I was able to collect 40 minutes of video this morning of dolphins that seemed really happy to see me! They all had smiles! Ok, that’s really anthropomorphic … but it did seem like several of the young dolphins had missed my fins as play toys! There were LOTS of whistles and bubble streams and much chasing and play behavior. Our group met me at the water taxi at 6:30 and I was in the water about 20 minutes later.
We all made it to Roatan without a hitch, even though a few connections in Atlanta were tight! I am usually on one of the early arrival flights but today, everyone else arrived before Ron, Bill, John, and me! It felt like coming home to AKR and RIMS. It was delightful to see everyone – staff and DCP participants alike! I even got to see several of the trainers this afternoon; the dolphins will wait until tomorrow morning as I had to put the array together.
And we’re ready to go! Leaving on a jet plane … sound familiar?
Yes, it’s a song. But, also, we’re on our way back to Anthony’s Key Resort on Roatan for another week! Ron and Bill came to Florida to fly with John and me. Baloo is eyeing our bags … maybe wondering if she’s coming to…? Dixie is not having any of it. Nicole is here and Dixie knows she’ll have a wonderful time with Aunt Nicole while we are in the field. (Thank you, Dr. Nicole!)
We depart tomorrow morning for our flight from Miami to Roatan.
Sat Oct 9th, 11 a.m. ET
In this Dolphin Lesson, DCP's favorite how-to-draw artist Raina will show viewers how to draw a beluga! With beluga facts thrown in along the way, this lesson is fun for all ages.
You can simply watch along, or grab paper and a pencil/pen or a drawing tablet to try your hand at drawing a beluga!
Dolphin Lessons are geared toward ages 6-13, but everyone is welcome.
Thursday, 9 September, 7:00 PM ET (NYC, Miami - Zoom details below)
Spawning Patterns, Diet, Mercury, and Reasons Why Goliath Grouper Should be Protected In Perpetuity
In this Deep Dive, Chris Malinowski, a biologist who is passionate about conservation of marine and aquatic systems will discuss not dolphins, but a fish: the goliath grouper. The Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara), a large indigenous tropical reef fish, approached local extinction in U. S. waters by the 1980s as a result of intense fishing pressure. In 1990, federal and state laws intervened to protect this species.
Volume 25, Issue 3 is here!
Today, we share the last day observations from each student individually.
Victor: The morning was data but also a chance to say goodbye to the dolphins. I’m still not sure who is who but I can recognize 1 or 2 … especially Poli. The other highlight for me today was snorkeling in the afternoon at Bailey’s Key near the dolphin area. This made getting my covid test in Coxen Hole and away from the dolphins ok.
Alessandro: Today was a relaxing day. After the last data collection, we had one of the best snorkeling sessions around.
This morning, surprise! We collected data with Kathleen’s observations. The dolphins were a bit more active this morning compared to yesterday. We saw some breaching. And Bailey did a weird curved posture for Laura (see cover photo) while Stan did a “fluke-stand” for her. (Thank you, Laura).
The weather was better with sunshine and a slight breeze. Sometimes the dolphins were chasing each other at the surface. And, several dolphins paid a visit to platform 1 to try to entice us to play … away from our observations.
We did our morning observations and data collection. No sunrise this morning but a cloudy day and windy. And the dolphins were quiet, sleeping it seemed – maybe like a hangover in humans.
After breakfast, we prepared ourselves to get ready for our encounter and snorkel with the dolphins. We had more than Bailey during our encounter – French and Tilly were chasing each other and trying to swim between us. Tilly seemed to be hiding behind our legs watching for French.
Each student presents their summary of the day. The cover photo is Bailey playing with water – Thank you, Manon.
Laura: we woke up and we went to collect data at 6 AM. We did a great job and are more comfortable with the data collection. I’m focused and faster when I search for dolphins for the space use data collection. I also liked learning how to log the videotapes and how patience and focus are important when doing those analyses.