Okay, so our first dunk at AKR was in the pool last night – to be sure all seals were still tight after flying to Roatan. But, this morning was my first data collection session with the revised MVA4. Revised with new hydrophones, a new face plate, and a modified tray for the camera. The MVA4 worked well and I can actually see the screen inside the housing to record the dolphins! Of course, the first entry was not without some issue – the GoPro3 decided not to record. The battery indicated it was working but I could not get it to record. I was able to hand it to John and continue recording with the MVA4 alone.
Our crew woke early with me and I was in the water by 6:40 AM to collect video data! It was a sunny day with decent underwater visibility. It was nice to see the dolphins again. Dory, Stan and Tank were very playful and checked out my fins! Calli has numerous rake marks (pictured) and was very curious about the MVA4 and me. Bailey seems to like her reflection in the MVA4 face plate – good thing we have a new one with no scratches!
Our volunteer observers collected lots of data from the surface and were swift to pick up and remember the different marks on each dolphin’s dorsal fins and flanks. We did some respiration/surfacing comparison data collection on the adult males (French, Ritchie, Ronnie) and Lenca and Champ. They were slow swimming in the afternoon.
Tomorrow is the picnic at Maya Key but first we’ll have another data collection session!
Cheers
Kathleen and the 2019 DCP Eco-tour team