Category: Bimini 2011

Thursday was the final day of this dolphin week and it was a good one! Storm clouds were looming the entire day and although we saw bottlenose dolphins early in the trip, we had to be patient for the spotteds. About mid-trip, we saw ten Atlantic spotted dolphins surfing our way! Most did not stick around, but they did come in and out of view. Three youngsters were around for quite awhile, including Addie (#84) and un-named #95. Unfortunately, another youngster came to the bow with a fresh injury behind its right eye.

Wednesday was a busy day with a double header of dolphin trips. And we weren’t able to avoid rain during either one! Our morning trip had us in full search mode, wondering if the dolphins would show up. We have so few morning trips, that we never know what to expect (well, even more so than afternoon trips!). But, finally, we did see them! Speedy (#78) and Tilly (#87) were definitely there and I think Tim (#69) and Joanne (#86) may have been as well.

Monday’s dolphin trip began with a turtle sighting and a glimpse of (three?) bottlenose dolphins. Then there was a lot of searching….and searching…and searching. Close to home, late in the day, when all hope was lost, we saw them! Three youngsters, including un-named #93 came rushing to the boat.  Thirteen minutes into the sighting, the mother-load arrived! There were over 20 dolphins in total, but since many did not come close to my spot on the boat, I was only able to ID Addie (#84) and Tilly (#87).

Sunday’s dolphin trip departed Sea Crest Hotel & Marina shortly after 1500. The visiting researcher and her students were ready for Bimini’s dolphins. They didn’t have to wait too long as a large group of Atlantic spotted dolphins passed by the boat at 1644. At first we only saw three dolphins, including Tina (#14) and someone’s calf. But, soon, there were at least 14 dolphins, all traveling south. Included in the group were Tilly (#87), Swoosh (#36) and at least five calves.

Bimini Undersea’s Thursday dolphin trip departed Bimini harbor shortly after 1530 (once again). We were expecting, unfortunately, less than comfortable seas, but remained optimistic about dolphins. As we traveled along Bimini’s coastline, the following seas kept the ride smooth. Before reaching “the dolphin grounds,” one of the day’s passengers requested a short swim break. All the passengers hopped in to cool off and Captain Kat and I stayed onboard, of course joking that it would be so nice if the dolphins came right then. We laughed it off and kept our eyes on the snorkelers.

Bimini Undersea departed Bimini harbor shortly after 1530 today with two wonderful passengers. Such a small group is rare on the boat and with beautiful weather, we were excited about the trip ahead. We searched and searched for dolphins, wondering how long they would make us wait. Thankfully, they didn’t hide the entire afternoon and we saw a group of four bottlenose dolphins. At first they seemed on the move, then they seemed quite active (as seen in this photo), then we thought they might be crater feeding. We prepared to enter the water, but the dolphins were gone.

We departed the Sea Crest Hotel & Marina shortly after 1500 on Saturday, with storm clouds on the horizon. Although they did not damper our spirits, they did force us somewhat off course in our search for dolphins. We got a bit a rain, but thankfully the thunder and lightning stayed far away. Late in the day we got a glimpse of six spotted dolphins, including un-named #40. In total there were three adults and three calves – likely a trio of mother/calf pairs. Two bottlenose dolphins (including Tt06) joined the group, but they did not stay long.

Thursday was a busy day. I was up, out and aboard the Coral Reef II early, where I had the pleasure of once again chatting with students from Chicago City Day School. Despite the early hour, these middle schoolers were bright eyed and filled with dolphin-related questions. Thank you to everyone in the program for their hospitality, interest and support of DCP. I look forward to more groups as the summer continues! The morning held a couple of phone/Skype meetings and the afternoon included yet another dolphin trip.

Harkomal, a fifth-grader currently participating in our Online Classroom Connection program, submitted the following ten questions. I was able to pull in DCP researcher Justin Gregg, Ph.D to help answer some too!
1. Why do dolphins have 3 stomachs?
Some dolphin species have two stomachs, but most do indeed have three. The first of the three stomach acts as a storage unit – it holds the food until the other stomachs are ready for digestion to occur.

Wednesday was another lovely day in Bimini. At 1330 I was in the midst of a very engaging talk with Bimini Undersea’s guests. What a fantastic group; thanks for all of your questions. Afterwards it was out to search for the dolphins. We needed no patience today: only a few minutes out we came upon a group of at least 12 bottlenose dolphins. To our great pleasure the group (including one calf!) was crater feeding which meant a nice, long underwater encounter.  It was great!
As the afternoon continued, we continued to look for spotted dolphins.