Friday’s boat trip with Bimini Adventures started out with an early departure at 14:00 with the intention of snorkeling at Bimini Road. However, in route we stumbled upon 6 bottlenose dolphins crater feeding and no one wanted to pass up this observation session. Alexis got numerous surface photos while the group watched them from the boat. The passengers rotated in the water and Alexis joined them once confidence set in that each individual’s dorsal fin had been captured. Before we knew it we had been in the water with this group for almost an hour and a half! The dolphins spent most of their time crater feeding, but every time they came up to surface for air they were constantly buzzing and checking out the group! Alexis was able to recognize 2 of the bottlenose Tt20 (who is missing almost all of his right pectoral fin and whom we saw swimming with the many spotteds yesterday), as well as Tt15! It was exciting to have such a long encounter with this curious and yet focused group of dolphins. There were certainly times during the swim where I wondered who was observing whom, as I would often turn around to have a dolphin right behind me echolocating and checking me out! Eventually, as the visibility was dropping* and a storm with high winds was approaching, we decided it would be best to get back on board and head home. Luckily with such a good swim no one was disappointed!
Cheers,
Alexis & Kel
*The new cruise ship was hovering in the area all afternoon. We wonder if the boat’s constant maneuvering is what affected the visibility so dramatically. Hmmmm…