Hunting Wild Tasmania Devils in the Night

Tasmania Devils (Sarcophilus harrissii ) are endemic to Tasmania, a small island state in Australia.  Once common throughout forest areas, these nocturnal creatures are declining in numbers and have been listed on the IUCN Red List as endangered.  The reason for the decline and IUCN listing is the development of a viral disease called Facial Tumour Disease.  The disease, which is still being investigated and mapped, spreads rapidly amongst devils as they fight and argue amongst themselves for mating privileges and when competing for food. 

LEFT:  A wild Tasmania Devil pauses and looks about for potential predators.

Natural History – A Few Facts

Devils are the largest marsupial carnivore, roughly weighing the same as a largish medium sized dog.  They have excellent smell, can travel long distances in an evening in search of prey, and can eat 20 times their own body weight in one sitting.  They primarily feed on carrion, although live prey is often taken.  Their life span in the wild for roughly 5 years and they become sexual mature at 2-3 years.  Although devils appear vicious looking they are not; I’ve had wild devils sniffing at my boots and playing with my tripod legs!  Adding to their perceived vicious reputation is their loud cry which is very unnerving when heard on a dark night, and their rather poor table manners – devils argue over food and often have short-lived fighting arguments which can be quite intense and very loud.

Photographing Wild Devils- Equipment

Photographing wild Tasmanian Devils is not easy!  First you have to find them, and then they have to be receptive to you being in their space.  Further, shooting at night with flash and fixed light is not the easiest of activities as any budding photographer will attest to.

I use an assortment of equipment to photograph devil which chnages depending upon the environmental situation.  Usually I have two industrial style spotlights set up either side of the carcass.  It’s important to try and disguise the lights as much as possible and usually I’ll hide them in the bush.  The purpose of the lights is to allow the camera to acquire a focus lock easily on an approaching devil.  I’ve discovered through trail and error that some devils don’t mind the lights at all, while others shy away from them – it’s a personal devil thing. 

LEFT:  A Tasmanian Devils rips open the carcass in a frenzy to eat as much as it can before other devils join in the feast.

I always use a tripod and usually use a 70-200 f2.8 zoom lens or a 300 f2.8 lens attached to a Canon 1Ds camera. I use two Canon 580 EX speedlights.  One flash is mounted on a Wimberely flash bracket from the camera L-plate (main light) and the other flash (fill light) is mounted on a small tripod and set off to the side.  I sync the speedlights using two pocket wizards. To ensure that the speedlights are pointing exactly at the devil and not pointing elsewhere, I use a small portable red laser light.  The laser light ensures that the flash is pointing a exactly the place I want the artificial light directed.  On occasion I also use a better beamer and/or flash snoot to help funnel the light and not expose the background too much.  I always set the flashes to manual and rarely use ETTL.

Nocturnal photography of wild animals can be very hit and miss, especially when you must maintain your position and be relatively quiet.  Often if you relocate your position on the fly, and the devil is wary, it will run away and not return that night.

LEFT: A Tasmania devil part way through it's dinner on carrion, stops and looks about before screaming out loud to warn other devils that he has first dibs on the food.

Establishing a Blind & Bait

I’ve spent quite a bit of time photographing devils in a number of locations and by far the best method is to establish a blind of some description; my latest blind was a hole in the ground covered with a military style camouflage net.  On this particular night it was quite amusing, it rained filling the shell scape (a small hole) that I’d dug with water.  I can remember spending the night cold, wet and miserable until 3 devils came by to cheer me up. 

LEFT: A Tasmania Devil stands over carrion that has been securely staked to the ground.

There is no chance that you will photograph, let alone see a devil without setting bait.  I usually collect road kill and then securely stake it to the ground in an opportune area.  I then create a number of blood trails through the forest leading to the staked kill .  A blind can be almost anything from a shell scrape in the ground with a net, to hiding amongst bracken.   It’s important to reconnoiter the location of the blind as it must be downwind of the carcass.  Devils have exceptional senses of smell, and they will smell you a long way off if your scent is blowing toward the carcass.  I remember on one devil shoot the wind was blowing the wrong direction.  I could see the devils in the distance circling the bait, but they would not approach closely.  I decided to cover my clothes with the odour of dead wallaby, and this partly solved the problem, but they were still wary.

