Any good at puzzles??

Now how does one go about fitting all of this...

On to this....

???!!!

Thank you to all those very kind sponsors out there. I have so far raised £228.94 for the royal society of wildlife trusts. My just-giving site will stay open until well after 1st of July when I should have hopefully reached Mull! 

Thank you!

Just Beecause

I have a mission within my mission.

Biking to Scotland is obviously a large undertaking in itself, but I want to set myself another personal challenge.

One area I am becoming increasingly concerned with is the plight of our honey bee. The world's bee population has declined rapidly in recent years.  They have been affected by disease, chemicals (pesticides) and habitat loss. Bees pollinate around one third of the world’s crops and so if the bees die out, it’s not only them suffering!

So my side-line mission on my trip Scotland is to try to eat only food sourced locally and if possible organic and foraged produce. Although this is something I generally try to do in my day to day life, being on a very tight budget often makes this difficult. 

Pesticides are believed to be a huge problem for the honey bee and it is the large monoculture crops that mostly need these awful chemicals. Organic farming is not only free from pesticides, but as there are generally a larger variety of crops grown in one area, the greater diversity in turn helps the bee.

The European commission are temporarily banning the use of select pesticides which is great news, but the bees still need our help.

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/2013/04/29/bees-face-brighter-future-pesticides-banned

The issue is so broad and still there are so many unknowns. Here are some links you may find useful to find out more about the problem and what you can do to help.

Meanwhile… Please help me raise money for The Wildlife Trusts on my justgiving site

http://www.justgiving.com/Kerry-froud1

Thank you!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130510-honeybee-bee-science-european-union-pesticides-colony-collapse-epa-science/

http://www.capitalgrowth.org/bees/

http://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/save-our-honeybee/

http://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/the_bee_cause_home_map_39371.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521877/

All for a good cause...

At the age of 13 I gawped at the biking section in a 'Vaude' catalogue and imagined the adventures that could be had on two wheels with a set of panniers. Now at the age of 26 I am about to embark on that two-wheeled pannier-laden adventure, cycling from Barton-on-Sea in Hampshire all the way up to The Isle of Mull in Scotland!

This June I will be working up in Scotland on the Isle of Mull and so thought what better way to get there than to bike? Not only that, but instead of undertaking a gruelling mission merely as a personal challenge, why not fund raise for a great charity along the way?

There are many charities close to my heart, however the charity I have decided to support for this mission is...

 The Wildlife Trusts

There are 47 wildlife trusts throughout the UK including the Isle of Man (Where I began my journey into conservation science) and Alderney.

On my journey up to Mull I will be passing through a multitude of different habitats each exhibiting huge biodiversity. I can't wait to see all these incredible wild spaces for myself, but without the work of a charity such as The Wildlife Trusts, these areas may not be there in their preserved state for me to see.

I support the work of The Wildlife Trusts not only for their efforts to protect wildlife and wild spaces, but also for the work they do to inspire people about their environment, and subsequently help to protect it!

The charity is now over 100 years old and so you can imagine the staggering amount of good work they will have done over that time. Please help them to continue this vital work by sponsoring me on my EPIC bike trip to Scotland!

http://www.justgiving.com/Kerry-froud1 

The Next Great Adventure

With only a month to go before Kerry's epic bike journey up to Scotland, it was about time for her to get on with some serious training, and so serious it got.

After a 50 mile flattish ride, a 30 mile potter and a hilly 16 mile speedy jaunt... She decided to crank it up to the next level and bike to Salisbury with the intention of catching a train home. A couple of hours in she stopped off at Dads house in Verwood for a quick cuppa, who inspired her to take a different, more scenic (and hilly) route.She took his advice, his OS Exporer map and set off.

Tuesday 30th April was a glorious sunny day with the bluest sky and the most golden fields you ever did see. A noticeable headwind ruffled Kerry's hair, but this was not to deter her, for she had a mission of gargantuan proportions ahead of her.

The conservationist felt guilty about all the poor bugs that befell a sticky end that day. Insects flung themselves at her as she sped downhill, wings sticking to her sun-creamed skin. Flys whipped up in a jet-stream of air found themselves caught behind her sunglasses, tumbling in front of her eyeballs, dazed and disorientated before a new blast of air thrust them back out into the Dorset countryside. Crickets clung to her leggings for dear life, only to be released miles from where they had begun their journey. One cricket came to rather an unfortunate end, found that evening down Kerry's bra.

Upon reaching Salisbury, Kerry being the ultra-budgeter that she is, decided not to splash out £15 for a train home and instead opted for a bike ride all the way back home.

