I’m sitting in the South Bimini airport, awaiting my flight to Nassau where I’ll connect to continue to Great Harbour Cay (Berry Islands, Bahamas). Fear not – this is only a temporary break from Bimini. I’ll be back soon! But, what’s going on in GHC?
I’ll be assisting in tracking efforts of Rita and Georgie, two manatees! (Yes! Manatees in The Bahamas!). Rita had been living in Spanish Wells, where she gave birth to Georgie. But, Hurricane Irene displaced them, and they were found in Nassau Harbour. After being captured and then rehabilitated, a team, including folks from the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization (BMMRO), Dolphin Cay (Atlantis), Department of Marine Resources and US Geological Studies, released the pair in GHC in April. Since then, the team has been tracking the pair’s movement and has even seen them interacting with the other manatees near GHC!
You can stay updated on the progress of this mother/calf pair here on the DCP website, but you can also get lots of great information at BMMRO’s blog: http://www.bmmro.blogspot.com/
More soon!
Kel