Patrick, Tori, and Kaiya started their Wednesday with an early AM snorkel off the “Galant Lady.” Getting in the water first thing in the morning was something we’ve all been eager to do, and this was the perfect morning to do it! Among the highlights of the snorkel were an apprehensive barracuda, a stingray, some split-crown feather dusters, some comb jellies, as well as an assortment of colorful fish.
Tuesday marks The Trio’s first full day in the field! Our morning was spent with Nicole dropping by to outline our goals for the summer. We began working on yesterday’s data entry and some bottlenose photo-ID. The morning quickly passed and we made ourselves some lunch. We then immediately went to the boat for our introductions and a quick overview of our boat regulations and protocol. We were introduced to the eco-tour group that we will be joining this week.
The DCP Intern “Trio” has assembled in Bimini and we are ready to go! Kaiya and Patrick, who participated in past DCP university field courses on Bimini, arrived on Monday, and share their travel and arrival adventures below.
We are thrilled to welcome Tori to the Bimini field team! Tori is one of three summer field interns (Patrick & Kaiya arrive tomorrow).
As you may recall, this year marks DCP’s first time running our new program, the Volunteer Field Experience featuring 12 days at our Bimini, The Bahamas field site. Mathew and Garion were our first-ever participants and we hope you enjoy hearing about their final thoughts on their experience:
Mathew:
During the final day of living on Bimini and assisting DCP, I spent the day baking a cake as a way of showing my appreciation towards Kelly and Al, packing my bags and finalizing my work.
We departed on the Hunter/Manhattan College students’ and Garion/Mathew’s final boat trip at 1400. Before beginning our search for dolphins we made a stop at Bimini Road, a popular snorkeling destination famous for being thought to be the road to the lost city of Atlantis. The snorkelers enjoyed the clear waters and saw many interesting species on the reef.
Thursday morning began with Garion, Mathew and Nicole joining Dr. Kaplan, Dr. Maust-Mohl and the Hunter/Manhattan College students for a beach cleanup on Radio Beach in Alice Town. DCP feels it is important for students and island guests to gain an understanding and appreciation of the natural environment and community on Bimini, not just the dolphins that live in its waters. Picking up trash along the beach is a great way to give back to the community that has provided so many wonderful experiences over the past two weeks.
On Wednesday morning, the DCP team went about our normal morning routines to prepare for the day. We spent the morning tackling photo ID’s, data entry, and field reports and tried to be as productive as possible before Mathew visited the Bimini Biological Field Station (i.e. the SharkLab) on South Bimini for a tour with some of the Hunter/Manhattan College students.
The DCP team woke up early Tuesday morning. After breakfast (and Mathew’s first bowl of cereal since arriving on Bimini—it sounds trivial but it is quite an exciting treat!), we set to working on data entry and photo-ID. It was nice to have another morning where we would focus on identifying bottlenose dolphins from previous years.
The DCP team slept in on Monday by about an hour; something about active dolphin research must make us all very tired. But after a slow start, we began data entry and photo ID’s, and got a considerable amount of work done. Unfortunately, our boat trip was canceled due to large swell and strong winds, so the day was largely left open for the researchers and students that are currently on island.