Thursday brought with it an unexpected dolphin trip with Bimini Undersea. The conditions were as favorable as they get, with seas that resembled a swimming pool more than the ocean. With a great group of passengers onboard, we did not have to wait long before we saw dolphins. It was another large group and shortly after our observations began, we noticed three bottlenose dolphins in the midst of the spotteds. There were at least twenty individual dolphins over the course of the sighting, including Trudy (#57) and calf, Prince William (#64, pictured here), Tim (#69), Speedy (#78), un-named #40 and calf as well as #75. We saw Juliette (#12) and two calves (only one is hers) as well as “the boys” and the three bottlenose dolphins under water. There was lots of mixed species socio-sexual behavior going on and it made for a great observation.
As we headed back toward show, giddy with excitement, a few more spotted dolphins came to the bow: Split Jaw (#22), Lil’ Jess (#35) and calf and Leslie (#80) and calf. I am now fairly confident that we’ll be able to add Leslie’s calf to the photo-ID catalog as it has some serious scarring to the peduncle. It also has a fairly large remora – I don’t know what it means, but I do know that during each observation in 2011 and so far in 2012, this dolphin calf has had a remora on it. Could it be the same remora after all this time?
There is another dolphin trip tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Kel