Category: Japan 2005

No dolphins, but plenty of fish! Kathleen and John caught the afternoon ferry today – it seemed like the whole town came out to bid them farewell. Kathleen is well loved here on Mikura.
So there were no dolphin trips today – it is the weekend and the boats are quite full. Today is my birthday, so I am going to celebrate Japanese style. There will be cake, but also a variety of fish – raw fish, smoked fish, some sort of strange fermented fish. If you like fish, this is the place to be.

What have I gotten myself into? After waking up this morning and having a nice cup of coffee, we heard a bit of rustling and commotion from outside our cabin. Winding her way through the steep pathways that lead to the back of our little yard was an Obaa-chan – one of the ‘grandmothers’ of Mikura, kind of like the village elders. Apparently she is the owner of a little vegetable garden that abuts our cottage.

A warm sunny day and the dolphins were ready to play (Still images taken from video courtesy of John Anderson – Terramar Productions)

We had an afternoon trip today – conditions were outstanding. There was very little wind, hardly a cloud in the sky, and the sea was mostly calm (I am not sure it ever gets completely calm).

Are they happy to see us?  We had our first boat trip of the season this morning and it was a great way to get things started! We saw lots of dolphins, and were lucky enough to see all 4 of the new calves born so far this year. They were very small, some with fetal folds still visible. We ran across 3 large groups and got plenty of time in the water. One calf, who was about 1 year old, spent a great deal of time circle swimming around us together with another subadult female.

Settling into island life  We were up early this morning after an overnight trip on the ferry from Tokyo. The ferry’s first stop was Miyake-jima – an island just 10 miles north of Mikura. Kathleen spent many years living on Miyake when she first started researching the dolphins found around Mikura. But unfortunately for the people living on Miyake, the resident volcano erupted in a cloud of toxic gas which forced everyone to evacuate the island for many years.

A chance to share our enthusiasm for dolphins and whales with Japanese school-children DCP is interested not only in research on dolphin communication and behavior, but in educating people about dolphins and the world’s oceans. We are lucky to have the opportunity to participate in workshops here in Japan working with Japanese school children. Today we went to the beautiful seaside town of Enoshima to take part in a workshop at the Enoshima Aquarium. We had an amazing group of young school children – ages 7 to 10.

Visiting Yodabashi  Today was my first full day in Japan, and it was quite an experience! Tokyo is a crazy city – very crowded with neon signs winking at you from every direction. But despite all the hustle and bustle, there is something relaxing about being in Tokyo. In general, the city is free from litter, everything runs on time and the people you run across are as friendly as can be. It is a lot like Disney World in that sense.

A very easy flight and Justin’s first taste of Japan I am happy to report that our flight from the US was trouble-free; all of our bags arrived intact and everything went off without a hitch. It is quite handy having Kathleen around – not only is she fluent in Japanese (chattering away like she was born here), but she knows which bus to get, which phone to use and how to navigate Tokyo itself.

Packing, packing, packing I have made my way down to Connecticut to help with the preparations for DCP’s 2005 field season. Last summer I spent a month on Bimini learning the ropes and honing my skills as a dolphin researcher, and this year I will be out on Mikura putting these skills to use. All of the camera equipment and supplies need to be carefully packed and prepared for the long journey to Japan. Kathleen has had many years experience with this process, so everything is streamlined.

Introducing one of DCP’s field associates to Mikura and her dolphins It’s another year and we are set to leave for Japan on 18 May to continue our research on the dolphins around Mikura Island. This year will be slightly different in that I (Kathleen) am only staying in Japan for about 2 weeks, and on Mikura for about 8 days. I will have my first summer in 15 years actually at home, in Connecticut.