Our day began with two cups of coffee and a boat taxi ride to Bailey’s Key. And, once again, the dolphins were right there! We began the day with more dolphin behavior observations, noting a bit more detail than yesterday. It was a bit easier to ID some of the dolphins – Polly, Hector, Han, Paya, and Gracie were all readily visible to us this AM! The dolphins were frisky this morning – there was lots of splashing and socializing ongoing this AM providing lots for us to document and note.
After our delicious breakfast, we had an informative physiology talk/discussion. We learned that respiration rates don’t cut it to estimate metabolic rates and that you cannot take inaccurate measurements to make an accurate prediction of a data point. The assumption that every time a dolphin or marine mammal comes to the surface they are taking a breath is wrong based on our field observations from the past two days. The assumption that they are going to their max limit with each dive is a fallacy. And, the assumption that with each breath they take in the same amount of oxygen is also wrong. (further explanation to come on the last two assumptions by the end of the week).
We were given our first assignment today – it is to come up with a way to measure something physiological based on behavioral observations. This is something we will try to put into practice on Thursday and Friday. We also learned a bit more detail about the array (see photo) – how to connect the camera and about the controls.
Our almost last activity of the day was to go snorkeling from a boat. We went to Mud Hole and snorkeled in blue water – odd as it sounds! The fish ID talk came in very handy (Thanks Pete!). We saw trumpet fish, a school of tang, butterfly fish, a green moray eel, squirrelfish, wrasse, parrotfish, and coral (brain coral and elkhorn). We also saw sand dollars, hermit grabs, conch shells, and sea fans. It was a good snorkel!
After snorkeling, we rinsed off in the pool and began our roundtable discussion regarding our first assignment! The pool water was chillier than the ocean, especially once the sun dropped behind the palm fronds! Chelsea noticed she was much less buoyant in the pool than in the ocean!
Until tomorrow!
Cheers
Kathleen, Shane & the funky bunch
P.S. we picked up our bracelets to support the Roatan Marine Park! 🙂