Category: Japan 2004

Sea conditions restricted our survey to the east side of Mikura only We left port in very choppy seas. We were the only dolphin watching boat out this afternoon: 3 tourists, John and me plus the senchoo. We saw dolphins just past Subarune, about 20 min into our survey. One fin was immediately recognizable as Maekake (#033FA) because she has a big chunk out of the leading edge. She had a calf in May which was with her today. The fetal folds almost not visible.

There were five dolphins in the group: two mother/calf pairs and another sub-adult.

Some data analyzed, and weekend workshop plans drafted This weekend students from Camp Zama will visit Mikura Island. Camp Zama is one of the USA bases here in Japan. This is our first 'international' student exchange for a workshop on Mikura. That is, youth from Camp Zama will visit Mikura for the weekend and share activities about the oceans, nature and dolphins with Mikura students. They will also hike to one or two island nature watching spots and observe dolphins.

The afternoon turned sunny and offered a boat trip We had 5 sightings and 7 water entries yielding another 30 min of video. The first sighting was 4 dolphins, seemingly mostly adult males. They were quiet and traveling, not interested in us two-legged swimmers.

The next sighting showed us wave surfing dolphins into their own thing. We saw them twice only from the surface. However, the group that followed included #161 (Koshakure) and her friend #404. After a few minutes #153 and #008 (both sub-adult males) joined the action. Some whistling and rubbing behavior.

No boat trips, but data analyses, reading, writing. Tourism is steadily increasing at Mikura, not just for the dolphin watching & swimming but also for the other vistas of nature that the island offers: gigantic trees, mountain hiking, clifftop views. Each weekend presents the island with many visitors: there are ~280 residents on Mikura with weekend tourists equaling near half that number. Thus, boats are full and it is rare that we head to sea.

Therefore, poor weather or large numbers of tourists will give us 'in port' days. Data will be analyzed, summary reports started.

We had our second boat trip this afternoon. We left port at 14:15 today and spent a bit more than two hours searching for and observing dolphins. We saw several mother/calf groups. In fact, at one point #058FA whistled and within 15 seconds her 2 yr old calf was by her side. I wonder if this is an example of a contact call (aka signature whistle) for these dolphins. Analyses and time will tell.

We also saw a group of about 25+ dolphins just west of Motone (on Mikura's south 'side') that were socializing.

Our first full day here included an afternoon boat trip. In fact, within about 10 minutes of heading east from the port, we sighted several dorsal fins from the surface. This was not an easy task as we had a solid 2 m swell. Our first entry was brief with 1 to 3 dolphins checking us out and heading away. A few minutes later we were back in the water with about 6 dolphins. They were coming and going and having fun surfing the waves.

The 7 hr ferry ride was uneventful and sleep filled. Miyake Island still resembles a smoking candle after being blown out. For those of you just joining us, Miyake's active volcano erupted in 2000 displacing her 3500 residents. They are still unable to return home for more than a few hours.

But, I digress. We arrived to Mikura and were greeted by friends. Now in our third year staying at the 'Iruka House' (aka the dolphin house), our camera gear had already been shipped from the airport and waited for us inside.

Two workshops separated by ~3 hours of driving.There were more than two dozen children participating in our environmental workshops at both sites. We built dolphins out of plastic bags, talked about photo-identification of individual dolphins and shared a bit more about DCP's research into behavior and communication among dolphins.

A long, full flight Luckily, the flight was uneventful with good movies and good food, albeit a full flight. We left on 27 May and arrived the afternoon of 28 May having crossed the international dateline.

The next few days will be spent on workshops in Enoshima and Takato followed by our ferry ride to Mikura on Monday evening. So, I'll write next after the workshops and update you on our trek.

It feels good to be back in Japan and seeing familiar sites and faces.

Two days left before flying off Actually, one detail is large. We built a new array (MVA4) to take with us to the field this season. The click detector is within the same housing as the MVA4 camera. Very compact, though all still green. The hydrophones will be wired and connected later today and then the MVA4 is ready to go. We will also pick up batteries and other minor supplies and pack all the gear tomorrow. We head out on Wednesday afternoon.