My Tuesday afternoon began with a DCP Q&A session with guests at Sea Crest. Although I (sadly) do not speak French, it was a great conversation. Thank you to those guests who helped with the translation!
Soon, I was picked up by Bimini Undersea and before we knew it, we were at ‘3 Sisters.’ The time passed so quickly with such great dolphin conversation! After a lovely snorkel stop, we were headed in search of dolphins. Hopes were dwindling as the afternoon progressed, but as I’ve said, if the dolphins have taught me anything, they have taught me patience.
Category: Bimini 2011
Snorkeling, Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins….oh, and more dolphins!
Monday’s dolphin trip departed Sea Crest Hotel & Marina early, giving guests the opportunity to have an extended snorkel stop at “The Bimini Road” (aka “Atlantis”) and enjoy lunch on the boat. Soon, we were headed in search of dolphins and we quickly came upon several bottlenose dolphins. They were scattered and on the move so we continued on our way in search of others. Luckily we were not disappointed…
First we came upon seven Atlantic spotted dolphins: four adults, including un-named #40 and 43, and 3 calves.
A beautiful, atypical day
On Sunday, we departed Sea Crest Hotel & Marina at about 1530 with an enthusiastic group of French/Swiss guests. The crew, in particular, was thrilled with the calm seas after last week’s wind. The guests relaxed and chatted as we all kept our eyes open for dolphins. About halfway into the trip there they were – eight bottlenose dolphins. I quickly grabbed our digital SLR, hoping to capture at least a few dorsal fin photographs.
A wacky, windy week!
Monday’s dolphin trip left Sea Crest Hotel & Marina without me (as planned – don’t worry, they didn’t just leave me behind!). But, they had a great day, first with some older Atlantic spotted dolphins, then with some youngsters. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s dolphin trips were abbreviated because of the high east winds.
What rough weather?
As we prepared for Sunday’s dolphin trip, we couldn’t help but wonder how much we were going to be able to search for dolphins. The weather forecast was not in our favor, yet, the conditions seemed to be improving. So, we headed out and were pleasantly surprised with the calm conditions! The sky was only partly cloudy and as the seas continued to calm, the guests saw splashing in the distance.
Hello Harkomal!
DCP would like to extend a big hello to Harkomal, a fifth grader participating in DCP’s Online Classroom Connection program. Hello Harkomal! He’ll be spending time learning about dolphins over the next month and sharing what he learns with his classmates. Today, I’ll be directing him to particular areas of this website. All of you out there are welcome to play along too!
So, Harkomal, my name is Kelly Melillo Sweeting. Let’s start with a sort of internet scavenger hunt to help you get to know me, DCP, our dolphins and our website. Read below – and just check in
Wind and bottlenose dolphins!
We departed the dock around 1400 again on Monday. The wind had picked up, but we were confident (as always) that we would see dolphins.
Green water won’t stop our dolphin observations!
I headed out Sunday with Bimini Undersea and their passengers – it was great meeting you! After a snorkel stop at “3 Sisters,” we were busy searching for dolphins. The white caps made it slightly challenging, but sure enough, we saw our spotted – and bottlenose, pictured here – friends. This group was not very interested in us, but soon we were with nearly 15 Atlantic spotted dolphins. They were surfing and playing and gave us the chance to see them close-up under water.
A shorter, but busy dolphin trip!
Due to guests’ schedules, Friday’s dolphin trip was slightly abbreviated. But, the guests were fantastic company – and so were the dolphins! We first saw about 16 Atlantic spotted dolphins at 1543. They had their own agenda, one that we could not figure out! They were breaking apart, coming together, changing direction, mating, not mating….but we did see Juliette (#12) and Lil’ Jess (#35), each with calves, as well as Billy (#64), Tim (#69) and Speedy (#78).
Another great day with dolphins in Bimini!
A small group headed in search of dolphins with Bimini Undersea. We had to do a bit of searching, but sure enough, we saw them! First, there were several adult spotted dolphins and soon some calves were in the group too. We had a beautiful swim with Cerra (#38 – I think!), Lone Star (#56) and Stefran (#82). Here, you can see Stefran and what we think is her calf.
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