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Tag, they're it -- tracking whales

TAG, THEY’RE IT: Tracking whales

A tagging program last year involving a Western Pacific gray whale ended up chronicling one of the most remarkable and unexpected journeys of the natural world.

The tagged whale, Flex, surprised observers by travelling 8,586 kilometres from Russia across the Bering Sea to Alaska, then down the Pacific coast off Vancouver Island to eventually have the tag fall off near the coast of Oregon.

The 13-year-old male whale was first tagged off Sakhalin Island in Russia, in October 2010, with contact lost off Siletz Bay on Feb. 4, 2011. By that time Flex had travelled an average non-stop speed of 5.73 km per hour. He has since been seen in good health.

This year the collaborative program involving the Oregon State University (OSU) Marine Mammal Institute, the Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography and the International Whaling Commission, has expanded its tagging program.

The newly tagged whales include females Varvara, Svetlana, Bud and Agent with males Kol and Blaze (whose tag has already apparently fallen off).

The whales can be followed in their journey, expected to begin in January for those that leave Russia, on the OSU website.

mmi.oregonstate.edu/sakhalin2011

EXPEDITIONS: Southern agendas

Justin Jones, 28, and James Castrission, 29, who made a name for themselves kayaking across the Tasman Sea in 2008 are turning their attention to another challenge – this time to hike the Antarctic coast to the South Pole and back without assistance.

The expedition is expected to take three months and cover 2,000 kilometres.

Meanwhile, super-human kayaker Freya Hoffmeister is in the midst of tackling her second continent: this time South America. Freya left Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 1, and will take three eight-month legs with four-month breaks between to complete the 24,000-km journey on her 50th birthday on May 10, 2014.

By mid-October Freya had covered more than a thousand kilometres including an epic 135-km, 35-hour crossing of the San Matias Gulf from Rio Negro to Chubut.

Freya’s remarkable journey around Australia is now available as a book, Fearless, by Joe Glickman.

casandjonesy.com.au

freyahoffmeister.com

MOVING ON: Dan Lewis

Clayoquot Sound kayaker Dan Lewis has been contributing columns to Coast&Kayak since it was first printed on newsprint as Coast&Kayak Magazine 20 years ago. Lewis’s From the Rainforest provided insights into kayaking and ecology that can still be read online at coastandkayak.com. Meanwhile, Lewis is stepping away from his column to concentrate on duties at Friends of Clayoquot Sound, an organization in a few fierce fights at the moment that involve logging, fish farms and mining, including strip mining the iconic Catface Range. u www.focs.ca

BACKPACK KAYAK: Klepper

German folding kayak manufacturer Klepper has unveiled its new Bakyak, a versatile new design that breaks apart, can be kayaked as a tandem, individually, as a catamaran pontoon float and even used as a skiing sled.

www.backyak.de/index.php/en

WINNER: School kayak raffle

One of the few high schools to have a kayak program on its curriculum is Ucluelet Secondary, a program provided with support from the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust. To help fund the program, a raffle was held for a new Seaward kayak. Collecting it, though, is now a bit of an international dilemma.

The winner was Alexandra Meier of Switzerland, who returned home after a visit to Vancouver Island to hear the news.

The Clayoquot Biosphere Trust conducts and supports research, education and programs which advance conservation in the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve Region. Meanwhile, next classes for the lucky Ucluelet kayaking students start in January.

www.clayoquotbiosphere.org