Monday began with a morning of data analysis before greeting the participants of Hunter College’s annual field course, who will be in Bimini for the next two weeks. We gave them a quick introduction to DCP’s still cameras and tips on how to take pictures underwater, and then Alexis and Lauren were off the boat trip with them! We spotted an eagle ray while leaving the harbor which made everyone excited to see dolphins. We stopped for a swim break early, and after an hour and a half from leaving the dock we found two bottlenose dolphins! They were very aloof compared to usual, Alexis wasn’t even able to get surface pictures of them! We quickly decided to move on and not long after ran into another group of about seven bottlenose dolphins who were leaping out of the water and scattered themselves around the boat. The students were all very excited to see wild dolphins and get a chance to write down data from the boat! We did not get into the water with the bottlenose; however we are hopeful that tomorrow will be an interactive day!
Sayonara,
Alexis, Lauren, and Kel