Category: Japan 2000

Much socializing … or possible theft?Today was my last day on the water for my field work this summer in Japan. While the dolphins were not interested in swimmers or the boats, it was still a great day (any day on the water is great!). Mostly the dolphins seemed to be resting, but one group was highly active with much rolling and splashing observed at the surface. This group also contained a brand new calf!! It bobbed above the others ever so often. It is #032's (Atokake's) calf.

What Dolphins Eat and How they do it It is ironic that just yesterday I recorded a sub-adult female bottlenose dolphin eating a 'gar-like' fish. Very long and thin. This female, #223, had the fish laterally (i.e., cross ways) in its mouth and seemed to be moving it around. Nashing her jaws just enough to reposition the fish but not too much to release it from her mouth. Not quite playing with her food, she seemed more to be getting it in position to swallow whole, head first.

More time on the water. The calves were hearty and quite precocious. One even swam away from its mom for a minute or two! It was good to see that these three had survived the rough weather brought on by the typhoon's visit. The mom's identification numbers are #080, #025, and #178. Once I get the photos scanned, I will post their pictures so you can get a visual image of these dolphins. Today the dolphins were interested in a bit of play and much socializing.

Some dolphins interested, some not. There was still about a two meter swell from the south but mostly the sea was calm. Under water the visibility was horrible: 2-3 meters tops! But, we still saw dolphins. Our first sighting was brief and the dolphins really were not interested. Only two in a group of about 10 individuals snuck up on us from below … silently. If I'd not looked to my left, I would have missed them completely. Sighting #2 was better.

Winds decreaseTyphoon #3 passed without much fanfare, and #4 is set to follow sometime next week (bigger, stronger, and slower moving). Oh yes, and Miyake's Mt. Oyama finally let off steam, and ash!

Even with these occurrences, Mother Nature can still surprise me. My morning walk to the park to watch the sea brought before my eyes a lumbering, rolling sea with few, though consistent, white caps. Of course, the port is on the northern face of Mikura and so the lazy quality displayed by the ocean is a bit deceptive.

A storm's fury … I have merged the entries for 7 & 8 July. Friday was a rainy day – heavy rains with little wind. The run-off paths along the village sides were raging rivers heading to sea. Their path runs at a nearly 75 degree angle down. The sound of the rushing water is powerful, awe-inspiring. Friday afternoon was spent working on an hour of video shot over the dates 16, 17 & 19 June. We were able to identify most of the dolphins for which good views were obtained.

Typhoon Preparations Yes, you read the above correctly. There is a typhoon approaching us. It is slow moving but quite large … wind speeds at 45 m/s. And, the predicted path of Typhoon #3 is directly over Mikura and Miyake Islands. It would seem that Mother Nature is a bit perturbed! It was a tad bit frustrating today not to be on the water. It was the perfect day – the calm before the storm almost. A cloudless sky with a gentle breeze and flat sea. I was at the small park that overlooks the pier (sanbashi …

Thunder & Lightning for an Early Morning Trip We were with the same group (about 15-20 dolphins) for the entire trip. While most of the group chose not to interact with the swimmers, a few individuals came closer and seemed interested. One juvenile male had a plastic bag draped over his pectoral fin on our second entry. He passed it gracefully to his flukes and dorsal fin and dropped it in front of a swimmer. We saw him on two more entries before he left the bag with us …

No fireworks here – natural or otherwise. Yesterday, I was away from my computer and Mikura Island, only returning this morning. I had the opportunity to visit Miyake and visit a few friends. To see for myself that everyone was okay. Other than having the water turned off while pipes are fixed, everyone is fine. And, I experienced more earthquakes than on Mikura for all last week. The 'jishin' are still occuring but less than last week. These are stronger as well than the ones I felt on Mikura.

Two sub-groups of about 10-15 dolphins The dolphins today were silent and swimming slowly with about 1-2 minutes between surfacings. Just prior to our visit, another senchoo told us the dsolphins had been socializing and playing. Guess they were tired out. I did get some video of the one Adult female with her calf that we had not been able to identify two weeks ago. She has relatively few scars so we need to check a bit more before confirming her identity in our records. The wind was still up but the sun was shining with few clouds.