First, today: it was a very short session, only 7 minutes long thanks to the horrible underwater visibility and mouthy dolphins. Lenca and Tank were more interested in Kathleen’s fin than swimming with each other or with Rocky. Still, during these two weeks, we collected data during 13 sessions ranging from ~7 -35 minutes long yielding about 6 hours of video data.
And we observed some new behaviors and interactions – Sandy had a remora and at least Elli, Sandy, Bailey, and Buzz played with various Caribbean sharp-nosed puffers.
We also collected space use data in association with Kathleen’s data collection sessions (6 sessions, with the CSU student group) and with 7 dolphin swims during this second week of observations.
Today was a whirlwind of cleaning and packing gear and spending some time with the dolphins! Manon spent some time with Poli and her trainer, Yessan, with Poli demonstrating her echolocation skill. Yessan buried a square PVC in the sand while Poli was not watching and then Poli went and found it with her echolocation! Very neat to watch! Manon pulled together a composite of photos below.
This afternoon we all got our negative cove test results for USA re-entry. And, we learned that the requirement for this negative covid test stops Sunday evening!
Tomorrow, we return home. Here’s hoping the flights will be smooth and on time. Stay tuned to the DCP e-blasts for updates on our data analyses.
Cheers
DCP’s June Ecotour Team (aka DCP’s JETs)
P.S. Thank you yo John for the cover image – sunset over Bailey’s Key!