A good day with 3 Encounters
Today we came upon a large, scattered group of spotted dolphins right at 15:00. There were at least 24 animals in the immediate area, with another subgroup farther off. We had three water entries, but by the end of the second, visibility was deteriorating quickly. We did however, see heaps of “regulars,” so here’s the rundown:
Mother/calf pair from the last two days, #09 (Finn), #10 (Romeo), #14 (Tina), #22 (Split Jaw), #25, #35 (Lil’ Jess), #36 (Swoosh), #38 (Cerra), #48 (Niecey), #76 (Nemo), #77 (Dolphin Dandy), #79, #80 (Leslie), #81 and possibly #56 (Lone Star). We also saw #64 (Billy), who, we are sad to report, has suffered a pretty substantial injury to his peduncle. It looks like it could be from a boat prop. He was staying the outskirts of the group, but seemed to be keeping up okay and even came to the bow for a bow ride. We have some decent surface shots of the wound and certainly hope he has a quick recovery. Hopefully we’ll be seeing him again soon, at which point we’ll update you all.
On the way back to the dock, we saw a group of 6+ bottlenose dolphins, but we passed them by as they were not interested and the sun was setting. Two more trips for this dolphin week—we hope they go as well as the last three days!
Until then,
Kel and Darcie