Thursday was quite a day for the DCP crew. We left at 11 a.m. to start our search for dolphins. We went on a smaller vessel this time as we only had two guests, visiting Australian photographers, with us as opposed to our earlier large group of high school students. It was a beautiful day, though a bit choppy out on the water, and we had high hopes of finding a group of dolphins early in the day….Six hours later we were still looking with absolutely no luck. What an eye opener for us interns; it is not always easy to find the dolphins and not all of our efforts are successful! Luckily, Captain Al and a fellow dolphin encounter vessel were in contact and they gave us a sighting tip. We headed in that direction and sure enough we found them! It was a group of eight with at least two calves, one of whom was the smallest Salma and Nicole had ever seen! They played in our bow for a little while and then slowed down enough for the photographers to get in the water with them for quite a while. After a good hour with the dolphins, we headed for home. We are so happy our almost-disappointing trip ended so well! We all arrived at the dock with smiles on our faces–and a bit of a sunburn for our interns! We learned and experienced so many new things on this trip. We can’t wait until we get to do it again!
Until next time,
Nicole, Salma & Kel