Life is so precious and vivid to me, new life and existing life, that no matter what comes, the good, the bad and the ugly, I will succeed based on intuition and rock solid confidence. Let the games begin! Starting with enduring the storm with my pregnant belly...
The Sirius crossing the stormy North Sea
The Winter got its grip on the bulging waves and wind... releasing its power on the ship the Sirius, passing the shallow waters of the Voordelta. The Sirius left the harbour of Stellendam at 8.00h in the morning, starting on a trip of about 4 hours, aiming on spotting porpoises with Delta Safari.
The weather was freezing cold, to the bone, and during the trip I seriously suffered from hypothermia symptoms. My vision got blurry and I felt overcome by confusion. While I traveled the far North of the globe, I never got so cold, not even in northern Norway in Winter! During these northern trips I learned to recognize hypothermia symptoms, so I got really worried. The fact is, that staying on a boat means no real exercise to keep warm enough, despite two layers of thermal underwear, polyester clothing, warm jacket and extra layers in between.
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| Chart of the Delta Safari Trip on March 10, 2013 Source: Marine Traffic |
I decided to warm a bit inside the wheelhouse, enjoying a conversation with one of the skippers. He showed me a wonderful movie clip of White-sided Dolphins, 'riding' the bow waves during a trip at the Gulf of Biskaje, taken with his mobile phone. He told me that not every trip is so delightful: staying at sea for weeks on end, the scenery only revealing water, water and more of the same salty, empty water!
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| Gannet crossing the Sea. We do sometimes spot gannets close to shore in the Voordelta area. This picture was taken earlier in 2010 near Scotland. |
Not soon after Porpoises were spotted along the hull of the Sirius. I wrote down the GPS data and it seemed that lots of Porpoises were heading for the same spot. Possibly, food availability made them turn up, one after another. We spotted about 10 Porpoises at a water depth of 10 meters of the North Sea. Even a mother with calf showed, only briefly, and I was totally in awe! Due to my pregnancy I am not allowed to carry heavy equipment, so I had to make do with my eyes... no camera! It was a frosty day, though a warm experience...
A TV crew joined us on this morning trip, TV Rijnmond. The journalists made a short video clip of all those people on the Sirius, rolling through the turbulent waves. You can see for yourself!
