Our morning classroom session included paper presentations; each one of us had to find a dolphin-related scientific research paper and present it to the class in layman’s terms. Those who presented today were all on behavior: infant carrying, sighting locations & social interactions, male reproduction behavior and dolphin behavior around gill nets. After some serious sandwich making, our boat trip departed early – 11:30. We headed in the normal direction, but the rough seas had us turning back to shore for lunch. Anchored near the beach, we eat and swam a bit, before resuming our search. Our captains were watching the clock and opted to turn south toward the Sapona. This area was worth searching for dolphins, but as we passed the south tip of North Bimini, we spotted a fish. Or was it a branch? Or was it a fish? Or a branch? Nope. It was an unknown fish. Captain Al suggested it was likely an uncommon deep water fish; why it was so close to shore, we don’t know. We lost sight of it as another boat plowed through the area, and we continued on our way.
At the Sapona, Al gave us the interesting history behind the ship wreck. We all snorkeled around the ship – fire coral, fire coral & more fire coral! In reality, there were a lot of different species calling the ship home: scorpion fish, sergeant majors, parrot fish, southern stingrays, squirrelfish, trumpet fish and massive angel fish & barracuda!
By the time we headed home, the combination of the lee of the island and the calming seas made for a much nicer ride. As a group, there were much fewer green faces today!
Back on shore, we began the film ‘Blackfish’ before our supper, finishing the film after supper. As usual, Nicole’s supper was delicious (3 plate worthy for someone!). The ice cream after dinner was a nice surprise!
Until tomorrow,
Bimini Babes (& Hunks), UNBSJ 2015