Marine mammals love the MVA
Today’s trip was somewhat of a bust. The water was quite murky and the dolphins were not interested. It was calm weather you see, and dolphins seem to slow down in calm weather. Only big waves seem to get them excited. Oh, and little frog – my underwater camera: it is a cross between a dolphin lighting rod and a magic wand. At one point there were quite a few eco tour boats gathered around this one group of dolphins. As soon as I jumped in the water with the MVA (little frog), the dolphins came over for a long look. They love the camera – maybe it is its shape, size or the material out of which it is made, but they will ignore most other passengers and come straight up to me. Nobuo-san (a captain) is convinced that the camera makes sounds that attract the dolphins. (It does not I can assure you.) I enjoy the attention. And it can be good for research. Although too much crazy circle swimming around the camera can provide unhelpful data – we get better data when the dolphins ignore the camera and go about their business, which happens sometimes… I wish I could study them without being noticed.. I wish I had an invisibility cloak, a Maurader’s Map that showed me where the dolphins are, some gillyweed, and… hold on a second… have I betrayed my secret identity?
-H