I actually could see the dolphins underwater this morning when they played with each other … and when they tried to entice me to play, as you can see with Ronnie here. He pulled a piece of sargasso seaweed from the fence line and tried to get me to take it and play a game of fetch with it! But … I was observing and being as non-invasive as possible. This meant I could not play a game of seaweed with Ronnie.
Our visibility increased for a good 30-minute session this morning. Bailey was one of the first dolphins we saw, and she turned 17 today! We all told her Happy Birthday. There was much splashing at the surface, especially from Tank, Lenca, and Ronnie. ...
Our day began with the worst underwater visibility I have ever experienced. The featured photo is Ronnie and Lenca … their heads are within a few inches of me and I could not see their flukes! I was only in the water for about 3 minutes. I truly hope the visibility improves tomorrow. The angst of two ...
Nearly the whole ecotour gang joined me this morning to help collect data. We got some good surface observations, which was a positive since the underwater visibility was just yucky! I could not see more than 2-3 feet in front of me with any clarity. I collected about 14 minutes of video ...
It seems like I begin each blog report this week with a weather report! But it’s felt like a forecast or recount of the morning weather is in order each night. We woke to a breeze but no rain – hurray! And, on our way over to Bailey’s Key we had blue skies! The sunshine appeared ...
The morning, afternoon, and early evening brought … RAIN! I was able to get in at Bailey’s Key for just under 7 minutes. The rain started just after I entered the water and then became an onslaught. Bill and Ron said it felt like hail. You can see Ronnie in this image just as the rain got heavy ...
*Password Req'd* DCP Dolphin Lesson: Marine Mammal Adaptations We will go over some of the many amazing adaptations (both physical and behavioral) that marine mammals have that help them be well suited for their environment! We will highlight communication, feeding techniques, diving, and more.
As travel days go, this was a long one for most of our group. You might remember from yesterday’s blog that Bill got here Thursday. So, he had a decent couple of dives before the rain made the underwater visibility become murky! Don and Louise arrived on the first flight of the day from Houston. Ron, Kate, Shannon, and I arrived on the second flight from Miami. Mary followed mid-afternoon from Atlanta and the rest of our group ...
This sign is one of many in our back yard! We head out tomorrow for Roatan and another DCP ecotour. Woohoo! Ron and I are traveling together and will be met by Shannon and Kate in Miami. The others in our group will arrive from Houston. Bill got there early!
DCP Deep Dive: Marine Mammals, Human Impacts, and Conservation, Thursday Sept 29th at 4p ET, with Brooke from Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network!