In a couple of days, 20 of us will be traveling from the USA to Roatan to join DCP’s next eco-tour research session at Anthony’s Key Resort in association with the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS). I am really looking forward to this week of observations and data collection of the dolphins at RIMS! It’s been 9.5 months since we were at AKR and we have a slightly modified MVA2 system to use. A few weeks ago, John and I (mostly John) retrofitted the MVA2 with a new, tapeless camera.
This quarter's issue is full of updates from the field, particularly reports from our Bimini field site. Hear from Kel and the summer "Trio", check out which adopt-a-dolphins we saw and meet Sulfur and Name-A-Dolphin ID#101. You'll see Kathleen has been busy preparing publications and Justin is making an awesome book donation.
After spending so much of this summer referring to “The Trio” (Patrick, Kaiya and Tori, our summer interns), it was hard not think of them as I spent a nice portion of the afternoon observing three Atlantic spotted dolphins! I was able to complete trip #43 of the season with Bimini Adventures, once again joining a visiting research team. Since this team was focused on bow riding dolphins, I knew the day would only bring surface observations.
DCP ID#102 has her name!! We are pleased to introduce, Sulfur, who was named by by Rahul K. Sai as a gift for Snigda Sindhuri Sagabala as part of DCP's Name-A-Dolphin program. Sulfur, a juvenile Atlantic spotted dolphin observed off Bimini, The Bahamas is now available for adoption! Check out her adoption page here. Thank you, Rahul, for your generous support.
On Thursday, I was able to join the team of visiting researchers who have chartered Bimini Adventures to explore their 360-degree camera and hydrophone system designed to record bow riding dolphins. It was great to catch up with these folks, whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for years now.
So much of my spring and summer revolves around advertising for interns, interviewing potential interns, preparing for interns, meeting interns, working with interns…and then they are gone! Poof! This year’s team, which included first-year interns Tori, Patrick and Kaiya, was absolutely phenomenal. But, as August rolled around, I knew that one-by-one, I’d be saying, “See you later” to each of them. And, now, as planned, they have all said goodbye to Bimini and returned to their other lives…
So, on Thursday I prepped for my first intern-less dolphin trip in quite a while. And, then it rained. And rained.
Tuesday was a bittersweet day for the Bimini DCP crew.
After almost six weeks on this island, it was difficult to accept that Saturday’s boat trip would be the last for Tori and Kaiya. The Renegade has been where we’ve spent almost every afternoon and evening this summer; it’s been our “office,” our vehicle of exploration, our means of collecting important data for the Dolphin Communication Project, and the very hub of our research efforts and relationship building. Aboard the Renegade, we’ve weathered rough seas and endured rain and squalls, thunder and lightning, days without dolphins, scorching heat and sun, and have genuinely loved every minute of it.
Friday morning offered a new and exciting opportunity for Tori and Kaiya to step into the education side of DCP's mission. After watching Kel lead information sessions for eco-tours and school groups throughout the summer, it was our turn to step up and take the lead. We did some preparation, then biked over to the Sea Crest where we met up with this week's eco-tour group. On top of it being our first DCP presentation, we had the added element of utilizing a translator as we were presenting to a group of native French speakers.
Thursday started off on a somber note, as it came with the realization that one of our Trio members was leaving us later that morning.