Category: Bimini 2009

Hello from Bimini! I’m sorry it has been so long since I have written! Unfortunately, the internet has been down for over a week, but thankfully Bimini Undersea has service and is happy to share…. The UNB course was a huge success! We had a lot of firsts and I am sure the dolphins spoiled the students. In 5 trips, we saw mixed species groups almost every day! And the mixed groups were large with at least 10 individuals of each species.

Well, it was a busy week! The weather wasn’t on our side, but we were able to see a second set of bottlenose dolphins on Tuesday’s boat trip. They put on a nice surfing show! Mid-week was spent preparing for our first university-level field course. Today (Friday) I was joined by 14 students & their professor from the University of New Brunswick. It was a busy day settling in, getting orientated and then heading out to the dolphin grounds. There was still a chop on the sea, but the conditions were much more favorable.

Today was a dolphin-less boat trip and the strong east winds kept us from “the dolphin grounds” again. But, we did cruise the length of the island hoping for another chance to observe the bottlenose.

 Today we dealt with 20-25 knot east winds in Bimini, which kept us from exploring “the dolphin grounds.” However, we did brave the seas for some snorkeling on the west side of the island. As the guests paddled about, I kept my eyes peeled – and saw something! A group of approximately 10 bottlenose cruised past! I took some photos and soon the boat was headed in their direction. They were very active/social at the surface, which is not typical of the bottlenose here.

Yesterday’s boat trip was calm and sunny. It was also dolphin filled, although I was not able to capture any underwater video. The dolphins were spread out and behaving in a fashion atypical for our observations in this area. But, it was a great day observing from the boat. It was calm enough that I may even be able to make some IDs from surface photos – a rare occurrence for the spotted dolphins here.

Today was great. The dolphin boat was a little late leaving the dock, but there were no complaints as we came upon a scattered group of Atlantic spotted dolphins early. In the mix was White Blotch (#29), but most of the dolphins seemed to be moving west to the deep water.

The winds finally diminished today, but unfortunately, that did not bring dolphins. It was not for lack of trying though! We had a very enthusiastic group of passengers who kept their spirits high even though the dolphins did not make an appearance.

 The seas were calm, the sun was shining and the water was clear and blue. It feels like summer is here! We headed to the “dolphin grounds” eager for a big sighting. We had a very brief sighting of a single adult Atlantic spotted dolphin. It is very unusual to see only one; it is possible there were others close by, but this individual didn’t seem keen to stay by the boat, so we were on our way in search of others. We weren’t disappointed as we soon came upon Finn (#09), Romeo (#10) and a young juvenile.

 Today’s dolphin trip began with a shark swim for the guests. I enjoyed the show from the boat, while scanning the sea for passing dolphins. None came through, but soon we were cruising to “the dolphin grounds.” The seas were calming down, which made it easier to see the two adult Atlantic spotted dolphins of the day. I wasn’t able to recognize the two individuals from the boat, but perhaps I’ll find matches in the catalog.

Unfortunately, the wind has kept me from the dolphin grounds for the past two days. April is a tricky time of year in Bimini; there are flat calm, stunning days and then blowy, windy days like today. I’m optimistic the winds will calm down in time for tomorrow’s trip though. Fingers crossed! Since I was land-bound all day, it was time to catch up on manuscript edits, grant applications and news in the outside world. That’s when I came upon the news of record high births among North Atlantic right whales.