Category: Japan 2004

The boats are full with the tourists who arrived this morning. The first sighting of this group was at 10:30 am and the guides both saw the flukes and part of the peduncle protruding from the adult female! They did not have cameras and so were relying on memory as to the identity of the adult female. It *might* be #223, but we need to see her again with the calf to be sure.

One large group split into several subgroups this afternoon. We probably saw about 30-40 individual dolphins today. They were in one large group spread between Subarune and Ebiiso and exhibited much splitting and joining in subgroup membership. One of the groups included about 15+ sub-adult males that were socializing. They were rubbing each other with their bodies and pectoral fins. There were erections and there were loud sounds – squawks and pops mostly.

A last minute afternoon boat trip with me and one other researcher It was a great day with 23 minutes of video recorded. But, even better was the fact that we saw both #094 and #310 and their new calves! If you remember, these two calves were born in the last day or two of June, just before Typhoon #8 sent us really high seas. Both calves looked healthy and a bit bigger. It felt like I'd been holding my breath waiting to hear if they were okay.

The sea was covered in white caps and the wind up. The day in port varied between strong winds and nothing but muggy hot air. We had a brief downpour this morning but the cooler air did not last long. I also checked out a few minshuku and captains and found that several tourists had left yesterday and so there was no space for me on a boat. I did not even see dolphins from the port on my morning walk.

The dolphins were mostly resting – it seems 'recovering' from the rough seas. The wind had increased and so we spent most of our trip between Shojine and Ebiiso. We had two sightings of dolphins today but only observed individuals from the second group under water. And, twice I was quite surprised when all of a sudden there was a dolphin within one meter on my left or right! That is how bad the visibility was.

It was a bright and sunny day here. Hanabi is the Japanese word for fireworks. But, since the 4th of July is only a US holiday, there was no fireworks display tonight, except if you count the stars in our first clear night in about a week.

I spent the afternoon at the port, not watching dolphins. There were no dolphin watching trips today because the ferry did not bring any tourists. The ferry landed this morning but could not land this afternoon because of the continuing rolling swell.

The final tape was confirmed for IDs – a long but good process. Today was a slow day that included a much needed nap, some reading and letter-writing and the last bit of preliminary analyses of videos in terms of logging dolphin IDs. We have confirmed almost all the dolphin identities from the six videotapes that I have recorded. Now, I need more data. Or, I'll begin the behavioral focal follow analyses.

The evening brought a 'rakuyogo' to the island (via helicopter). The 'rakuyogo' is a comic storyteller.

Two English Classes at the Mikura School Today, I mixed a walk to the park to view the sea surface and wave condition with participation in two classes with students at the Mikura School with finishing the video logs for dolphin IDs. The weather has not changed, except that the sea was covered with white caps and the wind was up (decreased tonight).

For every hour of data that I collect, there is at least 20-30 hours of analysis time.

It's hard to believe I have only 18 days remaining for data collection this summer. The wind has increased significantly and now it looks like typhoon seas from the port. That is, rather than just the swell, we have a sea covered in white water. The ferry was canceled yesterday, did not come today and will not come tomorrow, nor likely Saturday. Miyakejima is ~18 km to our north and could be seen clearly today. In fact, we could see the waves crashing along the shore of Miyake by the ever-changing lines of white at her base.

Typhoon #8 is heading more or less towards us. Typhoon #8 is larger and stronger than the last several storms. It is heading directly north, but is predicted to veer to our right. Still, the seas are already at ~3 meters and will only increase. It was interesting this evening to watch as the waves washed over the pier. I never cease to be amazed and respectful of the power the oceans have, the raw energy is evident to me with each wave and ripple.

Today was a slow day.