After a day off, it

This morning started early with a nice breakfast with Kathy DeStefano as she prepares to leave the island for an unknown length of time.  We are sad to see her go, but we are thrilled that she is about to start a new boating adventure & trust that it won’t be long before we meet again here in Bimini.      The ordinary feel to the day ended shortly after breakfast when we received a call that a bottlenose dolphin was in a mangrove canal on South Bimini. 

Video day

Well, we can’t believe that it is August….and August will open with a short field report.  We spent the day doing odds & ends & tackling some video.  We’re IDing many dolphins & plan to take advantage of the slow boat period, getting all of our video logged.  Tomorrow is a likely day off, so perhaps you’ll hear from us on Thursday!    Until then,  Kel &

Dolphin trip!

Today’s boat trip was a nice ride even with the unusually hazy sky.  We spent a great deal of the trip without dolphins in view, but then just around 19:00, an adult & calf came zipping to the boat!  They gave a great show of surfing in the stern wake, but did not appear to be slowing down for a swim.  We lost sight of them momentarily, but when we saw them again, they were being joined by a group of 6 class 4 & 5 animals (sub-adult & adult). 

Some diving for one, some video for the other

Ah, a good Sunday.  Darcie was able to spend most of the day diving at some of the areas best sites south of Bimini.  Kel wasn’t up for the trip, so she stayed back, had a lazy morning & then logged video & entered data into the computer all afternoon.  We’re very please with the data collected during May & although June was slow & the weather was inconsistent in July, we know we’ll be pleased with the remainder of the season’s data.     

After a day off, more video time!

Yesterday was a mostly day-off.  Due to some unknown technical difficulties, we did not have our morning phone call with the aquarium.  The afternoon included grocery shopping for pizza fixings & a quick SCUBA dive and then we had a girls’ night!      Today we worked on more video logging & then spent the late afternoon creatively taking scissors to some t-shirts.  Our new clothes look fabulous!  Tomorrow will be more video.    Until next time,  Kel &

Bye John!

Sadly, Darcie had to say a temporary farewell to her fiancé John.  Then we spent the afternoon logging some video….always a slow task, but very rewarding when we can figure out a tricky dolphin pattern.  Otherwise a pretty uneventful day…A more exciting field report next time, promise!    Until then,  Kel &

No room for lowly researchers

Well, after last night’s boat trip home, we can’t say we’re surprised that Bimini Undersea charted another boat & captain for their trip this afternoon.  Unfortunately, that boat did not have room for us ;-(    So, after the morning’s call, it was an afternoon to catch up on data entry.  It is amazing how that works.  You type & type & type & the pile shrinks.  Then just a couple of days later, you have a new pile! 

An unusual day

Darcie did some more diving today before our boat trip.  Kel offered a presentation, but no one attended ;-(  No hard feelings though, just about all of our passengers were on the dive boat!    Then it was a late start out to the dolphin grounds & a very late return after a quick bow ride from Tina (#14) & Nemo (#76).  The boat had engine trouble, so it was a slow (5-6 knots) ride home in the dark.  The Bimini Undersea crew did a great job handling the situation. 

A dolphin trip without a squall?

It seems like we can hardly remember the last dolphin trip that had sunny skies & calm seas.  We readily admit that we are completely spoiled here in Bimini, but that doesn’t make us any less grateful to have the nice weather back!  We had a big group on the boat today, but that was okay because we had a big group of dolphins as well!  Here’s the rundown of those we recognized (for all of you adoptive parents out there!):    Buster (#04), Juliette (#12), Tina (#14), Lil’

How do days go so quickly?

Darcie spent the afternoon posing with her fiancé while Kel was behind the camera taking some photos for Bimini Undersea.  They looked so cute!  Then some pictures without the snorkel gear, as engagement photos for them.  We then were treated to a fabulous dinner at Big Game’s fancy restaurant.  Yum.    Trips #37, 38 & 39 are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.  The weather was actually great today, so hopefully that will continue!    Until then,  Kel &