Author: Donna Ardizzoni

Ardizzoni Photography, Business Manager, Grandmother, love living in Gloucester, love to swim, kayak, walk and of course take pictures. Our company does computer networking, Office Management, Medical Billing, transcription, networking software updates and virus protection

Beautiful calm Gloucester Harbor

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Such a calm day after the snow in Gloucester Harbor.  The Beauport Hotel in the background adds to the beauty.

Manchester by the Sea historical museum

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Looks great

Donna Ardizzoni / Circle Consulting Group 978-526-9222

From our friend Iain Kerr Ocean Alliance

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Dear Friends,

Here we go again! The Parley SnotBot team is off on expedition, we’re taking along some other ‘Bots and will be having some long distance chats!

This time we’re in the Dominican Republic (DR), visiting the breeding / calving grounds of the North West Atlantic humpback whales (photo 1). I was first here in the 1990’s aboard the RV Siben and then the RV Odyssey so it is great to be back. This location and this group of whales is very special to us, because while the humpbacks mate and give birth in the waters off the DR, some of them migrate up the East Coast of the U.S. to spend their summers feeding on Stellwagen Banks, right off the coast from our headquarters in Gloucester, Mass. (Photo 2)

During Expedition 9 we took the Parley SnotBot out to study and collect (Exhaled Breath Condensate) “Snot” samples from the Gloucester population of humpbacks and we’re very excited to bring all of our skills and tools to bear to add what knowledge we can, about these whales in their winter grounds.

As with every Parley SnotBot expedition, this one started out with us at the airport with a ridiculous number of bags (total of 20 bags with 2 carry on’s each ☹). We flew Boston to Miami, Miami to Santo Domingo where we picked up a rental mini van. We then drove for almost 3 hours to our Air B&B accommodation (Photo 3) in Samana. Six people and twenty bags was a bit of a squeeze in the mini van. So when we got to Samana Chris and I removed some of the chairs from the mini-van to make it a bit more SnotBot friendly (Photo 4).

In addition to SnotBot, we are putting energy into another member of the Drones For Whale Research family while we are in the DR EarBot. EarBot was first seen in Alaska in 2016 and 2017 (photo 5). While our other drone work has kept us busy, our Robotics manager Chris Zadra has given EarBot some much needed TLC over the last few months and we are excited to be putting EarBot back to work to record humpback whale songs in the DR.  As well as doing some behavioral studies and working with regional scientists monitoring the whale watch industry here we will also be doing photogrammetry work (measuring the size of whale with a drone) using our LIDAR array (photo 6) mounted on one of our Inspire 2 drones.

We have a bigger team here this year as we continue to try to improve Parley SnotBot and our Drones for Whale Research program. The team from past expeditions are Iain Kerr, Andy Rogan, Christian Miller & Chris Zadra. Now we have Ocean Alliance staff member Britta Akerley helping Andy with the science and data and Angie Sremba from Dr. Scott Bakers lab at Oregon State.  Angie has been doing most of the DNA analysis of our Snot samples so we thought it important for her to see the collection process. Next week Ainsley Smith from Gloucester will be joining us to be trained on our data protocols and management. As if this was not enough we will be joined by Germany’s largest TV network ZDF (https://www.zdf.de) to shoot a documentary short.

We did get out on the water today but it was blowing close to 20 knots (photo 7) which like Gabon makes the work more challenging. To try and beat these trade winds the plan is to be on the boat tomorrow at 6:00 am (before sunrise) and be with the whales as the sun rises – hopefully we will have some spectacular photos and will be able to collect plenty of Snot before the wind picks up (fingers crossed).

Last but not least I am excited to report that these blogs are going Live! Our good friends at Maritime Gloucester will host an evening with a live discussion from the DR with the Parley SnotBot team along with live and archival footage.  We hope that we can share some of the expedition excitement and let people know what it is like to be working in the field and answer a few questions….LIVE. If you live near Gloucester, please come on down and be part of the conversations at Maritime Gloucester on Sunday March 3rd, you can Register here. Next time we do Expedition Live we hope to webcast as well but for this first one we are trying to keep it simple as we can.

