Sunday marked the start of an October dolphin week with Sea Crest Hotel & Marina. Although the winds were stronger than we would have liked, everyone was excited and happy to be in Bimini. We began with a brief snorkel stop and as soon as the anchor was set, we were greeted by a friendly young green turtle. Everyone was careful and respectful (no chasing, no touching) as we enjoyed the close views of this little ‘guy.’ About halfway through our search for dolphins, a passenger’s bag fell overboard. We stopped the boat and maneuvered to recovery it. As the bag re-boarded the vessel, dolphins appeared! At first we watched four bottlenose dolphins, surfing the waves as they disappeared and reappeared. Then, suddenly, there were more – a total of at least 10 bottlenose dolphins! We were able to enjoy the bottlenose dolphins for nearly 40 minutes before heading back towards Bimini. On the way, spotteds appeared! The seas were still too rough for a swim for us, but we enjoyed watching a single adult (un-named #40?) and three calves. Only one calf is likely hers; she would have been ‘babysitting’ the other two youngsters. We also got a quick glimpse of Romeo (#10) before returning to the dock just after sunset.
Looking forward to the rest of the windy week,
Kel