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Since 2001, DCP has been studying a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) in the waters around Bimini, a small Bahamian island along the Great Bahama Bank. Each field season has been extremely successful and, as we continue to collaborate with Bill & Nowdla Keefe's Wild Dolphin Adventures and Bimini Adventures, we now have over 90 individual dolphins in our Photo-ID catalog. In 2006, we also began systematic documentation of the common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the area. That fledging Photo-ID catalog as 38 individuals and we look forward to adding more!
The purpose of DCP’s research here is to analyze the group dynamics of dolphins found on the Great Bahama Bank, north of Bimini. Identification of individual dolphins and examination of their association patterns provides details and insight into their social structure and behavior. We will continue to examine if any of the identified dolphins match those individuals observed farther north, along the White Sand Ridge. To read more background information, click here .
The 2011 Bimini field season is once again being conducted by DCP Research Associate Kelly Sweeting . This will be Kel's ninth summer season in Bimini, and she continues to be there year-round, in hopes of collecting more non-summer data. As always, we are extremely excited about this year’s research. We look forward to the students who will join us and all of the dolphin swim guests we'll meet along the way.
Kel will be keeping folks around the world up to date on the research by posting regular field reports. Click on a posting below to see what we (and the dolphins) have been up to! Click on the links below for information on how you can support DCP's Bimini research program:
Become a Member | Adopt a Dolphin | Purchase merchandise featuring a Bimini dolphin | Donate |  Subscribe to the field reports using RSS
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Written by Kelly Melillo Sweeting
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Tuesday, 09 August 2011 01:51 |
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After several eventful boat trip days the DCP team has switched researching in the field to processing data indoors as the remnants of Tropical Storm Emily passed by. TS Emily was forecasted to be in full force but thankfully dissipated into a little bit of wind and today, a whole lot of rain, that kept us inside. We may be low on sunshine and good weather but we are well supplied with data! Sabena and Alexis continued working on data projects such as the bottlenose photo-ID catalog and sighting data from the previous string of boat trips. Alexis worked on more pectoral fin event sampling throughout the rainy days, while Kel worked on next issue of the Dolphin Gazette (stay tuned!) and logging Bimini video data for individual IDs. A little rain cannot stop us dolphin-obsessed researchers! We are hoping the next few days will bring a calm forecast and more exciting dolphin encounters!
Until next time,
Sabena, Alexis & Kel |
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Written by Kelly Melillo Sweeting
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Friday, 05 August 2011 17:33 |
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Thursday was an early day for Sabena as she made the quick journey to South Bimini for a tour at the Bimini Biological Field Station, aka the Shark Lab. She had the opportunity to see their research facility, talk to a few interns, and learn about their involvement with local conservation issues and research. Sabena really enjoyed the discussions with fellow marine biologists and the chance to expand her knowledge beyond dolphin research. After the tour, Sabena quickly traveled back to North Bimini to join Alexis on a shark snorkel trip with Al Sweeting’s passengers! The boat trip took the interns to “Triangle Rocks” where sharks are commonly found. We were able to snorkel with three Caribbean reef sharks and one sharpnose shark. It was a wonderful experience to learn about these impressive creatures and get a chance to see them in the wild. Thanks Shark Lab and Sea Crest for a shark filled day!
But of course, we are still dolphin researchers so to “the dolphin grounds” we went shortly after 1500. As the afternoon progressed we spotted Lil Jess (#35) bow riding! She was alone (as far as we could tell) for quite awhile, but was soon joined by Leslie (#80) and a calf (likely Leslie’s). We then had a total of 10 spotted dolphins including lone Star (#56), Speedy (#78) and, we hope, Lil’ Jess’ calf. Kel and Alexis got in the water to gather video and still photographs while Sabena stayed at the surface to observe and take notes. A large nurse shark made an appearance during the encounter which only added to our shark filled day! As we were heading back to shore, we saw another nine spotteds. Five rode the bow for awhile, including Lumpy (#17), as four rode in the wake of our boat. Thank you to the dolphins and sharks for an exciting day of marine life! And thank you to all of the passengers this week; it was an absolute pleasure getting to know you all!
Until next time,
Sabena, Alexis & Kel |
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