So once again we will be keeping busy, that said I am sure we will have some great stories to tell along with Christian Miller’s stunning photos.

As always thanks again to our partners and expedition supporters Parley.

Onwards Upwards and Fair Winds from the Dominican Republic!

Iain

Iain Kerr

http://www.whale.org

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From FOB Len Burgess

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If you are interested in model ship building
I’m the guest on a 1/2 hr. program on local TV called “Smart Boating” with Paul Jermain.
The show is airing in Gloucester, Essex, Rockport and Manchester this week-
Here are the time slots on Channel 12:
Smart Boating:
Thursday at 8:30 pm
Friday at 10:00 am
Sunday at 7:00 pm

-Len Burgess

 

Cloud formation on a windy Monday

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The winter clouds are beautiful even on a windy Monday.  I barely could stand with the wind yesterday.  Always fun.

The Manchester Historical Museum

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The Community Art Show is coming up soon.  Come on by and take a look at CAPE ANN THROUGH ARTIST’S EYES.

Tuesday evening’s sunset

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Before the Super Moon showed it beauty, the sunset on Shore Road was pretty.  The sand on the beach looked like it was glowing.

Watch out for Scams

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From the Gloucester Daily Times:

Close call for resident in energy scam

By Ray LamontStaff Writer

Gloucester police have put the kibosh to an apparent scam attempt involving the city’s new electricity service partnership.

A Riverside Avenue resident told police last week that solicitors representing a company called SFE Energy, out of Buffalo, New York, approached her home, and asked her about her home energy service.

She explained to them that she had signed on with a deal offered through the city’s new community electricity aggregation program, which launched last fall.

Under the program, a New York-based consulting firm, Green Energy LP, acts as a broker to find energy suppliers for the city, with the goal of helping residents save money on their bills and conserve energy in the process. The firm secured an agreement between the city and Direct Energy LLP, which took effect Dec. 1. Residents were automatically enrolled for a basic service program if they did not opt out.

So last week, the solicitors told the woman that the city’s agreement was expiring, and that she could and should switch her service to SFE, which was offering lower rates and a $75 rebate on the SFE program. She signed on. But there was a problem — none of what the solicitors told her was true.

The woman called police and the office of Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, all of whom assured her that thecity’s three-year energy deal with Direct Energy is not expiring.

“We investigated it,” said interim police Chief John McCarthy on Thursday. “We talked to the parent company (SFE) and they terminated service with their subcontractor (who had hired the solicitors working in Gloucester that day).”

McCarthy emphasized that SFE Energy was “very cooperative” and acted quickly upon hearing of the report. He also said that officers quickly confirmed there were no energy service solicitors who had obtained permits from police, as required, at the time.

“One contract (for service) that was signed was voided,” he added, with the contract likely being that of the resident who called.

Police logs of the incident indicated that officers who responded to the resident’s call and spoke to her were unable to locate the solicitors, and no criminal charges have been filed.

But McCarthy said the incident should serve as a reminder to all residents when it comes to dealing with solicitors.

“Anytime anyone is out soliciting, they need to have approval from the police,” he said, “and people should call to verify if someone (who approaches them) has that approval.”

Staff writer Ray Lamont can be reached at 978675-2705, or vie email at rlamont@gloucestertimes. com.

Seaview Farms

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When going to Seaview Farms in Rockport take a walk to the paddocks and visit these beautiful horse.  Brody is actually blind, but is very gentle.  Please make sure when visiting Brody you speak softly and put your hand out for Brody.  I love the horse that was staring at me.  Forget this horse’s name, but very friendly and so actually trying to come with Rick and I.

Brody

Forge this cutie’s name

Manchester Historical Society Community Art Show

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The Manchester Historical Museum is have a Community Art Show that is called, CAPE ANN THROUGH ARTISTS’ EYES.  Hope to see all there.

Thank you all.