Orca time

From the end of October, huge schools of herring arrive in the northernmost fjords of northern Norway. With them, many orca families return to the fjords every year, followed by humpback whales and accompanied by sea eagles and other seabirds. A pre-Christmas feast for many sea creatures, a natural cycle that repeats itself every year.

It is also an important moment for TOPtoTOP, as there is an incredible amount of biodiversity all around us.

This is not only exciting for the eDNA sampling for the ETH in Zurich but also a unique experience for local school classes or club members who join us.

Unfortunately, this natural wonder is also under threat. Where the eDNA samples show diversity, the microplastic samples we take on the opposite side of the ship for the university in Sogndal offer a sad picture. Microplastics are also up here. We even saw an orca with a plastic bag wrapped tightly around its dorsal fin. We also observed an orca family who were still carrying their newborn for two weeks out of grief. The reason for the high mortality rate after birth can be found in the fat. This is where environmental toxins accumulate, especially in animals at the end of the food chain, such as orcas, and polar bears….but also in humans!

After Corona, whale-watching tourism has increased in these northernmost waters of Europe, but thanks to the icy temperatures and the lack of light, it remains within limits. The sun has not been above the horizon after mid-November, but we are compensated by great twilight. However, night turns into day when the northern lights can be seen under clear skies. The light showers are spectacular and simply fantastic!

The orcas swim next to the boat. They use a sophisticated strategy to herd the schools of herring into a bump. Then, one after the other, they sting and eat through the bubble, while the others circle it and keep it together. The water then foams from the wriggling herring. From above, the sea eagles first, and then the other seabirds easily catch fish on the sea surface. This spectacle continues until the lazy humpback whales have located the orcas’ position and devour everything from below with their huge mouths. It is time for the orcas to find a new undisturbed spot to round up the herring and the game starts all over again.

An important tool at the moment is the headlamp. It still allows us to take samples and work on the “Power House”.

Mia had once more her birthday on Pachamama surrounded by orcas and humpback whales on the 16th of November and got 9 years old.

Every day it gets darker and cooler. We are glad of our warm shelter. We finally find time for things that we can’t do at sea and that fill up our to-do lists and are much easier on land: Vital was able to repair his electric car yesterday, Mia will make up for her birthday tomorrow with her friends, Sabine is baking Christmas cookies, Noe and Alegra are training for ski mountaineering competitions and Dario is planning events for 2025, writing emails and preparing the annual report besides the continuing work on our “Power House”.