When we first arrived, we helped do a bit of research – Kathleen deployed the “yellow baby” (aka the SM2M unit) and also helped Rebecca finish up some of her control sessions. We were then guinea pigs and got to snorkel in the new snorkel area being planned for guests between the sea lions and dolphins. We saw a HUGE lobster and a few tinier fish.

After our snorkel, we got the chance to watch a sea lion training session and encounter. The sea lion was PJ who starred in the movie Andre and also PJ & the Stinkers. The trainers use a vocal bridge instead of a whistle as for the dolphins. The hugs and funny faces the sea lions make are just hysterical.

We then had lunch and got to play on some of the inflatable thingees – it was fun. But, then we saw little thimble jellies and we decided to get out of the water.

The afternoon brought us to our swim with the dolphins. This was very cool and really fun. We got a hug, a kiss and did a few dances before we had foot-pushes.

We wrapped up the day with an extra snorkel – we were in the water lots today! And, since it was a day mostly with sunshine, we all got a bit sunburned.

We head home tomorrow – but we learned a lot and did many different things!

Tomorrow, we travel home.

It has been a great class!

Cheers

The 2012 ECCs!

We got lost on the way to our beach clean up and got to see more of the island. When we finally got there, we had lots and lots of trash to clean up. There were log sheets to have an idea of the type of trash that was collected.

Lunch was had at the fish fry – specifically at Goldie’s – and several of us tried Bahamian food. This included Bahamian mac and cheese, plantain, and cracked conch. The food was delicious!!! We all had a taste of sky juice … very sweet.

We then walked about half a mile to the downtown tourist area of Nassau and spent some time in the Straw Market. It was VERY touristy and people-watching was great. We also received firsthand experience with bartering island style.

It was a good day overall.

Tomorrow is our last day at DE and includes more research and our swim with dolphins.

Until Then,

The 2012 ECCs

P.S. This, the second photo from Monday, photo shows Kathleen holding the SM2M unit to collect click trains from the dolphins.

The audio file (below) depicts about 15 seconds of clicks. We have collected a good amount of data with the new ultrasonic click detector added to our SM2M.

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We had our dolphin encounter on Monday – we got to dance with, get a kiss from, and hug a dolphin. The encounter, with Missy, was awesome! The dolphin skin felt like a hardboiled egg.

We also learned about husbandry behaviors and why they are important for dolphins. Then, we went to the classroom and had a chat with Sara – the vet tech for DE. She shared with us details about the various medical procedures that might be needed with sea lions and dolphins, and the other critters at Blue Lagoon Island (e.g., Iggy the Iguana, the fish and birds, too).

It was nice and sunny all day long – our lunch was delicious and in the sunshine which was great! Linzi gave us the history of DE and how Blue Lagoon Island came to be and then Kim gave us a talk about approximating voluntary blood draws from dolphins. It was cool to see Kim with the dolphins – she is mom and the dolphins look up to her. The dolphin flukes present the veins that are really easy to see – once you know where to look for them.

Then, we started Dr. Singer’s research – we started with the boys. We were quite successful with the first two (Stormy and Jake) and then Goombay kept getting distracted by Jake so his trial did not go well. So we moved on to the girls. In all, Dr. Singer was able to complete control trials for 15 dolphins today! The photo depicts her doing a trial with Jake.

We finished the day with birthday cake and a song for Mikkah! J

Tomorrow is our beach clean up and visit to Ardastra Zoo.

Until then,

The 2012 ECCs

We woke very early to head to Dolphin Encounters (DE). It was just getting light and we had a nice morning walk to the ferry port for our ride to Blue Lagoon Island. The rain followed us to DE, and arrived the same time we did.

The dolphins greeted us, which was cool to see and hear. Annette oriented us to the facilities and gave us name-specific ID badges. We helped put together Dr. Singer’s apparatus and ran through practice on how to work it … i.e., practice trials. Then we helped Dr. D. collect data with her yellow tube (aka SM2M).

We had what one student has called “the best chicken sandwich ever” for lunch. After lunch we had a short bit of time to sit on the beach. Then, we collected more data and sketched the dolphins. We tried to see and remember the ID marks on each dolphin. Ranaldo, one of the awesome trainers, introduced us to Jake, Stormy, Goombay and Sean. We got to help a bit with training and then got to learn a few training signals from Ranaldo. In this photo you can see all of us on Swim #3 platform with Sean, Goombay and Stormy leaping for joy behind us. Note Jake hiding behind Brooke on the far left. He was camera-shy today!

Tomorrow we have our encounter, followed by more research and maybe a snorkel.

Until tomorrow,

The 2012 ECCs

P.S. Oh yes, we also had a lecture on Theory of Mind!

It was sunny this Sunday morning! We ate pancakes! We swam with sharks!

