F2R – Moving North – Ocean wonderers

Posted by Florian – April 3, 2010

It is the time of the year that the Grey Whales are making their journey back north migrating some 6000 miles along America`s west coast from Baja California to the Bering Sea. The grey whale is one of the flagship species representing my “B2B – Freedom to Roam” project. They literally migrate the entire distance twice a year. It is the longest migration undertaken by any mammal on the planet. For me it was really important to document this migration story as part of the project.

Thousands of whales return to the lagoon systems of Baja California every year.  It is where the mating takes place and where pregnant Grey Whale mothers give birth to their calves. Over the past 2 years I spent several weeks in the different lagoons of Laguna Ojo de Liebre, San Ignacio and Bahia Magdalena to get  a true insight into this part of the whale`s life. It is magical how the lagoons come to life with the whales.

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SPRING MIGRATION – HEADING NORTH

It is the time of the year now, that the whales are heading back north. Males start leaving the lagoons as early as February, followed by the females without calves in early March and eventually by the females with calves in late March and April. Traveling an average of 75 miles a day the journey back north takes them about 2 to 3 moths.

I had a “slight” change of plans and instead of staying in Baja California until May I am heading north to the Arctic myself. I am planning to photograph arctic wildlife, while the landscape is still frozen and the animals are shown in the arctic elements.

F2R – Moving North – Winged Migration

Posted by Florian – April 3, 2010

THE WINGED MIGRATION

I have been working on my second Freedom to Roam project ” B2B – The Wild Coast ” for a few years now. This spring I came back again to Baja California to photograph aspects of the massive migration that takes part along America`s West Coast. I was specifically interested in the different shore birds and waterfowl that rely upon a “daisy-chain” of wetlands on their migration to their nesting grounds up north in the high arctic. A lot of the habitats are in tidal zones along the coast. They are facing different pressures from encroaching development and the possibility of significant sea-level rise in the coming decades. For me the migrations symbolize the interconnectedness of the natural world like few other phenomenons.

In comparison to legged land mammals, birds have the incredible advantage of wings that lets them overcame huge distances of unsuitable habitat or developed landscapes. They however cannot master the enormous migrations without adequate reserves of energy. Migratory birds are dependent on important habitat that lets them consume large quantities of high energy food in a short period of time. It is therefore essential we set aside such important migratory bird sanctuaries that allows migratory birds to stop over in the course of their long migrations.

Migration hotspots can be found all along the west coast. One of the most famous locations for the Western Sandpipers is the Copper River Delta near Cordova, Alaska. Several million western Sandpipers make a stopover there before they continue their journey to the arctic.

Over the Arctic Plains

Posted by Florian – June 23, 2009

Our support plane above the migrating Caribou

After flying hours below the layer of fog we see a silver lining at the horizon. We need to put the plane down on a gravel bar and set up camp for the night. My pilot Ken wants to look for a spot where we can get out of the wind. We are fighting a stiff breeze of 20 – 30 nots on the nose of the plane.

As we are flying further inland, the sun finally breaks through the layers of fog. In the far distance I see the brooks range. Dark clouds are hugging the mountains and create a dramatic backdrop for photographs. We follow a river drainage south as I see a group of caribou in the riverbed heading to climb a steep snowbank  to join their group up on the extended plains, where food is plentiful.

We swing around with the plane while I keep an eye on the group running up the step snowbank seemingly without effort. I am trying to caputre the images struggling to keep the horizon straight in the viewfinder while the pilot goes into  a steep bank and balances out the gusts of wind. After hours of flying through bad weather, there it is: A few seconds of action in wonderful golden arctic light.

An icon of hope and survival: The Grey Whale

Posted by Emil – April 7, 2009

During the first expeditions to the southern part of the B2B region, Florian concentrated on the most important stop-overs for whales in southern Baja California. The peninsula offers only few protected areas where the Grey Whale can find calm waters to give birth and feed its young before returning to the north.

