Our day began, as usual, with dolphin data collection. It was nearly as hot as yesterday but with no breeze and no clouds. The sea was calm and the dolphins were somewhat active in small bouts of leaping activity across the entire main lagoon. Kathleen said she saw some pair swims and pec fin contact exchanges, especially between Alita and Bailey. Tank, Rocky, and Buzz were their typical young male selves and up to mischief! In the first photo below, you can see Poli and Kami assessing Kathleen’s photo technique in the view from our new backward facing GoPro – thank you Diver MoJo Foundation for your donation that made the new angles possible.
After breakfast, we worked on some data entry and reviewed research methods for data collection and review for about an hour. Our first boat snorkel of the week came late morning. In the featured photo, you can see our Blamy, our tiny dolphin mascot, joined us on the snorkel. We saw a scorpion fish, sand diver, lots of butterflyfish, a lionfish, some really cool shrimps, and 18 squids! There were also lots of other fish on the shallow reef, which were cool!
Lunch was nourishing and preceded Jen’s talk about sea turtles. After Jen’s talk, we reviewed the data entry process for the panoramic photos taken during space use data collection. Then, when the afternoon was well upon us, we did some more biodiversity assessments but along Anthony’s Key this time and by kayak or paddleboard. We actually got about an hour of free time that we used in varying ways. After dinner, we had a productive discussion about protocols and protocol limitations associated with space use data collection.
Here are our thoughts from today!
Felice – Today I saw a spider crab and I didn’t know they existed. So that’s cool.
Alia – Today I saw a conch shell and it was super pretty and reminded me of how pretty the sky is.
Jose – Today the ocean made me feel better. It made me in love with swimming again and I had a great bonding experience with the faculty.
Tesa – Today was my best snorkeling day yet. Turns out if you tighten your mask, water does not go up your nose.
Nezi – I got a foot cramp while snorkeling, so I told the sea “see you later!”
Alicia – I held a sea star the size of my hand today.
Erika – Everyone was chuffing and puffing today, and it reminded me how we’re all just one with the wave at the end of the day.
Brie – Today kayaking to do inter-tidal zone was more fun than I expected. I got to see a lot of animals.
Charles – I was excited to have participated in the snorkeling because I saw beautiful blue tangs.
Sara – I did a good deed today. Just about as good as picking up trash in the ocean I flipped over a conch shell.
Dallas – Dr. D. has an unspoken assigned seat next to me at the dinner table.
Winter – Going kayaking, you ain’t gone catch me lackin, cuz I be searchin, for than urchin.
Sabrina – I loved using our fish talk that we had to identify more fish when I was snorkeling today. And, hopefully I can use our turtle talk from today to see a turtle tomorrow.
Mario – I was ecstatic to record the coral and fish for my first time. I was a friend of the coral, not an anemone.
Megan – A squid school, sea biscuit and sea star … still no Stan but an extra hour with the dolphins at Bailey’s was still the best part of my day.
Melissa – I really enjoyed the productive conversation we had about protocols.
Heather – Guess which student flipped my kayak!?
Manon – Blamy joined us on a snorkel … and she floats!
Tomorrow brings our own dolphin encounters and swims! Woohoo.
Cheers
StMU M&Ms