Summary of Trip 1 – Dolphin Data

A great week with lots of data gathered – photos, video, sounds, & observations.

We had 23 sightings and 13 encounters – 2 with bottlenose dolphins and 11 with spotted dolphins. Encounters ranged in length from 3 – 35 minutes in length. Average length was 11.5 min., while 8 min. represents the median length. We spent a total of 138 minutes under water with dolphins in view. We saw at least 40 individual spotted and 30 individual bottlenose dolphins. We identified a few spotted dolphins already: #64 with her calf ('Skippy') from last year, #2 (Little Gash) with her calf, #93 (Rebecca), #115 (LeftPec), #103 (Echo), #65 (Venus), and #4 (Whitespot). We also have three or four young spotted dolphins that will receive ID numbers at the end of the season. We also saw several nurse sharks and one Tiger Shark. We snorkeled on the Sugar Wreck and had several encounters near the little dolphin wreck (A pile of eye-beams). We even had a ring side seat for fireworks from one of the other boats out this week. An eventful and dolphin-data filled week. More next week. Cheers Kathleen