True to his word, Captain Nate Riley has just donated proceeds from pre-orders of his awesome book, Bahamas Bucket List for Divers, Bimini Edition, to DCP!
On Saturday, Daisy and the visiting students headed out in search of dolphins, but unfortunately came up empty. That didn’t diminish anyone’s spirits as we headed out again on Sunday. About an hour into the trip we saw a group of 13 dolphins; I recognized quite a few, but suspect they were the “transplants” from the northern Bahamas. We had nice surface and underwater observations of this group before they took off abruptly.
Once we were back onboard the boat, we resumed our search and soon we were with 5 of the previous group of 13.
On Wednesday morning, I joined the SMCM students once again, this time for a lecture & practical on photo-identification. It’s just about my favorite topic to discuss! The students were engaged and knowledgeable and I hope they came away with good info and introductory photo-ID skills to utilize for the rest of the course.
On Tuesday, I joined DCP Research Associate J. Daisy Kaplan and her field course from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. First, I gave the students a crash course in underwater still photography, showing them how to use & care for DCP’s still cameras and what to aim for when taking photographs intended for photo-ID. I could tell it is a great group of students!
Despite the heavy rain that came down during the camera orientation, the Bimini Adventures boat left on schedule, soon after 1500. We knew the conditions were windier than we’d like, but everyone was optimistic nonetheless.
Well, it had been quite a few years, but I finally had the opportunity to visit several classrooms at Bimini’s public schools today! First up was a small group of 9th, 10th and 11th graders – those who weren’t busy in national exams at the time – at Louise McDonald High School in Alice Town. They were a lively group; at times, it seemed, they were trying to embarrass me with shall we say, certain, dolphin questions.
For the first time ever, DCP is accepting two Volunteer Field Experience Participants (VFEPs) to join our Bimini, The Bahamas field site from 12 - 24 June 2017. VFEPs will get a jam-packed experience, learning about DCP's data collection, data entry and data analysis procedures. With supervision by experienced DCP researchers, VFEPs will contribute directly to DCP's research and education efforts while getting a taste of the research life for themselves. The fee for this experience is $500 which covers lodging, utilities and drinking water. Transportation (generally by air) to Bimini and food while on Bimini are not included.
It's that time of year again! All adopt-a-wild-dolphin orders going forward will receive the latest underwater footage from Bimini.
From pirates to modern-day drug runners, expert scuba diver and long-time sailor Capt. Nathan (Nate) Riley will take you on a journey dating back 300 years. During surface intervals, you will take a closer look at how the Bahamas and Bimini famously came to be. Expect to be immersed in the island’s history, culture, and soul.
Flip to the second half of the book to build your personal Bahamas Bucket List. Relive your dive memories time and time again while checking off sites from your dive log.
Today is the last day to apply to our Field Course in Cetacean Ecology with Sacred Heart University!
Get ready to get reading! The latest issue of The Dolphin Gazette is ready for you!
In this issue, you'll meet "Seabeagle" the latest addition to our Adopt-A-Wild-Dolphin roster. Kathleen will share her summary of the recent university field course to RIMS. Captain Nate shares the scoop on his book, Bahamas Bucket List for Divers Bimini Edition (spoiler alert, he's donating proceeds to DCP!). John reflects on his film making career and his latest project for DCP.