The snorkeling was different from our snorkels in Bimini. It was cool to see lots of fish, but the dive masters were feeding the fish. It was not natural. The fish were almost in your face because of the feeding. The feeling was really touristy.

The shark snorkel was cool but it also was not natural – chum was put in the water after we had been in the water. The shark snorkel was not free swim. We had to hold on to a line and look down. After we were all out, then they chummed for the sharks to come right up to the boat.

We saw a few fish eating on the coral and the sergeant majors were protecting their little dens. We saw wrasse, jacks, damsel fish, tangs, parrot fish and stingrays.

Tomorrow is our first day at Dolphin Encounters – we are all quite excited.

Until tomorrow,

The 2012 ECCs

The day started early and beautifully! We needed to say bye to Kel, Al and everyone on Bimini for our trek to Nassau. We reversed our arrival by riding the ferry taxi to South Bimini for the airplane ride to Nassau. And then, we sat in the airport "forever" … our first sunny day in what felt like a week … spent inside an airport waiting for our plane to arrive.

We brought the rain to Nassau – flying threw a few thunderheads – but it didn’t last all day. We arrived to Sunrise Beach Condo and settled in. We have both pool side and ocean front access and views.

While Kathleen went to the grocery store, our E&E team played games … training games with skittles for rewards. The information was about operant conditioning. The evening finished up with a delicious spaghetti dinner and a hopeful, soothing and beautiful sunset. It was refreshing to see the sun today and we have high hopes for its return tomorrow morning.

Until then,

The 2012 Ethology Class Crew (ECCs)

It rained and stormed and stormed and rained.
Our morning began (after breakfast) with a beach clean-up (photo to follow). We collected eight bags of trash from the beach, finishing up in a quick downpour. This beach clean-up was sponsored by DCP Conservation Member Steven. Thank you!

The afternoon showed quite a few storm clouds, but we went out for a short time for a snorkel trip. A couple of people were feeling seasick – we had pretty good waves rocking the boat. We did see two sea turtles near to the first spot we wanted to snorkel. The waves dictated that we move to a second spot. Seven people jumped in to snorkel but only briefly since the squall that was approaching forced us out of the water and back to port.

But, the end of the day finished with a rainbow (hopefully!) meaning tomorrow is going to be bright blue skies.
Until then,
The 2012 E & E Crew

We woke up to rain and thunder, but that omen did not impact the bulk of our day. Although it did rain some more, we covered the topics of mirror self-recognition, an intro to dolphin behavior (and how to study it) and fish ID & lionfish invasion. The boat left at 15:30 and we had a beautiful snorkel at the big sister of the 3 Sisters. Among other fish, we saw tangs, foureye butterfly fish, squid, sergeant majors – but, we did not see any lionfish. Then we drove “forever” into the wild blue yonder in search of dolphins. When we did see dolphins, they preferred a large hull to our tiny bodies. But, we did get to observe them from the boat for quite awhile. They were riding the waves and the group size fluctuated from 4 to up to 17 individuals. Some of us did jump in the water, with increasing waves, but we did not see the dolphins under water. Over the course of the day we did the following dolphins from the boat: Romeo (#10), Lumpy (#17), Swoosh (#36), Tilly (#87), un-named #24 and 40, and, I think, Niecey (#48) as well as several un-marked calves.
It was a chilly ride home, but our spaghetti and meatball dinner was a good fix!

Until tomorrow,
The 2012 E & E Crew

DCP’s Field Course in Ethological Studies, with Georgetown College, is officially underway! The group started the program in Florida on Sunday with a simple layover before departing for Bimini on Monday morning. The plane to Bimini was the smallest that many of us had ever been on. From the air we could see how clear the water is – and how small Bimini is!

After we settled in, ate lunch and had an orientation we headed in search of dolphins. It was a very rewarding first day on the boat. On the way out we saw rays in the harbor and as we traveled, we saw flying fish. Our first sighting was of bottlenose dolphins and they were investigating and digging in the sand. There was a calf in the group. We also saw a nurse shark! We could hear the clicks and whistles underwater. Our second sighting was of Atlantic spotted dolphins and these were chasing fish. Some dolphins rode the bow and one was even belly up while doing it. It was very cool that wild dolphins came so close to us, despite not being trained. We even got to use underwater cameras. Later, the dolphins were surfing in the boat wakes – both in the stern and on the bow. By the end of the day we had seen Romeo (#10), Tina (#14), Split Jaw (#22, pictured here), Swoosh (#36), Prince William (#64), Tim (#69), Noodle (#94), in addition to all the bottlenose dolphins. The sunset on the ride back was beautiful and we came home to a nice BBQ on the dock.

Until next time,
The 2012 Ethology and Eco-Tour Crew