less than two hours by plane from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Sperm whales live in the waters around the island all year round.

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What are you doing here? Amazing underwater photos show beluga whales meeting divers at Arctic rehabilitation farm

What are you doing here? Amazing underwater photos show beluga whales meeting divers at Arctic rehabilitation farm

MailOnline, Lizzie Smith, 18th January 2010

It's like no fish this beluga whale has ever seen before.

Deep in the Arctic ocean, daylight obscured by layers of ice and snow, the majestic animal has just come face to face with a scuba diver.

In the midst of the freezing waters of northern Russia's White Sea, the belugas seem fascinated by the humans - and vice-versa.

The encounter is taking place at a special whale sanctuary designed and built by marine biologists from St Petersburg University.

Up close: A beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, eyes a diver a few feet
 away as it swims under ice at the Arctic circle Dive Center in the White Sea, Karelia,
northern Russia

The 'natural farm' acts as a nursery for breeding whales, as well as acting as a rehabilitation centre for former performing animals before they are set into the wild.

The natural bay under the ice means that the whales are protected from the strong currents of the wider ocean and left to breed in peace, while also leaving them free to roam as they wish.

These wild whales are not endangered, but are considered to be threatened by pollution and loss of habitat.

Occasionally, guests at the local Arctic Circle Dive Centre can swim with the friendly giants, and get close enough to touch.

Arctic diver and photographer, Franco Banfi, 58, who captured these shots said: 'When a whale comes up to us and swims by, it looks you right in the eyes. Obviously we don't know what they think, but they are very curious creatures.

Close encounter: A scuba diver braves temperatures of -10C to
approach the whale

'Sometimes, I'm sure they're trying to figure out what we are and where we came from.

'As photographer, I've always been driven to bring photographs of animals one hardly ever sees to a printed page.'

But while the beluga, or white whale, is built for these harsh surroundings, the diving team face extremely tough conditions to get close to the gentle creatures.

Before each dive the team have to create holes in the three-foot-deep ice using a hand saw, just to get through to the sea below.

Once they're in they have to swim around in heavy layers of clothes to keep alive in the -10C waters.

Open wide: The whale tries to eat the camera, unsure of what it is

And it's definitely a case of choosing the short straw for one volunteer who gets to stay above ground in -30C winds, making sure the ice hole doesn't freeze over and trap the group.

'Photographing a story in very cold water can turn into a logistical nightmare,' admits Franco.

'But, if we are well trained, the underwater part of things is not really as harsh as you might think.'

'When we come out on land, temperatures can get down to -10C or -20C and things will instantly freeze, so we can barely move.

'Cold itself will not hurt the equipment, but it may slow down some of its functions as well as our own.

Safe: The animals in the natural farm are a mix of wild
 animals and former performing animals, who are allowed
 to rehabilitate in the safe environment before being
 released into the ocean

'Because of the ice-layer and snow cover, there is not sufficient light to shoot with ambient light and batteries lose their charge more quickly in cold weather.'

Franco added that he was keen to show the beauty of the undersea world to those who can't face the icy deep themselves.

'As photographer, I've always been driven to bring photographs of animals one hardly ever sees to a printed page,' he said.

'I want to see these amazing animals in a way that only a few people have seen and I want to share it with others.'