Category: Bimini 2006

Sunday’s afternoon kayak trip through the mangroves of east Bimini was a fabulous.  Even though I managed to fall off my kayak twice- in a row.  Now, keep in mind that these are sit-on-top ocean kayaks…they are designed for dummies.  And this dummy tipped over twice.  Good thing I know myself well enough to have tied down all of my things so they didn’t get lost in the mangrove muck.  Eh, it was a good laugh at the very least.    Monday morning was business-y and the afternoon was a fun boat trip north. 

Tenth trip of the season!

Better weather for this week’s last trip.  We really enjoyed this week’s passengers.  They were so patient with the lousy weather and I think (hope) they all had a good time.  Today we saw the first group of spotteds (about 13) at 17:11.  We were going through encounter withdrawal, so we hopped into the water even though the animals were a bit on the move.  And, of course, they didn’t stick around, so it was back on the boat for surface observations.  From the boat we were able to see Lil’

So, another day with another storm.  The Bimini Undersea passengers entertained themselves with bike rides and windy ping pong and I chatted with a pair of honeymooning-divers about DCP and the Bimini dolphins.  It is always so nice to talk with people who are so interested in the sea!  By about 18:30, the seas had calmed, but it was too late to head out.  The weather report says it should be nice tomorrow….We’ll see.    Until then, 

06:00 and I am awake.  Not because I can’t sleep.  Not because I had a bad dream.  Because there is water in the house!  And not because the roof is leaking.  And not because a pipe burst.  But because it is raining and the wind is blowing so hard from the west that it is forcing the water into the house at every corner of our west-facing windows and doors!  So, after every towel in the house was wedged into these corners, I was wide awake….   

Well, I am officially roommates with Kathy DeStefano again!  I am getting settled in at our new accommodations, the “Dolphin House.”  How fitting is that?  I think it is going to be a great place to live- plenty of room, clean, bright, close to the docks and stairs to the roof!  Too cool…    And of… Continue reading The second

So, today marked the end of the field portion of Coastal Ecosystems.  Around 12:00 the APU group headed over to the south island for a quick visit to Dr.

Thursday night Leslie, Kathleen & I had a nice dinner at Sarah’s (aka Sandbar, aka End of the World).  VERY tasty lobster & mushroom pizza.  Then it was up early on Friday to see Kathleen off at the ferry.  She is now near Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas with DCP researcher Kristy Beard.  They are returning to Dolphin Encounters (DE) to gather more data on the bottlenose dolphins there.  For those of you who may remember, Kathy DeStefano, Darcie & I were there for a brief, preliminary visit in 2004. 

Today was another productive day on the water with a group of spotteds and a quick appearance by at least one bottlenose.  We saw Juliette (#12), un-named #25, Lumpy (#17) and possibly Lone Star (#56).  There was typical mating behavior observed, with the adults fluke slapping, leaping, rubbing and generally swimming while clustered together.  We watched the group for just under an hour before heading back to the island.

This morning APU students and I worked through some more video logging and they worked on their individual assignments.  Then it was out the dolphin grounds and oh, look, more dolphins!  What a great start to the research season!  Unfortunately, we did not get in the water today, but we were still able to identify Lil’ Jess (#35), Swoosh (#36), Romeo (#10), Tina (#14), Split Jaw (#22), Stefran (#82), Leslie (#80) and White Blotch (#29).  There was lots of belly-to-belly behavior, play behavior with seaweed and bow riding.    Ok, I’m officially exhausted.