On Wednesday morning, I visited the students and gave a talk on photo-ID; why it is important and how it is done. They are a great group and I hope they enjoyed my visit as much as I did. Thursday brought another opportunity for me to join the visiting researcher & student group. So far, 2016 has been a high-return year! Only 27 minutes into the dolphin trip we came upon feeding bottlenose dolphins.
On Monday, the second wave of students from St. Mary’s College of Maryland arrived on Bimini. After an evening of settling in, I met with the students on Tuesday afternoon to show them the still cameras and slates, and give them tips on taking underwater photographs for the purpose of photo-identification.
The latest Dolphin Gazette is here!
With the wind in our faces, and rocking the boat, we were hopeful that Tuesday’s boat trip would bring some cooperative dolphins. The students were fresh off some great juvenile spotted and crater feeding bottlenose observations (Sunday) and Caribbean reef shark and southern stingray interactions (Monday). I was ever hopeful that my presence wouldn’t break their luck…
Sure enough, at 16:28, Dr. E saw several dolphins surfing the swells right toward us! It was a very cool sight to see.
Check out this video from our friends at Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization and Loggerhead Productions.
Saturday snuck right up on me and brought another dolphin trip with Bimini Adventures’ student group. On Friday, the students and researchers were able to observe a feisty juvenile group, including Inka (#93). They got some great video and photographs, which will contribute to DCP’s archive, in addition to their own work. Saturday’s trip began smoothly and though the wait was longer than the past few days, it really wasn’t long at all before we saw some big splashing in the distance.
Wednesday morning began with a photo-ID lecture to the students. I always like this topic – discussing how we recognize individual dolphins and all the cool things you can learn just by knowing who is who. The students asked great questions and did a fantastic job practicing matching photos to the DCP catalog.
Tuesday was the first boat trip of 2016. I was thrilled to welcome Dr. K back to Bimini, this time with Dr. L and students from Saint Mary’s College of Maryland. With all the gear prepped, I introduced the students to DCP’s still cameras and underwater slates. I also gave them tips on taking underwater photographs of the dolphins with photo-ID purposes in mind. Throughout their course, they will be tasked with taking photographs of and notes on the dolphins while observing them under water.
DCP is offering a brand new field course in collaboration with Dr. Shane Kanatous, Colorado State University.
This is a Field Course in Animal Behavior and Physiology that will be held at RIMS, Anthony's Key Resort, Roatan, Honduras, from 31 December 2016 to 7 January 2017. A flyer can be downloaded by clicking this link. You can also check out the Educational - College Programs section of DCP's web site to read more details about this exciting new field program!
Sign up today to be sure you have a spot in this college-level field program.
DCP DE Innovative Study 2016 from Dolphin Communication Project on Vimeo.t
Here is a short video that showcases the Innovative Study we conducted at Dolphin Encounters at Blue Lagoon Island in The Bahamas in late January/early February 2016! If you remember (or look back through our blogs), this was research conducted in collaboration with Drs. Deirdre Yeater and Dawn Melzer (Sacred Heart University) and Dr. Allison Kaufman (University of Connecticut) and Kathleen (DCP) at Dolphin Encounters.
Data processing and analyses are ongoing ...