After a morning of work and play, the Bimini Undersea boat “Adventurer” picked us up at Sea Crest and we were headed on another search for dolphins! It was a little cloudy at first, but soon the cover broke and it became increasingly sunny as the afternoon progressed. We had a small group of guests on board and so there was plenty of space to move around and look for any sign of dolphins.
Category: Bimini 2012
Crazy Hazy Sunset Cruise
We started off Tuesday with something we hadn’t done in a while — video! We resumed reviewing Bimini video data and showed Kel some of our tricks for doing the social quality event sampling. It was nice to all be able to do it together, and certainly faster since Kel knows the Bimini spotted dolphins so well! We finished the 2011 video and started on the 2010 tapes.
A Day for Education!
On Saturday, we got the opportunity to go onboard the Coral Reef II, the research vessel from Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. We talked to an eager, enthusiastic group of K-12 teachers from the US about DCP and our dolphins here in Bimini. Kel covered the basics of what DCP does, the difference between dolphin species, sexes, and the importance of identifying individuals within a population. The group participated and asked great questions.
Well, the kids enjoyed the roller coaster!
On Friday it was Kel’s turn to head in search of dolphins with Bimini Adventures. Today’s guests were still glowing from their amazing experiences on Wednesday and although the weather was not as nice today, they were still eager to give it a try (there was a birthday on board after all!). While we headed north, in the lee of Bimini, the seas were quite comfortable. But, as expected, shortly after leaving the protective shoreline, things got rougher.
First Dolphin Encounters!
Wednesday was our first trip on Bimini Adventures’ Dakota, and our second trip was much different than our first. The clouds in the distance as we headed out seemed a bit threatening, but it turned out to be a great day.
Interns’ First Boat Trip and Experience with Island Time!
Hi! We’re DCP’s 2012 Bimini Summer Interns! Liana is from the D.C. area (Northern Virginia) and will be a junior at Yale studying Environmental Studies and concentrating in marine science. Pam is from Guilford, CT and will be a senior at Connecticut College studying biology and psychology. We’re looking forward to working in the field after a great experience in the DCP office in Stonington!
We stepped off our plane at South Bimini Airport and were greeted by hot sun and plenty of humidity.
NHK Film Crew Visits Bimini
During the first week of July, I celebrated my birthday and US independence, but I was also joined dolphin trips with Bimini Adventures. Although I was not collecting video/acoustic data, I was collecting our usual sighting data and still photographs when I could. On Monday, we started the day with a bottlenose dolphin sighting; there were two dolphins not far from Bimini’s shore. Later we saw six spotted dolphins, including Niecey (#48), Romeo (#10) and, possibly Noodle (#94). We had a great underwater observation of Split Jaw (#22) and an uncatalogued young male spotted.
Third dolphin trip in 24 hours
Friday 29 June was another rare morning dolphin trip with Bimini Undersea. This time, we headed out shortly after 9 a.m. and it was approximately 2 hours later that we saw the dolphins: a mixed species group with at least 11 individual dolphins. At first we saw Leslie (#80) and her calf, and Lil’ Jess (#35) and hers. As the sighting progressed, we got better views of the bottlenose as well as our spotted friends, Split Jaw (#22), Prince William (#64, pictured here), Speedy (#78) and Tilly (#87).
A rare double duty day!
After a week of wind, rain and more wind thing finally cleared up on Thursday (28th June) for us to go in search of dolphins. Although we were not in Tropical Storm Debby’s path, the surrounding weather pattern did make June seem more like January. The group’s patience was rewarded on Thursday and Bimini Undersea took the group out for two dolphin trips (an uncommon practice, to be sure we give the dolphins ample time away from the boat and our interactions). The morning trip included a long awaited dolphin sighting.
Happy Father’s Day!
On Father’s Day I was again aboard a dolphin trip with Bimini Adventures. The seas were completely different from Friday with the winds strong from the northeast. Still, we searched and searched for dolphins, finding them several hours into the trip. At first we saw Tilly (#87) and an older calf (or young juvenile?!) who were quite busy surfing. It was a challenge to keep our eyes on the pair and we soon found ourselves backtracking, hoping to lay eyes on them again. While we did not find Tilly and her “friend,” we did see two calves.
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