Here in Bimini, DCP researchers go on dolphin encouter boats operated by Bimini Undersea. Most of Bimini Undersea’s dolphin trips are in the form of week-long programs in which the same group of passengers comes on the boat each day, Sunday through Thursday. This gives passengers a chance to experience multiple kinds of encounters and learn a bit more about the dolphins.
Today’s trip started out slowly, but around 6 o’clock we came across a group of six bottlenose dolphins, one of which looked quite young. Bottlenose dolphins in this area are rarely interested in humans, so we simply took the opportunity to observe them from the boat for a few minutes.
Just as we began to think the day was going to be a bust for spotteds, someone saw splashes way in the distance. Upon investigation we found a large group of spotteds of mixed ages and another possible mating group. We were able to get in and out of the water several times, interacting mostly with the younger animals, 4 of which we recognized from last year (9, 10, 64, 65). Some of the adults also came by the MVA1 for a close up and we have plenty of work ahead of us as we try to ID the adults, who have lots of spots and can be harder to recognize.
Until then,
Kathy, Kelly and Darcie