In 2011 I helped out with the BRAHSS team in Australia. This hugely ambitious project aims to learn more about the influence of acoustic pollution on wild whales, and provided ample opportunity to be amazed by those acrobatic giants, the humpback whales.

The survey teams worked from the high ground of Emu mountain. We first spotted the whales with just our eyes or with binoculars, then followed them using a team of ‘spotters’ and a theodolite. This allowed precise tracking of movements we could follow a pod for several hours as they moved across the horizon.

The huge pectoral fin, here poised to slap the waters for communication or display could often be spotted several kilometers away by the observation teams.