Man, I am tired! But, everyone arrived safely on Bimini today. But, let me back up…. The first week of the APU course went well. We were busy with readings, class discussions and snorkel practice in the pool. We spent last night in Fort Lauderdale and were up very early this morning for our flight to South Bimini. It was sad flying over, remembering the lives lost on Chalk’s Flight 101 last December, but I was happy to be sharing the Bimini experience with new people (and of course returning myself). We settled into the Bimini Ocean Villas- our home for the week. And then we wasted no time and headed to the dolphin grounds! We left the dock at 14:34 and stopped for a snorkel at Rainbow Reef. I seem to have contracted a nasty cold enroute to Bimini, so I am trying to lay low, even though it will be a busy week. Good thing I have so many students, Leslie and Kathleen to help with the research 😉 By 16:17 we had dolphins in view around the boat. We entered the water 3 times during the course of the afternoon, with 2 encounters and 1 short encounter. We saw Lil’ Jess (#35), Finn (#09), Niecey (#48), Buster (#04), Tina (#14), Romeo (#10) and I think Leslie (#80). We also saw at least 4 bottlenose dolphins with the spotted group- the focus of my Master’s work- I couldn’t have been happier! We got lots of video footage with both the MVA and Top Dawg cameras. The students are doing a great job and working hard developing individual projects. I hope the rest of the week is a good as today! Ok, too tired to write more. Talk soon, Kel
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