An ordinary day for the Morganonline Team

It is easy for people to only see the good side of our work – two people and a dog sailing round the world, diving, and doing a spot of filming and writing. While we believe we have the best jobs in the world, it’s not always a party on the Morgan. The wonderful moments are always those when we are working outdoors in nature, above or below water.

If it's warm and the sun also shines it's the perfect day. But what happens behind the scenes of telling the stories?

Before we can even start filming or writing, there is a lot of research, networking and background work to be done. This is followed by the writing of the scripts and a number of meetings with various individuals from various branches of the ‘ocean industy’ be they business people, biologists or conservationists. With their support we are able to determine what and how we can film and photograph. One of the points of discussion is what may not be filmed or shown.

Time behind the computer.
A day of filming leaves us not only excited, enthusiastic and contentedly tired, but also with the realisation of even more work to be done. Much of our time, like most working people, is spent behind the computer. If we have been diving we have to write the dive log and record what we have seen where. A report of the day’s activities has to be written and prepared for the website. Photos need to be registered and archived in a database. The film images need to be processed. They are stored on a hard disc, and every piece of film needs to be examined, described, and determined if it is usable or not. By the end of every year we have taken thousands of photographs and hours of film. If these are not properly archived we would never be able to find the required images again. We often make a short film for the website from the film sequences. A voice over or interview is added, perhaps music, and then the film is added to a story on the website. Even a short film demands time and effort.

Just like everybody else, we also have daily household chores to do such as shopping, the laundry, and cleaning. We also have the added task of maintaining the Morgan. While these chores are not exciting, they cannot be ignored. And constantly doing them in new countries and languages brings challenges. It can take a few days and a rental car simply to find that one piece of equipment needed for the Morgan.

Blowing away the cobwebs
Through all the busyness, we always have Quirky. She needs care and attention too, and needs to run around, chase after her beloved tennis balls and play with other dogs. We are very glad to have her as she reminds us a couple of times a day to take a break and to go out for fresh air and a walk. Luckily in our line of work, there’s usually a beach in the vicinity so that we can walk with her and blow away the cobwebs.

Photo 1: Research is crucial, here with the help of Matías Santana Figuera, an artesanal fisherman from Las Palmas, Canary Islands.

Photo 2: Determining what to film in the French cetacean research organisation GREC with Sophie Laran.

Photo 3: Quirky comes to tell us that it's time to have a walk and get some fresh air.