Wednesday, the sun was shining and, like the last week, the wind was gusting. The forecast called for rain and scattered thunderstorms which had us wondering how our boat trip would go in the afternoon. Fortunately, a little rain didn’t stop us from getting out so we set off at the normal time and hoped for the best.
We had not gone far when we came across another boat that had found a group of about ten bottlenose dolphins.
Another windy day, Tuesday began with more photo ID and office work. It was actually rather sunny at some points which bode well for our afternoon boat trip. We left just after 14:30 and battled against the wind on our usual path to find dolphins. The waves quickly grew in; nevertheless, we persisted, and an hour and a half after setting out we found a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins.
Now that the UNBSJ students have gone home, it is back to business as usual for us on Bimini. Monday began with catching up on office-work and photo ID. Then we set up the cameras and clipboards so that everything would be ready for the afternoon boat trip.
Unfortunately, I (Nicole) was on my own on the boat, while Kel stayed on shore. The boat set off at 14:30 as usual, this time with a full group of European guests. It was another blustery day on the water, much worse than any day last week.
On Thursday, the UNBSJ students’ last full day on the island, we began with a beach cleanup along Radio Beach. We collected quite a few bags of garbage and recyclables and we feel as though we were able to give a little bit back to Bimini after the amazing time we have spent here.
On Wednesday, we began our day by identifying individual dolphins that we saw on our dolphin trip yesterday. We positively ID’d Romeo (#10), Lil’ Jess (#35), Swoosh (#36), Prince William (#64), un-named #99. It was easier for us to make the IDs than on our first practice day – maybe we’re getting better! It also showed us a bit of what a fission-fusion society is like and we noticed that yesterday Romeo & Prince William were often in the same photograph.
After photo-ID work, we had a lecture on ecotourism.
After breakfast, our Tuesday began with a heated debate on dolphin hunting…we ended up negotiating! Sustainability & humane turned out to be the key words. Typical Canadians! Overall, the conversation forced us to look at the issue from different angles and perspectives: for us, it isn’t a black and white issue.
After our debate, we watched a short video from the Bimini Blue Coalition documenting the current construction project off Bimini, as well as summary points from the project’s own Environmental Impact Assessment.
On Monday morning, we had a guest lecture from Dr. Justin Gregg, “Are Dolphins Really Smart?” Dr. Gregg joined us via Skype and shared a lot of information, including a definition of intelligence: how closely a thing’s behavior resembles the behavior of an adult human. He gave us an introduction of the study of intelligence including the work of Dr. Lilly (wow). We learned about EQ – and the challenges of using EQ as a measure of intelligence.
We woke up Sunday to rain, but most had already passed to the other side of the island. The rest of the day was just windy – but it meant we had a little boat that couldn’t. We spent the morning in various lectures: introduction to DCP and the dolphins around Bimini, plus photo-identification. In the afternoon, we headed to Pigeon Cay, a mangrove island just on the other side of the Bimini harbor.
I’m happy to welcome this year’s crop of students from the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ). I hope you enjoy reading their field reports, throughout the week! ~Kel
On Saturday, six of us wrapped up our time at the SharkLab while three of us made our way from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini (two without luggage ;-(. We waited at the airport for 2 hours, sorting out departing students and waiting for the arriving students.
DCP's Bimini research will make an appearance
in the third episode of the new PBS/NOVA series Inside Animal Minds,
which airs on April 23rd. Kel, Kathleen, and Justin should all make an
appearance, as well as a number of our adopt-a-wild-dolphins
and the MVA. If you live in the US, be sure to watch the episode,
and/or check out the whole series - it looks like it's going to be
awesome! Here's a link to the learn more about the series.