LEFT:  Tasmania Devil with Facial Tumour Disease (FTD) on face near jaw.  In the last 12 months I have witnessed a steady increase of devils with FTD in this area.

Patience

Patience is a virtue with devil photography.  Although devils are most active and hour after dusk and an hour before dawn, they can turn up at the kill at anytime during the evening.  Often you must put in long hours of waiting for a devil to turn up – and then there is no guarantee that the devil will feed on the carcass.  I’ve seen lots of devils appear, scout the location and then disappear into the night as quickly as they appeared!

Exciting Experience

I enjoy photographing all animals; however, there is something about devil photography that keeps me wanting to go back for more.  Perhaps it’s having to be patient waiting for a devil to appear, or maybe it’s the work you have to do before you even see a wild devil.  You have to establish a blind, find road kill, set the bait and then stay awake most of the evening; you also get VERY dirty and often are covered in odour and blood from the carcass.   Certainly, the work before the shooting begins makes any images taken far more worthwhile.

I certainly get a “buzz” when, on a dark drizzly night, you see a white blaze in the darkness moving toward you!  To have the privilege of observing the feeding habits of these amazing creatures is a wonderful experience, albeit a messy one.

If you’re interested in reading more about the plight of the Tasmanian Devil, navigate to the official “Save the Tasmania Devil” web page at http://tassiedevil.com.au/

To read a little more about the Tasmania Devil Task Force, click here.

To view short video of devils feeding that I filmed on a previous trip, click the multimedia tab in the menu bar above.

Update on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 1:27PM by Iain Williams

FOLLOW UP: – MARCH 2011

Scientific study and results have identified that the disease was not caused by a virus or bacteria but an infectious line of cancer cells passed from one animal to the next by cell implantation, such as when they bite one another. 

This breakthrough at the State Government’s Mt Pleasant Laboratory gave hope to devil researchers that they might be able to control the disease in the wild.

Officials have stated that this maybe a turning point in the investigation of the devastating disease and the breakthrough study has been noted by the global scientific community.

Tasman Bridge Industrial - Cement Kingdom

 

ABOVE LEFT:  Underside of overpass, Tasman Bridge, Tasmania

ABOVE RIGHT: Cement columns and electrical conduits beneath the Tasman Bridge, Tasmania   

Every now and again I get asked to do something different.  An engineering client requested some images of the Tasman Bridge for use in one of the company reports.  The request was a little odd in that they wanted something different to indicate the structure and form of engineering.  Rather than shoot the bridge (which the world has already done) I opted to explore the underside of the bridge where few people venture.  All in all I think I shot around 35 frames of different structures from varying angles which in my opinion related to form and structure.  I liked the way the massive cement columns, unpainted and natural, seemed to overpower the viewer.  I also liked the way that the sunlight, which was still rather harsh for that time of day, struck the cement leaving strong straight shadows.  In my mind these lines of shadow helped to define the structure and strength of the bridge.  To help emphasize this, I choose to shoot in muted colors, black and white and colour.

Explosive Blowholes at Bicheno, Tasmania

Recently I travelled to the east coast of Tasmania to a small coastal town called Bicheno.  One of the attractions to this town in a blowhole located adjacent to the ocean.  The geology of Bicheno is predominately massive granitic batholiths dating to the Devonian Period around 400 million years ago.  Over geologic time the granite has become weathered and joints have developed within the rock.  These joints are preferentially eroded by wind, water, waves and salt.  In some areas these weathered joints are close to the tidal range of the ocean and seawater travels into the joint/crack as ocean swells wax and wan with the tides.  The resulting feature is a blowhole in which seawater is propelled through the fissure to become highly compressed at the end of the crack resulting in an explosion of water.

LEFT:  The power of water is seen as it explodes from a small fissure in the rock at Bicheno, Tasmania

Acquiring an image that is somehow different to the many images taken at this popular spot is difficult.  When I was on location there was strong late afternoon light; the light was golden but still rather intense.  To obtain a slow shutter speed and cause the water to appear silky I decided to use my Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter.  This filter has a changeable dial that allows you to "dial in" the denisty you require based on tyhe intensity of sunlight.

It was quite a bit of fun timing the water explosions to the swells and I can only imagine how much more powerful the explosions would have been if there was a strong swell running.

