ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) Whale Weekend

[Stephen Marsh]

Hi!

Interested in whales, dolphins and porpoises? What problems do these fascinating animals face? Where do they live? What is being done to learn more about them? What happens when a whale strands?

These questions, along with many more, will be answered at a Whale Weekend being run by the charity ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) on 10th and 11th November 2007 at the Thames Chase Forest Centre, near Upminster in Essex.

On the Saturday, ORCA will be holding their Annual General Meeting in the morning and in the afternoon, well-known speakers from campaigning, scientific and rescue charities will be giving fascinating talks.

Speakers include Chris Butler-Smith the Chief Executive of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Alan Knight OBE the Chair of British Divers Marine Life Rescue, underwater wildlife photographer Gavin Parsons and the charity’s own Scientific Officer, Dr David Smith and their Project Development Officer Dylan Walker.

There will also be a light-hearted quiz and a chance to try to identify animals at sea, but without getting your feet wet!

On the Sunday, if you’re keen to learn how you could take part in the charity’s whale and dolphin distribution research, ORCA is running a training course in Marine Mammal Surveys.

The cost for Saturday’s events is just £10 and the training course on the Sunday costs £40.

For further details, visit the ORCA website at Organisation Cetacea - Whales, Dolphins, Ocean Wildlife or email enquiries@orcaweb.org.uk.

Sorry for the lenghy post, but I had to get it off my chest!

Stephen

[rlchew]

Thanks for the heads up Stephen.

I live in Essex and I may just go to this.

One slight problem .... I am currently planning a short trip to Norway in mid November .... to see the annual influx of Orcas to the Tysfjord .

Richard

[Stephen Marsh]

Hi Richard - push it back a bit and come as well!

Our Projects Development Officer, Dylan Walker, just came back from a 'Migration Special' wildilife cruise he was hosting on the DFDS Newcastle-Bergen ferry (we run surveys on this route each month) and although they didn't see any orca, they did have a pod of pilot whales following the boat up the fjiords. Plenty of birdlife as well, including sea eagles.

If you're catching the ferry, keep an eye out for our surveyors in the hi-vis jackets and have a chat.

We've just started a group on Facebook as well, so if you're interested, please go to Facebook | Welcome to Facebook!, do a search for cetacea, and join!

Hope to see you in November, but if not, then have a great trip.

Stephen