Beginning our last Trip for Summer 2000

Little Wind, calm seas – yippee!

Mostly green sea turtles coming up for air but one was a hawksbill. Way cool to see them gulping air at the surface. As is usual, we stopped at West End (now called Old Bahama Bay Marina) for diesel and lunch and then continued north. We stayed overnight on the dry bar. A location more protected from the swells of the Gulf Stream and where some of the dolphins hang out. Alas, the dolphins were elsewhere this afternoon. But we saw conch and lobster underwater and cooled off with a lengthy swim. The evening was clear – our first in more than a week and we were able to star-gaze. The Milky Way was beautiful as were many of the stars. Before our star-gazing commenced, I gave a 20 minute talk about my research and the dolphins we might see. The spot classes and how to identify them and the sexes of dolphins. I try to give a brief, semi-informal talk each night to share my work with the passengers. Sometimes we get into really neat conversations about dolphin social behavior or ocean conservation. 'Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky in the morn, sailor take warn.' Well, we had a red sky this evening. Let's hope the adage holds true. Cheers Kathleen