Hours later, Saddle sore, weak limbs, knees about to pop from their sockets and a massive helping of self pity... Kerry arrived back in Ashley.

75.25 miles round trip!

Bring on Scotland!

A Whale of an Atlantic Adventure

6th April 2012

SOTW  made a brief stop in Vigo (NW Spain) to drop off Richard and pick up new team members, Alexa and Kerry.  We left Vigo bound for the Azores on a beautiful calm morning, lit by the pink hues of the rising sun.

It wasn’t long before the team sighted bottlenose dolphins leaping and frolicking around 200 meters from the boat. Soon after, two pilot whales were seen logging at the surface. For many on board this was the first time they had seen pilot whales, but the encounter was just about to get better. Five more pilot whales (including a mother and her calf) then swam towards the boat and began to bow ride SOTW. The water was so calm and clear that they could easily be seen swimming around and darting underneath the boat with jets of bubbles streaming behind them. An incredible start to the journey.

Since then the wind speed has picked up which has been perfect for sailing however the sighting conditions have deteriorated. Despite this the team have sighted striped dolphins, common dolphins (including a calf still showing its foetal folds), fin whales and they have heard sperm whales clicking through the hydrophone.

Five days into their journey the team our getting into the swing of life on the ocean. Sleeping patterns have been adjusted to allow for keeping watch all times of the day and night, sea legs have been gained and ropes are being learnt.

(Another blog post for the MCR website)

 After three great weeks conducting research around the Azores, it was time for us to leave the islands and say goodbye to some wonderful people. Odd jobs completed, hydrophones fixed, boat cleaned, food shopped for (over three hours of trawling the supermarket!) and at last Song of  the Whale and her crew could set sail for America.

The weather in the first few days was great for sailing, however not so  helpful for  spotting whales. The wind picked up and the swell increased leaving us rattling and rolling around the boat. Michelle (our student from the Department of Fisheries in the Azores) cooked us a fantastic soup on the roughest day, though unfortunately most of it ended up in our laps.

Fin Whale

Once the weather calmed down, we were able to assess and begin to sort out the main sail which had developed a rip overnight, and we began to see some cetaceans again.

Our first cetacean sighting was of a sperm whale logging at the surface around 200 meters from our boat. We have been hearing  sperm whales clicking for most of our journey so far, the ocean is alive with sound!

We have also seen common and striped dolphins (some bow riding with us at night, casting trails of bioluminescence behind them), fin whales and even a blue whale. It is amazing that in this vast ocean our path crosses with the world’s largest living creature. Some good photo ID shots were taken and we could see that it had a chunk of its dorsal fin missing.

Bermuda to Boston...... To be continued....

A Princess Story on The Farallones

The Princess was slightly blue. Not quite a deep royal blue but more a soft baby blue. Today was the day that marked only seventeen days left on the island.

How on earth is it possible for her to leave an island that she has learnt to call home? An island where she’s lived in the pockets of her dear Farallon family for three and a half months.  A place that she will probably never again get to visit.

These thought troubled the Princess deeply as she sat writing in her journal at Queens Bath and watching the skittish and adorable harbour seals. But alas, she was not to sit around moping about what was yet to happen. Instead she wanted to make the most of every second and appreciate every fine-tuned work of art Mother Nature presented.

The Princess has so much she wants to tell everyone back home, yet there is so little time and there are so few words that can encapsulate her experience.

She could tell you about the elephant seals giving birth to disorientated and weak pups that then grow into huge barrels of blubber, so fat that they can barely move for their rolls of fat, often losing their balance and rolling down the slope.

She could tug at your heart strings by telling you of little -26 pup, who after being adopted by Lodi (who also had her own porker of a pup) was weaned prematurely and is so small that she will not survive (yet she does seem happy, surrounded by playmates).

She could tell you about the extreme scrambling her and her friends did to get to Great Murre cave, Jewel cave and funky arch and all the other incredible intertidal areas around the island with abalones, giant anemones, sea stars,

goose barnacles, mussels and a monkey faced eel.

She could also tell you about the necropsies performed on elephant seals and Californian sea lions.     

She could describe to you the hilarious games of balderdash she and her Farallon family have played with terms such as 'duddyfunk' that have taken on a whole new meaning...

And the burrowing owls who are gracing the island with their presence (Despite the fact that they are eating all the Ashy storm petrels).

But what she will tell you about is just one simple morning. A morning of no great importance.

