A matter of definition.
I wanted to take a few words and define 'sightings' and 'encounters' for all of you. A 'SIGHTING' is any time dolphins are seen from the water's surface. That is, we see a single or a group of dolphins and it is a sighting. We note time, number of animals, location, group type, activity of the group, direction of travel and a few other data points. An 'ENCOUNTER' is 3 minutes or more underwater with dolphins in visual range. So, all encounters are always sightings but not all sightings become encounters. Sometimes the dolphins are just not interested in playng with us or with the boat. They pass by, maybe feeding or traveling. Our passengers leave tomorrow and I hope to be able to post all these summaries. I also look forward to another trip out to observe the dolphins. Cheers Kathleen