BOATS, WHALES and PUKE...OH MY

Soo after a little misunderstanding with my driver and the people at the hostel, everything has worked out nicely. The hostel is pretty, we have bunk beds and no air conditioning and last night the power went out for about an hour, but those are just minor details. Now for the important stuff: I have been trained in the history of the humpback whales and the Institute I will be working at: Instito Baleia Jubarte. We will be aiding researchers in photoidentification of the whales, each whale has a unique pattern on their fluke (like a human fingerprint) and one researcher Clarencio (Danielle he is married) is studying the fidelity of these animals to their breeding ground. Another researcher, Marcos, is studying the whale song and drops a hydrophone into the water to hear them. I am not exactly sure what he is studying but he is very nice and is in a band (don´t know the status of him D). In fact, tonight he is playing on the beach! The girl in charge of us, Luciana, is so nice!!! She interned at the Institute for two summers and was just hired on in January after graduating. There are also 6 interns (5 girls and 1 boy) and they are all biology majors and receive credit for working at the Institute. Along with the actual research part, we will also be helping out with the whale watching companies that are partnered with the Institute. Today I have to give a speech to all the English speaking people that are going whale watching about the history of the whales and the Institute and some guidelines. The Institute focuses on environmental awareness and education to the community to help preserve the humpback whales and their environment. FYI, the humpback whales come to Praia do Forte to breed and give birth and migrate to Antarctica (sandwich islands) to feed.

OK so yesterday I went on the research boat with Luciana, Clarencio, Marcos, and three of the interns. The boat is owned by a father and son and they are the captain and co-captain (more on them later, gotta get to the good stuff before i have to leave) we also have a cook. WE SAW TWO WHALES!!!!!!!!! lots of flukes and dorsal fins and it was sooo cool...so cool that i puked....and then i felt better.

Carol, the third volunteer arrived yesterday, she is 43 and from London and very nice and interesting. However, she has never been on a boat and gets car sick, bus sick, and plane sick....and is into homeopathy (cool, i need to talk to her more about this!! it is nice to have a friend) so she won´t take medication, I fear for her.

DANIELLE I CANNOT WAIT FOR YOU TO COME!! COUNTING DOWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

love and miss everyone and will provide more details and hopefully pictures! (danielle bring your camera cord, I have a flash drive, and maybe bring another lock for me) k lata