Ana and Anika will return to Andenes tomorrow, after continuously observing the minke whale next to Svolvaer airport for three days. Even thought it was quite cold and raining a lot, they managed to get many observation hours and will make a report about the survey tomorrow.
Ana, Anika and Lexi have been monitoring the minke whale in the small enclosed bay in Lofoten, next to the Svolvaer airport. Here is a lingk to the article in Lofotposten, written by the reporter Eric Fokke who also helped our volunteers with the logistics for the survey! http://www.lofotposten.no/lokale_nyheter/article7530077.ece
On the 23rd and 24th of August, between 11 and 16 h, MAREFA and our partner Natur og Ungdom will organise the Andoy Marine Environment Day. The event is financially supported by Andoy kommune and Whalesafari is providing the wall for the mural. This event is focused on the children and youth of Andoy, and learning about the local marine environment through art and play. The planned activities include painting a mural on the Tranmeieri wall (old cod liver oil factory), educational games and workshops, and face painting - all focused on the local marine ecosystem and our interactions with it. There will be waffles and juice, and parents are welcome to join in!
A minke whale has been observed in a small bay near Svolvaer airport in Lofoten islands during the past two weeks. MAREFA has put up signs to inform the sea users about the whale, to try to keep the animal safe from boats. In the next days we'll monitor the whale behaviour and habitat use, and evaluate if there is any more action needed.
If you are entering the bay with a boat, please reduce speed - and if you use the area for fishing, please do it on the side of the bridge facing the open sea. Together we can make sure everyone enjoys seeing this whale in a way which is safe both for the animal and for the observers! If you have any additional information about the whale movements, contact us any time! We are looking for volunteer observers for the summer field season, starting from 26th June untill the 31st August. The full stay is preferred, but a one-month stay is possible for volunteers with sufficient cetacean surveys experience. Accomodation is provided by MAREFA, both during the training in the last week of June and during the volunteering period. Food is the responsibility of the volunteers. All info or applications with CV and cover letter: [email protected].
Marta Acosta is off to Liege tomorrow to attend the European Cetacean Society conference. If you want to know more about the conference, check the conference website. Below are the abstracts of the two poster presentations presented by MAREFA this year.
We started a collaboration with a Swiss organisation Javaris, in a project of eco-tourism. The project details (in German) are available here.
MAREFA will present two poster presentation at the ECS conference which will be held in Liege, Belgium, in April. We'll also participate in a workshop on collecting data from opportunistic platforms, such as whalewatching boats.
MAREFA representative Marta Acosta at a meeting in Oslo on 24/25 March organised and funded by Statoil. The objective of the meeting was to set grounds to compare the methods of detection of cetaceans.
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