This morning I continued to work on video before the afternoon dolphin trip. It was a fairly full boat & I don’t think anyone was disappointed. After a snorkel stop at 3 Sisters, we saw two spotted dolphins at 1822. The calf was un-named #84 although I did not get a good look at the adult, it was likely un-named #57, #84’s mother. They were cruising too fast to have a swim, but soon after we saw a different group including Leslie (#80), un-named #86 and two calves. There were also two juveniles who have been giving me some trouble lately. There is a young juvenile who was just tentatively added to the catalog, but I needed better views of both sides of the dolphin because its spots are so faint. Even with the photos I do have, I have been having a very tough time committing the spot pattern to memory. Today, I discovered why. There are TWO young juveniles with very similar, and faint, spot patterns and in the water, I have been thinking they were the same animal. Today, I was able to see both in the same frame, so hopefully once this video gets processed, all confusion will be gone and we will officially have two new dolphins in the photo-ID catalog. Tomorrow, I will be joined by two staff members from Dolphin Encounters in Nassau. Dolphin Encounters is another of DCP’s field sites – check out those field reports for more info! Until tomorrow, Kel
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