Traditional approach

Nearly everyone uses colour these days; to try and create something a bit different I decided to switch my Canon 1DsMK3 to monochromatic and see what I could achieve in traditional black and white.  Unfortunately daylight was rapidly become dusk and I didn’t have too much time to think creatively before the light dropped below the horizon. I believe the area holds some promise, so maybe next time!

LEFT:  Black and white is not dead.  Often the traditional approach to photography is a good idea as shown in this black and white of the blowhole at Bicheno, Tasmania.

Meeting the Wandering Albatross (Diomededea exulans) - New Zealand

I'd decided before departing for New Zealand that I was keen to acquire images of albatross in flight and at sea.  I was particularly interested in obtaining flight shots of the Wandering Albatross (Diomededea exulans), which is the largest albatross in the albatross family. 

LEFT:  Wandering Albatross (Diomededea exulans) flying in to land.

To achieve this I secured an arrangement to use a boat operated by Dolphin Encounters based in Kaikoura.  Unfortunately for me the first day was exceptionally rough and I was soon quite seasick; at one stage there were waves washing over the bow of the boat and flowing across the windscreen!  Add to this, the optical distress of looking through a long lens in a rocking boat, and you can imagine the reasons why I felt ill for much of the time at sea.  I managed to get in about an hour of shooting before I too was feeding the albatross…

Although I was ill, I did manage to see several species of albatross including the wandering albatross.  My first sighting of the wandering albatross was spectacular!  As the boat rose and fell to the rhythm of the ocean swell, I saw this massive bird, not flying, but gliding along the crests and troughs of the waves.  The bird would glide for what seemed eternity before eventually arcing skywards to alter direction and make another flight run.  I was reminded of a surfer working his way along the front of a large wave to eventually flick himself upwards and over the crest. 

Albatross are exceptionally graceful when in flight, however, as they approach to land, this gracefulness changes to abstract horror as they loose airspeed and subsequent lift, almost performing a managed crash landing.  It seems that the larger the albatross the worse the landing!

The wing span of the Wandering Albatross is between 8 and 12 feet in length and it’s because of this  immense wing span, and subsequent lift, that this bird is capable of staying in the air for several hours without flapping its wings.  Interestingly, this species of albatross is typically a night feeder and its diet consists of cephalopods, crustaceans and animal refuse floating on the surface of the ocean.

Long Lining

It’s very disturbing that this species, along with many other species of albatross are subject to global decline due to poor fishing practices – especially long lining.  Long lines are set by fisherman in an attempt to increase the catch of target fish, usually swordfish, Patagonian tooth fish and tuna. These lines can be up to ~80 miles (~140 kilometers) in length and float just beneath the surface of the ocean.  Each line is armed with thousands of sharp hooks, each baited with fish or squid.  The bait on these lines attracts albatross and other seabirds which dive to capture the tasty morsel and become “hooked”.  Unfortunately, once an albatross or other seabird is hooked, it isn’t able to reach the surface and they suffocate and die an agonizing death!

LEFT: Please note that this image is courtesy of G. Robertson, Australian Antarctica Division, Tasmania (with thanks)

It’s been reliably recorded that ~100,000 albatrosses die each year on fishing hooks.  The long lines are killing so many birds that in many circumstances recruitment is not replacing those killed!  The possibility of extinction is high.

Birdlife International has compiled a list of threatened birds.  Currently, three albatross species are Critically Endangered, seven are Endangered and nine are Vulnerable. 19 of the 22 species of albatross in the world are threatened with extinction largely because of long line fishing.

This is a sobering thought when you realize that many people have absolutely no idea of the plight of the albatross.  Very few people actually see albatrosses because they spend much of their time either at sea or at nesting sites well away from mainland populations.

The Wandering Albatross is listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.

Small Things Can Be Important

Just a short breather between wildlife posts!

So what's so important about a silly carabineer and chuck of rope?  Probably nothing when your living in the confines of a large town or city.  But these items were probably two of the most important pieces of equipment I had with me on my recent field trip to photograph Shy Albatross and Blue Penguins.  Actually, I didn't intentionally bring the carabineer; it just happened to be clipped to my photo backpack after an impulse buy at REI in California a few months earlier. 

If you've read the posts below you'll know the significance and importance.  If I didn't have this small chunk of metal (and rope) we would have had major issues getting our gear down into the sea cave (and out again)!

It's funny, but often it's the "small things" & "little things" that makes the biggest impact.