Category: Blog & Field Reports

On Friday, I wake up to the sound of rain.  It seems like a far too common sound this time back to the island as the forecast shows more rain in the future.  I get my day started with a bowl of delicious colorful cereal with a Toucan on the box and get grinding on some data entry.  I finally figured out the best way to input the data.  I mark anything that is unclear since shorthand written logs on the water are not the easiest to interpret. 

On Thursday, I woke with the excitement of SCUBA!  I prepped all my gear and checked the location of Neal Watson’s SCUBA Center.  Balancing all of the gear while riding a bike proved to be a bit challenging but eventually I got the hang of it.  I headed off to the dive shop, passing by kids on their way to school and local law enforcement doing a morning patrol.  After riding for a couple minutes longer than I anticipated I had the sneaking suspicion I had gone too far. 

There is nothing like waking up on a beautiful island with crystal clear water to make you appreciate a small island in The Bahamas.  You tradeoff the creature comforts of the first world for the view and island culture.  When you are on an island that is about 7 miles (11 km) long you cannot afford to fit all the franchises and chains that most people have become accustomed to.  This really is a nice change of pace to make you appreciate all of the small shops and their distinct character. 

Things were so busy – and awesome – at the end of the University of New Brunswick Saint John course last month, that we (okay, me!) never managed to get their final blog posts up. It was an absolutely fantastic course. The final days included a mangrove snorkel, Caribbean reef sharks, southern stingray rays and more dolphins! Great group dinners, an engaging conversation on eco-tourism and the final night out celebrating with Nishka – it was wonderful. We can’t wait to welcome Dr.

DCP has opened two more Short Field Experience Intern openings (SFE interns)! These SFE interns join our Bimini, The Bahamas field site for 12 nights.
Session 1: Arrive 25 June – Depart 7 July
Session 2: Arrive 13 July – Depart 25 July
SFE interns will get a jam-packed experience, learning about DCP’s data collection, data entry and data analysis procedures. SFE interns will contribute directly to DCP’s research and education efforts while getting a taste of the research life for themselves. The fee for this experience is $600 which covers lodging, utilities and drinking water.

Wednesday began with breakfast and our blog writing. During the blog, a small bird, called “chip-chip” locally, flew right into the window behind us! It was a bit sad to see it on the porch and while we were watching it, two more flew into the window; one individual bird tried twice! Dr. Turnbull went outside to block the window and startled one of the birds back to life (ok, maybe he poked it back to life). Class time focused on lectures on coral reefs and sharks. Who knew that Dr.

On Tuesday morning, we saw a water spout (essentially a tornado on the ocean) from our class space. It was an, ummm, interesting way to start the day. Thankfully, the rest of the day was nice – it’s getting pretty warm down here! After writing our blog, we did a few of our cetacean species presentations.

The laughing gulls woke Christine Monday morning, but she wasn’t laughing! After breakfast, some of us went shopping and others swimming – and got to take a shower in the torrential downpour afterwards! We dried off and headed to class.
The afternoon was the most exciting part: just like Sunday, we didn’t have to wait long at all! Some of the same dolphins were once again just offshore. Today, they didn’t seem as interested in the boat, as they traveled south.

We are so happy to welcome Dr. Stephen Turnbull and students from University of New Brunswick Saint John back to Bimini! It’s been a few years since UNBSJ has done a course with us and we’re thrilled have to them. This week, all of the DCP blog posts will be written by the UNBSJ students. Enjoy!
-Kel & Nicole
Bimini is the smallest airport we’ve seen so far. We thought Saint John was small! It was super chill as well.

For the second time in the last month, I received a report of Atlantic spotted dolphins in the bay of Bimini. I’ve been studying these dolphins off Bimini’s shore for 15 years, with only a single report of spotteds in the harbor last fall, soon after Hurricane Irma (and those dolphins were very close to the opening of the bay/harbor).