Buzz tried grab Manon’s phone … not sure who he wanted to call but Manon’s grasp was better than his aim! You can see him in the featured photo just after he missed her phone. Our first session for data collection was this morning and, even though the underwater visibility was not great, the dolphins greeted Kathleen, and all of us, with gusto! Before entry, Savanna did a nice introduction to the dolphin anatomy for all of us.
There was lots of social contact and rubbing and much whistling and welcoming postures. Everyone helped collect surface observations and Gizmo helped us retrieve the o-ring that holds the right hydrophone in place. First time in 30+ years that one of these o-rings decided to swim off the MVA by itself.
Our group is 50% divers and 50% snorkelers and everyone got wet today. But this was after breakfast and after a couple of hours in the classroom to learn a bit more about DCP and, of course, the RIMS dolphins. We learned how to recognize each of the 19 dolphins here. But please don’t quiz us yet! The afternoon dive was good with great visibility and lots of little fishes, except for the spotted eagle ray that Michael and Bill didn’t see! The snorkel trip went to just before West End with awesome underwater visibility and a very friendly grey angel fish that followed us everywhere and also a barracuda that jaw clapped in front of Manon and Marianne.
Tomorrow will be a bit earlier for data collection because the divers want to do the 8:00 AM wreck dive (Aguila). Until then …
Cheers
Manon, Michael, Michelle, Mickey, Marianne, Bill, Savanna, Kaylie, Sue, Kathleen
P.S. this is the view from the Duda Family decks. Woohoo!
