Dr. Deirdre Yeater is gearing up for her 7th field course with DCP, at our Bimini, The Bahamas field site. Field dates are May 26 - June 1, 2020. All participants must take the course for SHU credit, but with online and field components, non-SHU students are welcome & encouraged to apply.
DCP has asked a lot of questions about how dolphins use their pectoral fins to touch each other (check out Kathleen & the team's long list of publications on the topic!). Our latest peer-reviewed article (that means other scientists had a read and agree the study is sound) looks at pectoral fin contact between Atlantic spotted & bottlenose dolphins.
This morning had our group at the water taxi stand at 6:15 AM for our last data collection session. The underwater visibility held out! (Hurray!) I was able to collect another 40 min of underwater video and the dolphins were vocal and social.
Thursday dawned … sort of! The sun stayed behind a layer of clouds for the bulk of the early morning data collection at Bailey’s Key. Still, the visibility was good, the dolphins quite social, and the current strong! I swam much during this morning’s observations but was rewarded by much social behavior. Tilly jawing at Tank. Dory and Stan rolling around accompanied sometimes by Elli, sometimes by Poli, and sometimes with Tank! Gracie had another leaf and floated it in front of me.
Today was a bright, partly sunny morning with clear underwater visibility for data collection! (Can you sense a theme that makes me happy in the field!?) It was another 45 min session with much social behavior. Stan featured prominently in my video today as he was not only enamored of my fins but also played often with Dory and Tank, until Alita and Bailey (respective moms) decided the play was too rough! I even caught a few glimpses of Carmella in the background as she watched these play sessions (she is Stan’s mom).
The morning session went long to 45 minutes because the underwater visibility was great! The dolphins were very social with each other – much rubbing and rolling and play over and with each other. Stan, Tank and Dory were fascinated by my fins until I raised them above the water surface a couple of times. Gracie circled around me while also swimming with Maury and Tilly.
Our morning session was delayed about 30 minutes due to an early morning thunder and lightning show. Thankfully, the squall passed quickly, though today would be peppered by squalls. The photo shows a quick view from the water (when no dolphins were in view underwater!) of Bailey’s Key, the clouds and a rainbow! The underwater visibility was not great – we had about 3 m of silty underwater viewing. Still, the dolphins were playful and curious.
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.
We all arrived safely to Roatan for the DCP 2019 eco-tour. And, we were pleasantly surprised by short immigration and customs lines!
It is wonderful to be back to AKR and to seeing the same folks at the resort and the animal care team. And, of course the dolphins! Several of us went over to Bailey’s Key in the afternoon to greet the trainers and to see the dolphins. Everyone looked good.
The DCP 2019 Eco-tour to Anthony’s Key Resort (AKR) and The Roatan Institute for Marine Science (RIMS) begins tomorrow. Hurray! The bags are finally packed and we depart before the sun rises tomorrow … at least for the airport, our flight is a bit later than that!
This trip has me using a modified MVA4. In this blog’s photo, you can see me water testing the system in the pool.