Ojo de Liebre, San Ignacio and Magdalena Bay are the most important calving lagoons for grey whales in the Baja Peninsula, and documenting them in these places was key to understand the importance of maintaing the sanctuaries protected. Magdalena Bay is famous for its large complex system of mangroves that shelters large stocks of fish, many resident and migratory birds and offers a unique sanctuary for hundreds of grey whales. 

And it is here where only few centuries ago Grey Whales were slaughtered without mercy, and were brought to the brink of extinction.

The grey whale has a along story of survival, it represents an icon of hope for the future of other whale populations. It is difficult to believe that today, one can glide over the waters of Magdalena Bay and have close encounters with this enigmatic, gentle creatures. 

One early morning, right before sunrise, Florian rides on a panga and goes searching for whales. Soon he realizes, it was his lucky day. A calm windless morning welcomes him over the water as they approach the mouth of the bay. There, he tells me, blows of many whales fill the horizon in a unique harmony of silence and blow. 

They turned off the engines, drifting quietly, awaiting for the whales. And just like that, after a short period of time the whales swam toward the boat. One whale soon became three… and more! Up to six whales were counted surrounding the panga. With an inquisitive behavior that makes of these mammals the most sociable and curious of all, the whales went gliding sideways right below the boat to take a closer look. Swinging their flukes slowly, they approach the boat with care. 

Once called “devilish” because of their fierce behavior while protecting their young during the massive hunting of the 1800′s, it is astounding that today this incredible being is able to forget -or shall I say, forgive- our terrible behavior and reward us once again with their trust.

There are many ecological issues that could threaten the future of Magdalena Bay, thus jeopardizing the future of the whales. The most concerning one is the large scale housing development the peninsula has experienced in the last decade. If it continues to grow at today’s rate, the bay might be facing serious ecological problems and whales could be confronting difficult challenges to survive.

Expeditions in the Alaskan Arctic, Part 1

Posted by Emil – September 24, 2008

After years of exploring remote places, we have never been to a place like this. Where your eye gets tricked by the distances. The next hill, the next valley seems so reachable, so near. And yet, everything is miles away.

With a heart filled with excitement, we were dropped in this unique location where we planned to document the annual migration of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd.

I had listen to many incredible stories about this herd which includes 400,000 hooved members, restless wonderers of the Tundra.

Very few had actually been in the midst of one of them. Would we be able to find them? Will they allow us to contemplate their annual migration?

It was my first time in the Tundra and Florian had not been that many times in such a remote location. I obvisouly imagine all possible scenarios, but the truth is I had such a little idea what I was about to see.

After weeks of careful preparation and planning, we still  had no assurance if we were to witness anything. Some people said, “you might hit it right, but for the years we have traveled the area, we have never seen them, that is roughly 30 years”.

The place is so vast and the animals are so unpredictable, one can never tell the exact dates when to witness this magnificent spectacle. So we prayed for good luck but kept expectations low.

As we came closer to the drop off point, we could see in the distance many white points disperse over the landscape, so tiny and far away one could hardly see any shape. But as the plane got closer and closer to the land, more and more you could make out the white dots move rythmically over the tundra. Caribous!!! Thousands of them!! As far as your eye could see…

We arrived with incredible weather, way better than I had expected. Very windy for sure, but the sky blue as a jewel. We set up camp in the middle of a warm sunny day and sat down to wait, as usual. We are always waiting…

The day went by peacefully and as the sun got closer to the evening (according to our watch) we realize it was time to move around and explore the area. There weren’t many high points where to scan the area. And even though you could see everything from where ever you were, what ever mission you undertook, cost two times the effort. Not only because of the distance, but more because of the terrain.

One can say: Cool! No Mountains to hike! Everything is flat! But then, you feel sorry for choosing to carry a little more equipment thinking it might be so easy. Hiking over the tundra is a true challenge, going through wet zones, mushy or muskeg zones is more a nightmare than a pleasure excursion.

But at the end everything has a reward and we started to see the first Caribous appear over the ridge line, on the other side of the river.

We sat down and waited to see what that evening was to granted us with.