We began Thursday in lecture, learning about photo-ID. We found photo-ID “sneaky hard.” You think you’ve found a match, but it turns out – you don’t. We departed the dock slightly earlier today, leaving at 1436. At 1730, we were teased by a quick glimpse of 2 – 3 bottlenose dolphins (at which point we were fairly convinced that Bimini dolphins were like unicorns). After more disappointing searching, we finally came across Atlantic spotted dolphins! We saw three dolphins riding the bow, including Tilly (#87) who is easily identified as she is missing most of her dorsal fin. Then, we got in the water (with lots of squealing)! We saw a total of eight dolphins that were very active and seemed excited. There was lots of noise under water – the dolphins were very vocal as they checked us out. Then they appeared to lose interest and we headed back to the boat.
Back on the boat, we realized that some dolphins were still swimming at the bow. Soon, there were a total of nine spotteds, including Lil’ Jess (#35) and two young calves. One calf might be #35’s, but this has not yet been confirmed. Back at the dock, we had a BBQ and soon were in bed!
More dolphins tomorrow,
Kel & the UNBSJ crew
PS: Here’s a photo of Addie (#84), who we positively identified while reviewing photos on Friday.