Today marked rare Saturday start for a dolphin week with www.biminiadventures.com. Despite some challenges with delayed luggage, this week’s group was ready for dolphins when we departed the dock shortly before 1600. As we looked out into the distance, searching and searching for dolphins, I suddenly shouted out, seeing dolphins right on our bow! They… Continue reading And a new “dolphin week” begins!
Category: Bimini 2010
A great end of the week!
Wednesday’s dolphin trip began with a snorkel stop at The Bimini Road (aka Atlantis) – this time, folks explored the section of the stones where fish like to congregate. Soon we were in the prime zone for seeing Atlantic spotted dolphins. We first saw dolphins at 1630 and watched them for a few minutes before losing sight of them. We had to be patient, but at 1823, we saw more! In this group, we saw Billy (#64), un-named #75 and 6 other adults.
Busy day!
Tuesday morning began with research for an upcoming DolphinPod episode. Unfortunately, I continually request to reschedule the taping because we’ve had so many dolphin trips! I’ve never been more pleased with an excuse…But, hopefully we’ll have the new episode for you all very soon. Next, it was time to have a dolphin chat with a group of dolphin boat passengers. Since I am not joining their daily dolphin trips, it was great to share some of DCP’s work with them – and hear all about their experiences, concerns and appreciation for dolphins and their ocean home.
Oh, hello bottlenose
Monday began with sunshine, flat seas and hot temperatures. We headed to “The Bimini Road” (aka “Atlantis”) for a quick snorkel stop. The boat passengers were mixed in their opinions – is the formation natural? Were the stones placed there by humans? Are these stones part of the lost city of Atlantis? Come to Bimini and decide for yourself! Soon after our snorkel stop, we saw two bottlenose dolphins, including Tt#14, pictured here. The dolphins were on the move and not interested in the boat, so after we all got a good look, we continued on our way.
Slightly choppy seas, but great dolphins
The wind had picked up slightly for Saturday’s dolphin trip, but it still great conditions for finding dolphins. I departed for the trip without the MVA, but was then invited to observe the dolphins under water while the film crew was working. So, it turned into a rare opportunity for me to personally collect some still photographs. Video and acoustic data are the priority, but still photographs can go a long way to supplementing our digital photo-ID catalog. There are quite a few photographs of adults that I will have to try to match to a catalogued animal.
Oh, where or where did the dolphins go?
On Friday, we left the dock at our usual time and went to our usual spots, but unfortunately, it was one of those days when we did not see dolphins. This was not for lack of trying! Our curiosity is always peaked on these days, wondering where the dolphins are and what they are doing. Thankfully the family on the boat, although disappointed, had a great attitude.
Just in time for a dolphin trip!
I returned to Bimini early Thursday afternoon just in time for a dolphin trip. This was a private charter with Nowdla Keefe by an Animal Planet (Discovery Channel) film crew. It meant that I would not be able to record video and acoustic data with DCP’s MVA, but it was still a chance to see which dolphins, how many were observed as well as where, when and for how long. We first saw a skittish group of five Atlantic spotteds, including Juliette’s calf, un-named #93.
Bottlenose, spotteds and….squalls
We left the dock today at 1540 with high hopes of finding dolphins. Soon we were in the “dolphin grounds” and there they were….a group of at least 5 bottlenose dolphins. Included in the group is the dolphin pictured here – we need to compare the shape of and nicks in the dorsal fin, but at first glance we suspect this is a “new” animal! It is possible, of course, that it is an already cataloged individual who has new nicks. We were unfortunately dealing with some added boat traffic in the area.
Dolphins, dolphins, where are you?….Oh, there you are!
On Monday’s trip we had high hopes of seeing the dolphins, but unfortunately they didn’t seem to want to be found! On Wednesday we were certain that we would see them. We left the dock around 1530 and looked and looked for them. We saw a few fake-out splashes, but finally we found them! At first we only saw one Atlantic spotted dolphin, which is very unusual, so we were confident there were more in the area.
Mixed Species Day!
On Wednesday, the conditions were perfect in Bimini for an unexpected dolphin trip. The water was so calm and glassy; we could see cushion stars on the sea floor as we passed by! We searched for the dolphins for awhile and finally we saw them! At first we saw a handful of bottlenose dolphins, but they were clearly just passing through.
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