No coastguard helicopter landed on the island. 100 or so Brown pelicans did not congregate on the grass outside the house this morning. No immature elephant seals wiggled their way up the cart path. There were no gale force winds rattling the rafters and in fact there were barely any gulls. Yet it is this morning that the Princess wishes to share with you.

It was 6am and the Princess was awoken by the distant call of an alarm clock coming from Master Ryan’s room next door. She turned over, blissfully aware that she did not have to get up for at least another hour. 7am arrived and after a whale fuelled dream she gets out of bed and eases herself into the morning.

Master Ryan, Lady Jane and his Lordship Jason are out collecting the mouse traps and so the Princess has the whole house to herself. Kettle boils and a pot of coffee is made. She sets out with her toasted English muffin (one half peanut butter and apricot jam, the other marmite and avocado).

Scooping up her book she steps outside into the day. The sun is slowly creeping out from behind the hill gently warming her left cheek. The previous day’s 30 knot winds have all but ceased to blow and she is presented with a gentle breeze ruffling her hair.

As she begins to digest the sights and sounds of the morning she sees a grey whale feeding off of saddle rock. Soon after, she sees another swimming purposefully towards West end island.

After the previous night’s rain everything seems somehow clearer. She sees every blade of grass and every pearl of barley still damp, yet to be warmed by the morning sun. As the whales silently pass by the gulls start to shriek and murmur, pulling grass from one another’s territory showing off to all the lady gulls. Just then a yellow-rumped warbler flits by, perching itself on a convenient branch. A high pitched clucking is heard from an elephant seal pup and its mother responds with her deep barking call. The distant relentless whooping from the Californian sea lions also permeates through the morning along with the hooting of Canada geese.

She sips on her freshly ground, hot coffee with a splash of cream and sighs with contentment.

“I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything”

Bit o' Rough and Tumble

Love is in the air…Well, for the elephant seals at least.

It’s reached that time when Alpha male Rusty and all the other surrounding males start to get their groove on and make moves on the ladies. The ladies don’t have much of a say in the matter and I’d hardly call it romantic, but they get the job done and this time next year the cows will be back again with yet more pups.

So in my other blog posts perhaps I painted a pretty picture of elephant seal life. The pups were very cute and the mothers doted on their every need. Males rumbled to fend off rivals and there were hummingbirds and rainbows and pretty things. Well since then things have become pretty gnarly.

Herzog



Rusty the alpha male

MC Hammer

Testosterone entered the camp and the males started to get a little too full of themselves, throwing their weight around (of which there is a considerable amount … up to 2000kg!) and showing off to the ladies.








Cows started bickering, fighting with their handbags, biting each other’s pups and gulls descended from the sky to come and feast upon the open wounds festering on the poor baby seals.
 A pleasant picture I am creating for you I am sure. Welcome to the Farallones.

So about a week ago we witnessed our first ‘proper’ fight between bull male elephant seals. We had just come to the end of our morning survey and Jason and I headed back to the house to collect the weather data. Ryan and Jane decided to stay a while longer at Sand Flat to look out for some more cows to identify. As they were searching all hell suddenly broke loose and Herzog and MC Hammer started to fight. Jane then radioed us to let us know and so we flew to Sand Flat as fast as we could caper to see what was going on.

As we reached the commotion we witnessed MC Hammer and Herzog sizing each other up as shown in the photo. Each one would then take his opportunity to bite into the other throwing his whole body into the manoeuvre.

It was pretty intense stuff. Then just as it looked as though Herzog was getting the upper hand and was potentially going to beat MC Hammer the pup-crushing,-weaner-mauling brute of a male (when we talk of ‘weaners’ we are referring to the pups that have weaned… Just in case there is some confusion!) the old dog Rusty (alpha male of sand flat for over four years!) shows up and the two fighting males start to tremble in their oversized boots.
Rusty hurtles after them… Well hurtles as much as an elephant seal can hurtle... This generally means one short burst of movement followed by a couple of minutes of recuperation, getting ones breath back, then another short burst of movement followed by yet more slumping and recovering. Herzog narrowly misses having his guts for garters and sneaks away relatively unscathed.  MC Hammer however is a little too slow on the uptake (he does have a blind left eye.. we’ll let him off) and gets a right royal bashing from Rusty. The two of them continue this way, with MC Hammer running for the water while Rusty is close on his tail giving him the occasional bite in the rear. They then get to the water and the fight continues until we can see them no more.

All this over a few females

Meanwhile, we celebrated our valentines day island style. Through the medium of food.

Chocolate truffles and carrot cake for breakfast lunch and dinner anyone?

Carrot cake lovingly made by Jane