Yesterday was “August Monday” a holiday here in the Bahamas, so most of my errands couldn’t get done. So, it was a data entry day… Today, everything was open, so the morning was filled with errands before a 1530 dolphin trip. By 1700 we’d already been watching dolphins for a good bit. By the end of the day, we had spent more time in sight of dolphins (bottlenose & spotted) than without. That doesn’t happen very often, so we were all pretty excited. With an hour of video, we even got back to the dock at a reasonable hour. Needless to say, it was a great day! Here’s a rundown: First, we saw bottlenose, but they were close to another dolphin watching boat, so we stayed clear. It was okay because moments later, there was a group of 7-10 spotteds scattered & feeding. We watched for a bit & then got into the water with Romeo (#10) and Split Jaw (#22) who seemed to be taking a break from their snacking. Finn (#09), Leslie (#80), un-named #79 and a mother & calf all made their way through the group of swimming humans. Once they moved on, we were back on the boat. But, it wasn’t long before the bottlenose had caught up with us. Even though bottlenose generally show less interest in both boats & human swimmers, we decided to try for a swim. And we were not disappointed! We saw many bottlenose, males, females, juveniles & calves. There were also three nurse sharks, several associated remoras, a barracuda, a scurrying crab and a free swimming eel of some sort. Perhaps it thought it had a better chance staying away from the crater feeding bottlenose by hanging mid-water than burrowing in the sand! So, there will be plenty of video to review. But, tomorrow’s dolphin trip is at 1300, so it will have to wait. Until next time, Kel
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