Tuesday began with a rare morning trip in search of Bimini’s dolphins. Although the seas were once again not as calm as forecasted, it was definitely workable. We headed out quite far and on our way back to Bimini we saw them! Our first group was six dolphins – three mother/calf pairs. I am pretty sure the moms were Cerra (#38), Niecey (#48) and Stefran (#82). Two of the calves have markings so we’ll see if they are permanent enough to allow us to add those youngsters to our catalog. Later in the day, we had more dolphins, including four standoff-ish adults. Mostly this second group seemed on the move and not interested in us.
After a brief break, we headed back out. This time, the dolphins made us work much harder and didn’t come by the boat until the very end of the boat trip. But, we still had the opportunity to watch four youngsters ride the bow, including Addie (#84) and un-named #93. As we waited eagerly at the stern for an opportunity to get in the water (which never happened!), we could tell there were dolphins (seemingly) everywhere. There were several adults and active calves. The dolphins seemed to be traveling somewhat south, but they were repeatedly distracted by fish!
Another trip tomorrow,
Kel